The first sketches of the new Milwaukee Public Museum’s “Time Travel” gallery were unveiled this morning.
Museum President and CEO Ellen Censky said the exhibit, which is the first of five that will be revealed over the next two months, showcases how the new museum will combine modernization with elements of the current facility.
“Full of familiar, reimagined features as well as exhibits with new-to-visitors collections items or concepts, Time Travel will focus on three of our planet’s geological chapters: the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras.” Censky said at a press conference today.
These three portions of the Time Travel will include reimagined elements from the current facility, such as the above pictured Silurian Reef. The reef is a much-beloved diorama at the current building, which at the new museum will likely include added projections and other effects. WTMJ captured a test video of what that could look like:
As for the Mesozoic Hall, it would include another favorite for current museum visitors: the Torosaur Clash, complete with audio and a lurking T. Rex.
One of the concerns about the new building will be an over-reliance on technology, with many hoping the new museum won’t be a “museum of screens”.
Oronde Wright is the Senior Exhibition Designer at Thinc Design and a lead designer on the future museum project. He says that is a key point that has been considered in the development process.
“I want to promise you that we will not have a museum that is filled to the brim with screens, and that is just a bright, white space.” Wright said today. “We want to make sure the stories we’re telling are object focused.”
The next gallery to be unveiled will be “Wisconsin Journey” on March 23rd, followed by “Milwaukee Revealed” on April 14th, “Living In A Dynamic World” on May 9th, and the “Rainforest, Puelicher Buttery Vivarium” and “Bucyrus Rooftop Terrace” on May 23rd.
