The installation was created by internationally award-winning exhibit designers, Creative Arts Unlimited, Inc. of Pinellas Park, FL. They designed the space layout and created the interactive exhibits for the museum.
“We approached this project the way we approach every Florida museum since they each share similar story lines regarding the birth of agriculture, the railroad, real estate development, innovation, etc.,” said CAU President Roger Barganier who trained at the Ringling College of Art in Sarasota, FL as book illustrator before founding his company with CEO Chuck Stanmore 28 years ago.
“Most all of Florida’s history has been paved over and lost. Those who are interested in preserving the past do so because they recognize its value. And this is a great ‘go-to’ for the city. Every brick in that building is historic!”
In this case we had an old Mizner-style building from the 1920s and a working library within which to tell the story, said Barganier. The history here is so rich and dense it would take days to absorb it all.”
Our team created exhibits that would appeal to a broad age range, from children to adults, said Barganier who produced each of the exhibits from inception to installation – from initial sketches and type fonts to the actual structures using a talented team of graphic designers, illustrators, woodworkers, architects, interior designers, fabricators and computer technicians.
His personal favorite? “Being a WW2 buff airplane buff it was exciting to build the 1/6 scale front end of the B17 that is suspended from the ceiling,” he said. “It’s a Jewel box of a space. Visitors look upward into the nose and cockpit to watch a three-minute loop of actual 1942/43 combat footage that is projected onto a wraparound mural graphic that hosts a digital projection loop. The visual display is accompanied by an audio loop featuring the sounds of chatter from the air crew.
The Timeline is another favorite of the team’s.
“It’s the mother of all timelines – an 80 foot long animated timeline that’s literally like walking into a story book,” said Barganier. “It’s amazing. Everything we do has to tell a story.”
CAU’s work is featured in the Amazon Prime documentary, Museum Men. https://www.amazon.com/Museum-Men-Season-1/dp/B00Q5LFO04
