 |
| McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, Chicago, Illinois |
 |
| Jamestown Settlelment and Yorktown Center, Williamsburg, Virginia |
Though the process may be less familiar, choosing an exhibition designer is at least as important as choosing an architect. In a new institution, the work of the exhibition designer determines the organizing principles of the exhibition spaces, and later, the exhibits themselves. Will the galleries, say, be organized by genre? Or film craft? Or along a timeline? From the beginning of its museum effort, the Academy felt strongly about designing the institution from within rather than shoehorning exhibition spaces into a preexisting building, which meant finding an exhibition design firm before an architect.
The quest brought the Museum Committee in contact with designers from across the United States and Europe. The Committee sought a firm with a strong portfolio; a proven facility with popular culture, art and history; a collaborative spirit; and a track record of bringing projects in on time and on budget. At the same time, the Committee wanted to find a firm that expressed a true enthusiasm for this particular project and an exhibition design team it would enjoy working with. The process of exhibition design for a new institution takes years, not months, and the Academy wanted to ensure that its marriage would be a happy – as well as a productive – one.
This tall order began with a Request for Qualifications document that was sent to 30 firms. The 16 responses were carefully assessed. Once the list was pared to four finalists, Academy staff gathered the research that had been done in the previous two years, bound it into a daunting compendium, and sent it off with the Academy’s best wishes.
 |
| International Spy Museum, Washington, DC |
The four finalists were given a couple of months and a modest honorarium to work out their suggested approaches for the permanent exhibition spaces of the intended museum. Over two days in June, the four firms presented their ideas, and the winner was Gallagher & Associates, a company based in Bethesda, Maryland. Gallagher is no new kid on the block, having drawn widespread acclaim for its work on the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, the National Archives Experience in Washington DC, the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum in Chicago, the Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Center in Williamsburg, Virginia, and many exhibitions for the Smithsonian Institution. The Museum Committee feels confident that the company’s prior projects provide a strong and vital foundation for the challenging work our project now presents.
Gallagher’s staff is immersing itself in film – visiting studios and soundstages, talking with film scholars and educators, as well as the Academy members, governors and staff who comprise the Museum Committee. The intent is to better understand the goals, style and content of this unique project. Monthly meetings have generated some initial concepts for how to organize the galleries. These workshops will continue over the next year until we have a program and layout for the architect to build around.
