The old Ships Gallery sat fading and flaking under fluorescent lights, as it had since 1964. Under the winking, greenish glare, model ships and various nautical artifacts ranged from the sublime to the commonplace under a coat of white dust. Peeling exhibition text ensnared visitors’ minds in thickets of sea jargon. Harnessing an amazing in-house team, along with subject matter experts and conservators, we created a new storytelling framework, commissioned and designed new dioramas and models, new graphics, lighting and glass.

Big Atmosphere's principal, John Llewellyn led this project in his staff role at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Ramming speed! This Venetian warship, called a galley, was designed to ram its enemy. Photos (c) Museum of Science and Industry/JB Spector.

To add life to an old diorama, we commissioned nautical artist Sean Murtha to create a period-accurate backdrop. This is the City of New York steamer in drydock in Newport News, VA, 1901.

Hands on, minds on. This exhibit features the deck of an old brig. We designed it to be kid-friendly, so no juveniles end up in the brig!

Researching and writing new content was one of the joys of this project. So many stories to tell...

Since MSI is 400 feet from lake Michigan, it only made sense to feature the massive ships that ply the Great Lakes!

A variety of existing model and mount styles demanded that we design a flexible, yet cohesive graphic mounting system. Label copy captures the essence of each element and strives to inspire further questions.

Thousands of details delight Museum guests every day, as they envision themselves in miniature scenes of nautical derring-do. Professional conservators pored over every detail of the Ships Gallery collection and scientifically cleaned every millimeter. They also performed appropriate, reversible repairs to the delicate models. There's still a place for authentically real objects in museum experiences!