New Projects

Rend Lake Visitor Center

Taylor Studios, in conjunction with Innovative Technical Solutions, Inc. (ITSI) and Merrick & Company, is designing and fabricating exhibits for the new Rend Lake Visitor Center in Benton, IL. Exhibits will immerse visitors in the cultural and natural history of Southern Illinois. ITSI is the general contractor and Merrick & Company is the architect for the new building. The development is an Army Corps of Engineers project.

Logoly State Park

Taylor Studios has been contracted by Arkansas State Parks to design exhibits for the Logoly State Park Visitor Center near McNeil, AR. The 368-acre park is Arkansas’ first environmental education state park. Exhibits will showcase the natural history of the area and help visitors appreciate and explore the park’s unique mature and old growth forest. The design phase will be completed this year followed by the fabrication phase.

Jacksonport State Park

Arkansas State Parks hired Taylor Studios to design exhibits for the visitor center at Jacksonport State Park located near Newport, AR. Exhibits will highlight the history of this once booming Civil War town that was occupied by both Union and Confederate troops. The design phase will be completed this year followed by the fabrication phase.

Lewis & Clark Ft. Mandan Foundation —
North Dakota Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center

Taylor Studios will once again be working with the Lewis & Clark Ft. Mandan Foundation to design, build, and install exhibits at the ND Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. The Foundation is in the process of expanding the space and has acquired a large collection of Lewis & Clark-era artifacts that will be displayed. Taylor Studios will work with the Foundation to design new exhibit areas and to incorporate current exhibits into other areas of the center.

Sinnemahoning State Park Visitor Center

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has chosen Taylor Studios to write an interpretive plan then design, fabricate, and install exhibits for the new visitor center at Sinnemahoning State Park in Austin, PA. The building is currently under construction. When finished, an approximate 1,000 square-foot exhibit hall with be the nucleus of the center. The interpretive planning phase of the project begins in February 2010 with the entire project wrapping up in Fall 2011.

National Great Blacks in Wax Museum

In 2003, Taylor Studios began preliminary designs for the National Great Blacks Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. The project was put on hold when the client realized they needed more space. Since then, the museum has acquired the entire 1600 block of North Avenue and Eareckson Place and Bethel Street behind the museum. Currently, we are planning and designing narratives, interactive interpretive exhibits, and audiovisual elements for the new exhibit galleries. The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum is a wax museum that is dedicated to the history of African Americans.

Turkey Run State Park

Taylor Studios was hired by the State of Indiana to create new exhibits at the Turkey Run State Park Nature Center. Using the interpretive plan that was written in 2008, the exhibits will interpret natural and cultural history that makes the park unique.

Killens Pond State Park Nature Center

Killens Pond State Park is located in Delaware. Taylor Studios will design, fabricate, and install a visitor experience focused on the herpetological diversity of the state. The exhibits will feature naturalistic habitats with live animals, graphics, and interactives. These exhibits will be centered in the 600 square foot Exhibit Room and will also expand into other areas of the center.

Nevada State Railroad Museum -
Jacobsen Interpretive Center

The Jacobsen Interpretive Center is a 10,500 square foot museum facility. Taylor Studios has been contracted to complete the final design, engineering, fabrication, and installation of permanent exhibits in the space. The new exhibits will interpret the impact the railroad had on the State of Nevada. The museum collections include locomotives, surveying equipment, tools, photographs, maps, and more.

Cleveland Metroparks West Creek Reservation

Taylor Studios has been hired to design exhibits for a 2,000 square foot space in the Stewardship Center at the West Creek Reservation. Through volunteer efforts, this property was and is being returned and preserved to its natural state. The Stewardship Center is designed to recognize the dedication that it took for the volunteers to clean up the site. It is also intended to inform and elicit further action from new volunteers as they see how the watershed affects their daily lives. This is a newly developed park making it Cleveland’s 16th Metropark Reservation.

Grayslake History Museum

The Grayslake Historical Society is in the process of building a new building for their museum. They have hired Taylor Studios to design and build exhibits that will highlight the history of the area. The design phase of the project is underway. The completed exhibits will be installed in May 2010.

National Museum of the Marine Corps

The National Museum of the Marine Corps has hired Taylor Studios to complete 12 full-body life-cast figures. Taylor Studios will make body molds from active duty Marines in various poses to depict WWI-era Marines. The Museum selected the Marines to be sculpted based on not only physical characteristics, but also, and probably more importantly, because they have been in similar situations as the WWI-era Marines they are portraying. Marc Dams, Shawn Hensley, and Curt Walker have made several trips to Washington D.C. to work with the Marines. See progress of their work at Zimbio, Getty Images 1, and Getty Images 2.