INTERPRETIVE PLANNING & EXHIBIT DESIGNER

America is a rich tapestry of people and experiences. These types of projects offer tremendous opportunities to not only enrich yourself with historical facts but to embrace the cultural context in which things occur. You can celebrate people that are dissimilar to you by understanding the challenges and triumphs that they have either experienced in the past or engage with every day. Racial or religious, artistic or industrious, these tales help create the collective story of “us.”

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS

Mosaic Templars Cultural Center - Core Gallery / ED

Mosaic Templars Cultural Center - Same, Different, Amazing / ED

Airstream Heritage Center - The Mothership / ED

Blacks In Wax - Core Gallery / ED

Charles Wright Museum of African American History / ED

Sigma Chi Fraternity Museum - Core Gallery / IP & ED

Finding my path within the realm of creating has been a long and winding one. Two degrees in fine art, while incredibly valuable to me, left me looking inward for creative purpose, introspective in a way that missed the point of my inherent “why”.  I hope to change the world in a way that transforms how people see themselves and each other within the natural and man-made settings of our world. Through these external efforts I feed something much more intrinsic in myself. How do we become more human with one another. By nature I am an extrovert. It is in those interactions that I find the most connective….powerful moments. I find opportunities to empower others particularly gratifying. My career has afforded the ability to design interpretively purposeful exhibits like museums, zoos and visitor centers. The purposes range from increasing conservation, preserving vanishing histories, to creating safe spaces for dialogue about topics such as race. I have also discovered a whole new vein of impact in creating early learning centers meant to not only educate preschoolers, but to instill wonderment and a life long love of learning. Empowering. Transforming. Removing barriers. This is why I create. This is the reason I follow the “why” of every client I work for so intently. Because real change through design is within reach.

INTERPRETIVE PLANNING & EXHIBIT DESIGNER

The education of our youngest students is undergoing a transformation. The days of the desk are fading, replaced by environments meant to engage their hearts and minds in profound ways. Build confidence while creating a sense of wonderment for a child and you’ll create a love of learning that is always within reach. Designing multi-facetted platforms for exploration gives teachers the set-pieces to expound on, bringing their own expertise and experience to the shaping of young minds. Not to put too fine a point on it, but our job is to ruin kindergarten.

Representative Projects

Mansfield ISD - Jandrucko Academy for Early Learners / ED

Alief ISD - Early Childhood Centers / ED

East Noble School Corporation - Pre-K / ED

Goose Creek CISD - Early Childhood Centers / ED

ESC Region 19 - Naturezeum / ED

CDC of Franklin County - RISE Academy / ED

EcoLand Early Learning Center - Exterior Exhibits / ED

INTERPRETIVE PLANNING & EXHIBIT DESIGNER

It isn’t “all in the details”. History has a story to tell. It isn’t a counting of facts. Google can be queried for the tidbits but the character and context necessary to truly connect with a story requires more intangible qualities. Many of these tales also come with an abundance of artifacts and objects, making defining the intent of the project even more vital to avoid it becoming more about things and less about purpose. Capturing the essence of bygone eras can prove challenging yet incredibly satisfying. Be it stories of innovation in industry or courage during in theaters of war, there is much we can glean about our futures by looking to our past.

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS

Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum - Bank Building/ IP & ED

Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum - Switching Tower / IP

National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum - Cold War / ED

National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum - WWII / ED

Dayton History - Leadership Gallery / ED

Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center - Lewis & Clark / ED

Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center - Bodmer & Maximillian / ED

Fulton Mansion State Historic Site - Visitor Center / ED

Red River Valley Museum - Berry Gallery / IP & ED 

TRAVELING INTERPRETIVE & COMMERCIAL EXHIBITS

In today’s day and age, some exhibits have to become mobile to access the target audience. An effective way to reach educational systems that have budgetary restraints on field trips is to design an experience in a semi trailer that can be driven to the schools themselves. Likewise, when bringing a large number of potential clients to your location is unrealistic, a tour that utilizes a pull-behind trailer can bring your business to them. By not being tied to a site, a whole new set of design criteria come into play. Accessibility, resistance to the elements, available space and set-up all require greater planning. However, the benefit of not waiting for the visitor to come to you is hard to beat.

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS 

University of Dayton - RiverMobile / ED

AEP _Mobile Vehicle / ED

Emerson Network Power - Mobile Trailer / ED

INTERPRETIVE PLANNING & EXHIBIT DESIGNER

As an avid outdoorsman, exhibits that highlight nature feed a special part of my soul. Stories of salamanders or tales of toads bring a smile to my face. The sounds of bird calls or flowing water put a glint in my eye. Connecting our wellbeing to the wellbeing of the natural world rings true to me. Conservation, stewardship and a basic respect for the world around us fuels designs meant to remind us to stop and smell the wildflowers or pause to take pleasure in the passing wildlife while enjoying the outdoors.

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS

Killens Pond Nature Center / ED

Aullwood Audubon Center & Farm / ED

Narrows Reserve Nature Center / IP & ED

Red River Valley Museum - Bond Gallery / IP & ED

Brukner Nature Center / ED

Logoly State Park Visitor Center / ED

INTERPRETIVE PLANNING & EXHIBIT DESIGNER

Exhibits that embrace STEM have expanded substantially in scope to include the full gamut of age ranges. Gone are the stuffy science centers of yore, replaced with energetic and engaging spaces meant to reach people of all types and genders. Even Pre-K experiences have children employing principles such as physics, weather and life sciences in new and exciting ways. Discovery has become the focus, seeking to open the minds of visitors to the idea that the unknown is valuable, worth digging in to and that the kinds of breakthroughs that have changed the world could, with effort and collaboration, be within reach. Science surrounds us, demystifying that which confounds, replacing it with a thirst for knowledge and a confidence and eagerness to participate in the discovery process.

Representative Projects

Mound Cold War Discovery Center - IP & ED

Southdale Habitat Center - ED

Boonshoft Museum of Discovery - ED

Shelby County Historical Society - IP

EXHIBIT DESIGNER

Environmental design plays a tremendous role in how we interact with the world around us. While many people take for granted the design efforts that have shaped the flow, experience and visual appeal of public spaces, those same design efforts are sometimes applied to the environments we work in. By focusing on the needs of the people who use a space, increased success can be found in areas such as encouraging collaboration, work flow efficiencies, and psychological well being. Creating an experiential identity for an office space can connect an employee with the brand they work for, generating excitement and buy-in. Including an interpretive component in the design allows and additional platform for current messaging, product awareness and presenting the corporate mission.

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS

American Airlines Interior Concept / ED

Emerson Climate Technologies Interior Concept/ ED

Emerson Industrial Automation Interior Concept/ ED

Vascular Specialties Interior / ED

UTAS Troy Corporate Interior / ED

Hospice of Dayton Interior Cases / ED

EXHIBIT DESIGNER

Be it a modular system or a custom booth, certain aspects of tradeshow design always hold true. It will need to travel. It will need to be set up in a reasonably quick and easy manner. It should be as light as possible to avoid exorbitant drayage costs. It should be able to engage with visitors in an overcompetitive, overstimulating show hall. These parameters, coupled with many more nuanced requirements, create a very specific and unique landscape for design. While the concept of subtlety is inherently lost in these settings, the ability to be grand, go big and create meaningful experiences is exciting.

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS

Alopolic / ED

Humana / ED

Aviall / ED

Starbucks / ED

RL Polk / ED

Abbott Nutrition / ED

Emerson Network Power / ED

EXHIBIT DESIGNER

Part briefing center, part corporate interior, innovation centers focus on the product lines and technological breakthroughs that set them apart in the industry. These spaces split time between training key employees and functioning as a sales tool meant to create a bit of magic, visual wow and hopefully some new business opportunities. The space need to have the built-in flexibility necessary to highlight new innovations and product lines as they arise. No matter the industry, the voice of the individual company needs to come through to resonate with the visitors in a way that feels genuine enough to gain buy-in that you are the partner they have been looking for.

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS

Dayton Superior - Innovation Center / ED

Vertiv - Customer Experience Center / ED

I DESIGN EXPERIENCES

Those come in many forms, even the culinary kind. I’ve kept an extensive garden of pepper plants for years now…lovingly known as the garden of doom. Ranging from the delectable yet mild poblanos and jalapeños to the fear inducing trinidad scorpions and devil’s tongues, I deal in heat. It has even become a bit of a point of indoctrination for the circles I run in…a way of challenging one another and commiserating in a bit of bad decision making. But as much as I enjoy the pain of the peppers simply chopped up and mixed with some food, the real pleasure comes from the hot sauces I craft. My father and I make an extensive line of flavor-focused sauces ranging in punch from “enough to raise an eyebrow” to “this is a horrible, horrible mistake but it tastes sooooo damned good".”

CURRENT SCOVILLIAN ENDEAVORS INCLUDE:

The Angry Goat - Poblano / Butch T Sauce

Oh Deer - Chipotle Tabasco / Caterpillar Pepper Sauce

Holy Cow - Vindaloo Curry Sauce

Green Doom - Poblano / Chocolate Scorpion Sauce

Black Mole Sauce (Still Naming this one)