Julie’s Role: Exhibit Developer / Writer

As exhibit developer and writer for the team, I collaborated with representatives from both institutions. When we started, there was a loose idea percolating about how the state of Wisconsin impacted pop culture. And from there, my research began.

Knowing that the MCHS gallery space was much larger than most of the touring sites, the team envisioned a modular system to accommodate venues of different sizes. That meant that I had to make stories concise and contained through smaller nuggets of information. I steeped myself in all things Wisconsin…from the Packers, to Happy Days, to beer. With a laundry list of potential stories, I prioritized and organized them into a few main themes: sports, entertainment, food, TV, movies, and music.

With an opportunity to showcase their collections, I worked with staff from both MCHS and WHS to discover fun relevant objects, recommend potential imagery from their archives, and research alternative options. I also conceptualized several multimedia experiences. In one, visitors take a quiz deciding whether Wisconsin towns and cities portrayed in TV show are real or fictional. In another, they can add their own Wisconsin favorites to an ever -growing projected word cloud. After extensive concept and design development phases, I crafted the text for nearly 90% of the panels, aiming to delight visitors with unexpected and fun facts while evoking a sense of nostalgia through Wisconsin’s unique connections.