FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2023
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MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM PROVIDES FIRST LOOK AT FUTURE MUSEUM
EXHIBIT CONCEPTS, LIVING IN A DYNAMIC WORLD GALLERY, TWO MIXING ZONES
Gallery presents an unconventional journey across the world, exploring intersections of nature and culture, while innovative spaces provide flexibility to rotate collections items regularly
MILWAUKEE —Today, Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) and exhibit design partner Thinc Design unveiled sketches of the Future Museum’s Living in a Dynamic World gallery, the fourth of five permanent galleries to be revealed through the end of the month, and the Museum’s two flexible gathering spaces called Mixing Zones. Each gallery, or group of related exhibits, will focus on a specific overarching theme, and its many dioramas and individual features will help visitors learn about the interconnectedness of nature and culture tied to that larger concept.
In Living in a Dynamic World, visitors will take an unconventional journey across the world and learn about five distinct landscapes: deserts, the Arctic, islands, grasslands and mountains.
Each immersive landscape will include stories of distinct cultures—including a focused look at a specific individual or group of people and other species who call the landscape home today—and will show visitors unique ways of life that have developed in continuous dialogue over generations with these landscapes. Cultural counterpoints will highlight other examples of life in each landscape, helping illustrate both distinguishable characteristics about each landscape and the ways different cultures adapted to living in these types of environments over time.
“Living in a Dynamic World will take a deep, thoughtful look at the ways humans and other species have interacted with, adapted to and shaped each featured landscape, examining both the present and past,” said MPM President & CEO Dr. Ellen Censky. “The exhibits and cultures highlighted in Living in a Dynamic World were chosen with our vast collections in mind, and we’ll be showcasing both familiar and never-before-seen items in the context of cultural stories, which are being developed in consultation with origin communities.”
The Mixing Zones are two special, flexible spaces that will allow Museum staff to rotate displays of collections items. With one Mixing Zone dedicated to research and science and the other focused on culture, each space will present visitors with new ways to look at and experience the 4 million collections items in the Museum’s care.
“One of the goals of the Future Museum is to ensure visitors can experience unique, never-before-seen looks into the collections – including the millions of items that have historically been off-view as they are kept for scientific research,” said Katie Sanders, Chief Planning Officer at MPM. “The Mixing Zones will provide an opportunity for visitors to not only see the science and research that goes on behind the scenes, but to actively engage with it through hands-on and interactive experiences.”
MPM is sharing a sampling of some of the exhibit features for the Deserts, Arctic, Islands and Grasslands areas of this gallery, as well as a glimpse into both Mixing Zones. The final gallery will also include Mountains.
Gallery sketches and exhibit previews
The gallery details and exhibit examples shared below and in the enclosed sketches represent only a fraction of what visitors can expect in the Future Museum’s Living in a Dynamic World gallery. The final gallery will include many more exhibits, collections items and opportunities to learn.
Dynamic Planet
Visitors will be welcomed into Living in a Dynamic World via the Dynamic Planet exhibit, a central feature of the gallery that will demonstrate how, despite geographic, biological and cultural differences, all living things are part of a single world community that shares a spectacular and ever-changing home planet.
Living Globe
At the center of Dynamic Planet will be a massive globe, animated with various global systems, such as ocean currents, seasonal migrations, trade routes and seismic activity zones, which visitors can select one or two at a time to compare the ways the world connects and how both natural and cultural systems intersect.
Spice of Life
An interactive exhibit engaging visitors’ sense of smell, Spice of Life will feature a scent box with three different spices. When the different spices are activated, LED lights will backlight a graphic and teach visitors how the spices have spread across the world, where they grow today and in what foods and products they are commonly consumed.
Mosaics
The entrance of each distinct landscape hall will be decorated with cubbies full of curiosities to discover and drawers to open, featuring items that define the landscape. Tactile models, clothing cases and mechanical interactives will pique interest and act as a portal to prepare visitors for the immersive experiences that lay ahead.
Deserts
In the Deserts hall of the gallery, visitors will learn about the characteristics of the world’s deserts, the diversity of life and ways of living in desert environments and how desert residents adapt to and shape their environment. Supported by the wide range of ceramics, textiles and agricultural items in the Museum’s collections, the Deserts hall will spotlight the distinct environment of Northeastern Arizona, exploring how the landscape’s dynamics – like water access, extreme temperatures and unique flora and fauna – have shaped life past and present for its residents.
Cultural Case Study: Hopi Nation
At the center of cultural exploration in the Deserts will be the Hopi Nation. Visitors will learn about the cultures and traditions the Hopi people have developed in response to their environment, as well as how they have adapted their day-to-day habits to meet the land.
Among the exhibits in this hall, visitors will see a replica of a traditional Hopi dwelling and learn about how the land is used to build shelter. The exhibits will also highlight Hopi pottery from the Museum’s vast collections and tell stories about how the landscape’s resources have influenced artisan traditions.
“We are excited to tell the story of Nampeyo, an incredibly skilled ceramicist who maintained Hopi pottery traditions by passing down her craft to her daughters and granddaughters,” Divjak said. “MPM has many of Nampeyo’s beautiful pottery pieces in its collection that will be showcased in conjunction with her story.”
The Hopi Nation are a living, thriving community who practice traditions that are hundreds of years old. In the Future Museum, visitors will be able to learn about this contemporary culture while also looking back in time to see what has changed and what has remained the same.
Cultural Counterpoint: Ancient Egypt
The Deserts will also take visitors thousands of miles across the globe and thousands of years into the past with a cultural counterpoint, Ancient Egypt. These exhibits will explore how the desert impacted ancient Egyptians’ beliefs and practices around death, answer questions about why mummies were made in the first place and dive into the symbols, icons and myths connected to death traditions. On display in these exhibits will be collections items including funerary objects and a sarcophagus.
Rattlesnake Button
Hidden within the desert scenery, visitors will have to find the rattlesnake button—continuing a cherished tradition from the current Museum and sharing that spirit of discovery with others. Exhibits will also explore the ways humans have had to adapt their footwear to protect themselves from snake bites.
Richard & JoAnn Beightol Hall: Grasslands
Grasslands and plains are home to an abundance of life, including our planet’s largest land animals and most bountiful agricultural areas.
African Serengeti Scene
In the Grasslands, visitors will be immersed in the African Serengeti. Exhibits will showcase the individuals, communities and animals who reside in that particular grassland – including Timba the Elephant and Simba the Lion, two familiar features currently on display at MPM.
Cultural Diversity in the Serengeti
Exhibits in the Grasslands will also explore the people and human cultures of the Serengeti, and how those communities and customs have been shaped by the landscape.
“The African Serengeti is a vast place on the planet, and it’s filled with a multitude of very different cultures that are responding to the landscape in distinct ways,” said Helen Divjak, Senior Curator, Experience and Interpretation at Thinc Design and a lead designer on the Future Museum project. “One of the ways this cultural diversity will be highlighted in Living in a Dynamic World will be through the exploration of sacred animals. Looking at animals like the elephant or lion and how they relate to different cultural perspectives can help visitors learn to appreciate these species in new ways.”
The Grasslands will also bring visitors back to the American Plains to look at Indigenous Plains peoples and how their environment is similar and different.
Arctic
In the Arctic hall, visitors will learn about one of the most extreme landscapes on the planet and how, despite that, the land provides for a wide variety of life forms and cultures.
Cultural Case Study: Sami
The Arctic will put a cultural spotlight on the Nordic Sami people. A key immersive scene will situate visitors on a vast northern-European tundra during a midsummer night, where dozens of reindeer will munch on moss against the background of a dusky pink sky, the summer sun still above the horizon at midnight.
Exhibits will examine how the Sami have shaped and been shaped by their Arctic landscape through adaptations in clothing and insulation, in how they get their food, fuel, water and other resources, and in their domestication of reindeer. Visitors will also be invited into a traditional Sami tent, or lavuu, to warm up and immerse themselves into the scene while learning more about Sami culture and customs.
Cultural Counterpoint: Inuit
Another scene will illustrate a different Arctic landscape, culture and time of year: the Inuits on the North American ice during a midwinter day. Walruses from the Museum’s collections will rest on ice floes against an immersive wallpaper and projection surface that creates a starry night sky shimmering with the Northern Lights. Stories about hunting and ice fishing will teach visitors about how residents of the Arctic adapt to their environments to get food.
Islands
In the Islands hall of the gallery, visitors will learn about the impact of isolation on nature, including stories of speciation and what it means for a certain species to exist in a limited geographical area. Visitors will also learn about islands that aren’t so remote, and instead help connect people and organisms to larger land masses.
The exhibits within the Islands hall focus on life and cultures in the South Pacific, as well as an Indigenous people of Japan, the Ainu.
Seafaring and Maritime Navigation
In a series of scenes that start on the surface of the water and progressively dive deeper into the sea, visitors will learn about maritime navigation and how people have gotten around islands. These exhibits will also explore the different animals and fish that live in the water, the impact that pollution has on both the ecology of oceans and islands and the communities that rely on the land for resources and industry.
“While tools and other practical instruments are crucial to understanding a culture and its relationship to the land, we are also looking at how people have used resources and created items from their natural environment not just for survival purposes but for adornment,” Divjak said. “For example, using seashells and tortoise shells for jewelry or money, or bamboo for clothing and instruments. We’re also going to showcase tattoo cultures and the traditions behind ornamentation of the body.”
This area is also one of the rare moments where there will be a window in the gallery. The natural light from outside will be used to add dimension and movement to the underwater scene as a boat floats overhead.
Mixing Zones
The Future Museum’s Mixing Zones will be two gathering spaces that will provide rare, behind-the scenes views into the collections’ storage areas and turn the Museum “inside out.” Items on display in the Mixing Zones will be frequently rotated, allowing visitors to see new-to-them items regularly and allowing the Museum to layer in even more educational opportunities as visitors gain access to items and ideas that have previously not been visible.
Three-story Showcase
Visible from multiple floors of the Future Museum, a dramatic glass case will show off a breadth and variety of items from the collections in the Museum’s care, ranging from ancient fossils and glittering gems, to boats, textiles, children’s toys and taxidermied specimens, such as Samson the gorilla. Placards and signage will help visitors understand the stories behind the objects and specimens on display.
Burke Foundation Mixing Zone
Made possible through a generous $2M gift from the Burke Foundation, the Burke Foundation Mixing Zone will give an inside look at what happens behind the scenes at a museum. An enormous window will offer views into the collections storage areas, where curators and scientists care for and study more than 4 million priceless artifacts and scientific specimens in the Museum’s care. In addition to giving a view into science-related collections and research, the Burke Foundation Mixing Zone will be a space for hands-on science education.
“Through the Burke Foundation Mixing Zone, our goal is to make science education and learning more accessible to children in our community, especially children of color,” said Tina Quealy, Executive Director of the Burke Foundation. “The development of the Future Museum is an opportunity to reimagine educational institutions, creating a space that is more equitable and sets the next generation up to be curious, thoughtful leaders. We look forward to seeing this important, innovative space inspire, educate and shape its youth visitors in the future.”
The Burke Foundation Mixing Zone will also feature a permanent exhibit highlighting Carl Akeley’s famous Muskrats diorama, the first “Milwaukee-style” exhibit which set the standard for natural museum histories around the world and is currently on display at MPM.
Cultural Mixing Zone
Situated next to the Living in a Dynamic World gallery, the Cultural Mixing Zone will remind visitors that different cultures offer varying perspectives on the Museum’s collections, each other and the world. In the Mixing Zone, this idea will be demonstrated primarily through cultural and zoological collections items.
The Cultural Mixing Zone will be a space where cultural experts from both within and beyond the Museum can share what they are learning, where skilled artisans and storytellers can practice their craft.
“A platform for storytelling and community-generated research and initiatives, the Cultural Mixing Zone will be dedicated to flexible exhibits, public interaction and special events and programs for the community to participate in,” said Dr. Censky. “The Museum’s collections may provide inspiration, or merely be a backdrop for members of the public, partner institutions and schools to share and showcase their many ways of knowing and understanding the world.”
Future announcements
Throughout the past two months, Milwaukee Public Museum and its exhibit design partners at Thinc Design have been rolling out previews of each permanent gallery to exist in the Future Museum, providing an inside look at a sampling of exhibits, collections items and features visitors can expect to encounter upon the Future Museum’s opening in late 2026.
The final gallery announcement will take place on May 23, introducing the Rainforest gallery, Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium and the Bucyrus Rooftop Terrace. The Rainforest will take visitors to the tropics to learn about the biodiversity that flourishes in tropical rainforests and the life rainforest climates support. The Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium will welcome visitors into a warm, lush greenhouse thriving with real tropical plants and live butterflies flying freely throughout the space. The Bucyrus Rooftop Terrace will be a gathering space to reconnect visitors to the outdoors and natural world.
Additional specific details about the full array of exhibits and collections items that will make up each gallery are still being determined and are subject to change as the design process progresses. Additional information about visitor amenities, including the lobby space, Museum store, café and programming, will also be shared in the future.
More information about the Future Museum, including architectural renderings and a project timeline, is available on the MPM website.
About the Milwaukee Public Museum
The Milwaukee Public Museum is Wisconsin’s natural history museum, welcoming over half a million visitors annually. Located in downtown Milwaukee, the Museum was chartered in 1882, opened to the public in 1884, and currently houses more than 4 million objects in its collections. MPM has three floors of exhibits that encompass life-size dioramas, walk-through villages, world cultures, dinosaurs, a rainforest, and a live butterfly garden, as well as the Daniel M. Soref Dome Theater & Planetarium. MPM is operated by Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc., a private, non-profit company, housed in a county-owned facility with collections that are held in trust and supported by Milwaukee County for the benefit of the public.
About the Future Museum
The Milwaukee Public Museum, Wisconsin’s natural history museum, will be relocating from its current location on Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee to a newly constructed building due to open in late 2026. To be located on a 2.4-acre site at the corner of Sixth and McKinley Streets in the Haymarket neighborhood adjacent to the city’s Deer District, the Future Museum will be the largest cultural project in Wisconsin history. Heavily influenced by the ecological histories of Milwaukee and Wisconsin, the design of the new Museum will be reminiscent of the geological formations in Mill Bluff State Park, emblematic of the region’s diversity of landscapes formed by the movements of water through time.
The building will be approximately 200,000 square feet, including five stories, with an additional 50,000-square-foot collections storage building. Groundbreaking for the building is slated for late 2023, with Mortenson and ALLCON overseeing construction. The Milwaukee Public Museum’s current home will remain open until the new space is finished.
About Thinc
Located in New York, Thinc is a global design firm serving clients in North America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. For nearly 30 years, Thinc has designed projects for a wide range of clients, including museums, science centers, aquariums, zoos, theme parks, corporations, and governments. Notable projects include the re-envisioned Empire State Building Observatory (TripAdvisor’s 2022 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best as the #1 National and #3 Top World Attraction), the National September 11 Memorial Museum; the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences; The Freedom Park in Pretoria, South Africa; The Jordan Museum; the USA Pavilion at the 2015 World Expo; and Terra, the Sustainability Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai. The firm has been the recipient of numerous prestigious international awards including the Red Dot Award, World Design Award, Core77 Design Award, Global Future Award, and many more. Founded by Tom Hennes in 1992 as an outgrowth of a successful, 15-year theatrical design practice, the firm has evolved into a dynamic and multi-disciplinary studio that transforms how people think about the world and each other. Showstoppers! represents a joyous return to those theatrical roots. To learn more visit thincdesign.com.
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