Are Dioramas a Dying Art Form?

Nope. If done well, research says that they can “increase familiarity with a place, inspire a desire to visit it, and directly help visitors feel more connected to it.”

Is there someplace that you have never been, but feel connected to in some way? Maybe you feel a particular connection because of a book you read or a movie you saw?

As interpretive exhibit designers, we are often trying to create connections between visitors and places they may have never visited. One way we might do this is through the creation of specific dioramas or immersive scenic and environmental elements. For our nature center clients, we often use habitat dioramas to transport visitors to various geographic locations around the world. But is this method effective? Are dioramas an old school museum art form? Do they really create connections with visitors or are they just “cool things” to look at?

A recent study by the Garibay Group researched habitat dioramas and their ability to create a sense of place for visitors. Dioramas located in the Field Museum (Chicago) and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science were studied. Interestingly, “on average, visitors expressed stronger feelings of Bondedness for places where they had first-hand experience, whether at the exact place depicted at the diorama or a similar place of which the diorama reminded them.”

So it appears that, yes, dioramas can create connections with visitors. However, based on the study, it seems that visitors are connecting due to familiarities within the dioramas (animals, plants, etc.) that they then relate to past personal experiences or prior knowledge and not necessarily the designer’s intended purpose. Regardless, having visitors walk away with new connections, something in their hearts and minds, is ultimately what we as interpretive exhibit designers desire.