Winning Gamble or Just Another Stop in the Land of Lincoln?

Wednesday, October 8, 2014 7:07 PM by Taylor Studios in Design and Planning


A case study on the Lincoln Heritage Museum design

Several years ago, my wife and I moved to Illinois so that I could work on a master’s degree. Even though I grew up in the Midwest, I didnt know much about Illinois other than it was home to Chicago and its slogan is Land of Lincoln (credit Illinois license plates for knowledge of the latter). Fast forward eleven years and; I’m still in Illinois, an official resident, and art director at Taylor Studios Inc., a museum exhibit design and fabrication firm.

Working for Taylor Studios, and frankly, just residing in Illinois, has created ample exposure to our 16th president long before Taylor Studios contracted for our first Lincoln museum design and fabrication. However, I was to get to know Lincoln much more profoundly once our project to redesign The Lincoln Heritage Museum on the campus of Lincoln College, located in Lincoln, Illinois began. The number of “Lincolns” in the prior sentence alone alludes to the preoccupation I would have with this great man for the next couple of years.

Lincoln Heritage Museum

Before the new museum building was constructed, The Lincoln Heritage Museum (LHM) was relatively small in size, especially considering the wealth of priceless artifacts it possessed, including: a lock of Lincoln’s hair, Tadd’s rocking chair, Mary Lincoln’s clothes, and several authentic documents. In addition to having an inadequate amount of space for displaying their collection, the overall atmosphere of LHM was dated, including their display cases, which created artifact conservation concerns. With dedicated funds and plans to relocate to a new facility on campus (that more than tripled their former space), LHM hired Taylor Studios. Our objective was to create a unique and engaging experience that would appeal to children as well as Lincoln scholars. In addition, the designed space required enough flexibility to support the rotation of artifacts, host special events, and involve, in the exhibits themselves, living history characters.

During our first onsite meeting with LHM it became clear we had our work cut out for us; the Lincoln Heritage Museum’s mission:

…to interpret for the public the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln and the world in which he lived-particularly as it pertained to Illinois-and to be an academic resource for students from elementary school through adulthood. We invite all to learn from Lincoln, and live like Lincoln.

How, in Illinois, in the “Land of Lincoln” were we going to “interpret for the public the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln” in a unique and engaging way? Hasnt every angle on Lincoln’s life been done before, especially in Illinois? In fact, when I mentioned to a friend of mine that I was working on a new Lincoln museum, he responded, “Well, Ive been to the big one in Springfield. It was impressive, but I really didnt feel like I learned anything new. To me, most of the Lincoln sites seem to basically be the same. Are you guys planning on doing anything different?” Admittedly, with a little uneasiness in my stomach, I answered, “Certainly.”

History Wasnt Changing

Lincoln’s history wasnt going to change, so if we were going to help this museum become a destination, we were going to have to devise a method with which to make it fresh and exciting. And, as if that wasnt a big enough challenge, we were competing against the “big one in Springfield” as my friend named it. That big one? The multi-million dollar Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, in our state capitol, Springfield, Illinois, roughly thirty minutes away. Was it even possible to design an experience that could compare on a mere fraction of the “big one’s” funding?

Back at Taylor Studios, things were in full swing to develop a concept that would not only work, but outrival, as well as electrify and unite the LHM team. After many brainstorming sessions, concept and thumbnail sketching, debate, and discussion we landed a provocative concept. The perfect idea? An idea that LHM was either going to embrace wholeheartedly or kick us out of their offices.

A Life Review

Our concept: engage the guest by telling Lincoln’s story as though he was experiencing a life review.

A life review is a phenomenon widely reported as occurring during near-death experiences, in which a person rapidly sees much or the totality of his or her life history in chronological sequence and in extreme detail. It is often referred to by people having experienced this phenomenon as having their life flash before their eyes. (Wikipedia)

From the time that Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater on the evening of April 14, 1865, to the moment when he actually passed away at Peterson’s Boarding House the next morning, there was a time span of roughly nine hours. Somewhere, in that time, it is conceivable that Lincoln could have experienced a life review. By definition a life review, was a fantastic vehicle by which to tell Lincoln’s story. It was unique…and if done correctly, could be completely engaging.

The Taylor Studios design team’s enthusiasm for the concept made it an easy sell to LHM. Intrigued by the idea of a life review, LHM was excited at the possibilities too. Our collaborative design journey had begun. However, just because LHM believed in our idea does not mean the implementation of the concept was not without significant challenges.

Credibility at Stake

Because this concept put the historical Lincoln in a theoretical situation, there was the issue of the museum’s credibility. How would the Lincoln scholars and historians respond? This question plagued LHM the entirety of the project, and rightfully so. Thankfully, LHM was open to our artistic recommendations; open to creative ways of presenting the facts without ever compromising on the facts.

Another twist to our life review concept was that we wanted the entire experience to be told in first person narrative, using documented quotes of Lincoln’s family and friends. To our knowledge, there was not a Lincoln experience that had done this before…and we soon found out why. Using quotes to weave Lincoln’s story together proved to be quite challenging. It wasnt due to a lack of quotes to choose from—there are hundreds—but historical credibility of the sources. On several occasions, I know that the design team thought we had bitten off more than we could chew. However, with every road block that we faced, there came a creative solution.

Of course there were other challenges along the way, but most importantly the life review concept held its ground. It became a dramatic, immersive, interactive audio visual experience that allows guests to walk along side Lincoln as he witnesses his life “flash before his eyes.” Not only do guests learn basic facts about Lincoln and his life, but also the experience was designed to correspond directly to specific reputable characteristics that Lincoln possessed, characteristics such as honesty, intellect, empathy, and perseverance to name a few. Using these attributes as a way to organize portions of the guest experience allowed us as designers to directly tie in a goal of the museum’s mission which is to have guests Learn from Lincoln and Live like Lincoln.

Worth the Gamble?

So was our gamble on a unique and original idea worth the effort? Are we engaging guests? Are they learning something new? The Lincoln Heritage Museum officially opened to the general public this past April with great reviews. As with any new thing, it is common to have a surge of visitation on the front end, but a true indicator of success is if those numbers remain constant or increase over time. At this point, the museum has been open for a little over four months and has drawn in over 2,600 guests, surpassing the number of guests that would have normally visited the old museum in an entire year.

So, what do I know about Illinois now? Chicago is here, it is the Land of Lincoln and there is a great museum about Lincoln, at Lincoln College, about thirty minutes away from Springfield, Illinois in a town called Lincoln, Illinois.

Share this on social networks