Nestled in 2,650 acres of protected land on the Chesapeake Bay in Edgewater, Maryland, sits the oldest building in the Smithsonian’s collection that’s still in its original location. Woodlawn House was built in 1735 for tobacco planter William Sellman and his family. The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) purchased the house in 2008 and rehabilitated …
Catching Up with Our Interns
Since we last caught up with SIE interns Bre Patterson and Vic Garrett, they’ve been busy! They have worked their way through SIE’s 3D studio, fabrication, and graphics departments; helped produce and install exhibitions; and even met Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch! We checked in with them to see what they’ve been up to. Bre spent …
Birthday Comic
Happy Birthday to Us! Okay, so a little early—our actual birthday is August 10—but it’s been a weird year and if we want our cake and comics a little early, so be it. This year, the Smithsonian turns the big 1-7-5! Which according to my notes … is well past human lifespans so I get …
A Souped-Up Prototype
What has eight cylinders, flashing lights, and vibrates when you touch it? The tactile engine prototype Smithsonian Exhibits recently designed and built for the National Air and Space Museum. This is a prototype of a hands-on interactive planned for NASM’s Nation of Speed exhibition, opening soon. NASM staff and volunteers will use the interactive …
Meet Our New Interns!
Smithsonian Exhibits is thrilled to welcome two new additions to our team: Bre’Launna Patterson and Victor Garrett who joined us in October for a year-long internship funded by the Smithsonian Institution. Bre and Vic will be working in SIE’s fabrication, graphics, and 3D studio departments. They will spend two months in each department, learning the …
Small Cars, Big Ideas
After being closed for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) reopened to visitors on September 18 with a brand new installation: The Automobile and American Art. The installation features more than 130 model cars donated by collector Albert H. Small. The cars may be small, but the ideas …
Looking for Signs
In these uncertain times (I had to start with that for my professional writer pandemic bingo card), we are all looking for signs. Signs that things are getting better. Signs that we will actually love the new normal. Signs that we can start doing some of those things we took for granted before. For SIE, …
Exhibit Developer: one of those jobs your guidance counselor never mentioned
If you’ve ever wondered why SIE sometimes has longer breaks between blog posts, there’s a very simple and logical reason for that: we aren’t professional bloggers. We have other jobs at SIE, and those responsibilities come first. So, while we love to keep people up-to-date on the blog, working on the exhibits is more important …
DECLASSIFIED! Mission: DIA Continues
Remember that time SIE got to work on all that top-secret stuff (only without getting to learn any of the actual secret parts)? I mentioned that our work on the Defense Intelligence Agency Museum was going to be done in a number of phases. Previously, I wrote about Phases 1 and 2. Now, we’re able …
Did That Graphic Just Change?
Have you ever walked past an exhibit graphic that seemed to move? Or maybe the image suddenly shifted? Your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you … the graphic was playing a trick on your eyes. These types of graphics are known as lenticular prints. What Are Lenticular Prints? Today’s lenticulars aren’t the moving image stickers …