Art at Large, Inc. and Charles Mack Design worked with guest curator Dr. Jonathan Michael Square as well as Alexandra Deutsch and Kim Collison of Winterthur Museum to actualize an imagined “Afric-American Picture Gallery” as described in the 1859 essay of the same name written by William J. Wilson, or ETHIOP.
Dr. Square selected historic objects from Winterthur’s collection to represent the essay’s fictionalized description of the “almost unknown Gallery,” even as the text ventures off into the surreal...
Our team was tasked with helping the visitor journey through the essay by enhancing the built environment around the objects—or “Pictures”—in the gallery.
What resulted was a multi-sensory, fully immersive experience.
Sankofa \SAHN-koh-fah\ n. [Akan, West African, literally, “go back and get it:]: the principle of reclaiming and learning from one’s past as a means for forward progress
Upon exploring the Winterthur collection, Dr. Square recognized an unremarkable trivet as the shape of a Sankofa—a symbol that spoke to the true essence of the exhibit’s purpose. This object was the conceptual starting point for the exhibit’s architecture and design rationale, presenting opportunities along the way for the visitor to simultaneously look ahead and look behind to revisit where they had once been.
William J. Wilson’s 1859 Essay “The Afric-American Picture Gallery” is available to read here
Fully-illustrated wallscapes for the built environment were created by Sally Wern Comport.
Immersive site-specific soundscapes were composed by Lindsay Bolin Lowery.
Following Dr. Jonathan Michael Square’s direction of visually capturing the essay’s unsettling and macabre feeling, the design team harnessed the serial narrative’s stage play-like quality to create an exhibit journey that was fully immersive for the visitor. Dramatic lighting, atmospheric sound, motion graphics, site-specific murals, and fields of color reinforce the expanding and contracting walls of the architecture itself.
Wilson’s original essay text appears in tandem with Dr. Square’s modern day curatorial voice, as well as his interpretation around the objects included in the exhibition. With multiple narratives, clear graphic delineations help the visitor understand the context of the views expressed throughout the exhibit.
To create The Underground Railroad and The Visitors sections of Wilson’s 1859 essay, the design team was inspired by the 19th century shadow play of “crankies”—an early moving picture art form advanced by a hand crank. Fully-illustrated cut paper silhouettes were animated using traditional and contemporary motion techniques and rear projected onto custom printed scrims.
The Visitors final installation
Scale model by Charles Mack Design
Additional exhibit views Courtesy of Winterthur Museum, Garden, & Library
Experience the making of the exhibit with Knowing the Unknown: Realizing “Afric-American Picture Gallery” by Robbie Isacson of Isacson Creative Works
This exhibit was made possible by Guest Curator Dr. Jonathan Michael Square • Designers Chuck Mack of Charles Mack Design Inc. Sally Wern Comport and Lindsay Bolin Lowery of Art at Large, Inc. • Production Partners Mark Ward and Pete Lockwood of P&M Exhibits • Curtis Bolin of Bay Walls Inc. • Robbie Isacson of Isacson Creative Works, LLC • DUO Signage + Graphics • Mid Atlantic Sets • Light Action • Echod Graphics
This exhibition would not have been possible without contributions from Winterthur’s colleagues in Curatorial, Conservation, Facilities, Finance, Information Systems, Library, Development, Interpretation and Engagement, Marketing, Membership, and Visitor Services. Chris Strand, Charles F. Montgomery Director and CEO • Alexandra Deutsch, John L. and Marjorie P. McGraw Director of Collections • Kim Collison, Curator of Exhibitions • Exhibitions Department Corinne Brandt, Kyrin Davis, Aaron Morris, and Liv Pancheri • Mack Truax, Lighting Designer • Sasha Makuka, Associate Registrar, Exhibitions and Loans • Teresa Vivolo, Manager of Publications and Editorial Services • Reggie Lynch, Director of Interpretation and Engagement • Natale Caccamo, Photographer • Alan Harbaugh, Web Developer
Advisors Vernon Bryant • Gabrielle Foreman • Reed Gochberg • Hannah Grantham • Jeff Groff • Ivan Henderson • Laura Johnson • Britt Russert • Jake Stevens • Elizabeth Way
