Mississippi Civil Rights Museum named for top design

Interiors + Sources magazine has named the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum among the most impactful African American focused museums for its design, just in time for February’s African American history month. Read more here.

The NEW American Museum of Science & Energy

Hilferty is excited to celebrate the opening of the NEW American Museum of Science & Energy. This challenging project fast-tracked the move and re-design of the existing museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, featuring the latest exhibit and technology available, fitting for a museum about groundbreaking innovation in science.

The new museum divides complex scientific information into key areas, including bold, modern graphics and hands-on activities to make information more engaging and accessible. Interactive features include lifting cans to represent the weight of different metals, and large touchscreen-tablets, like the “What Element Are You?” quiz in the Big Science area.

Other highlights include a game where visitors can rearrange various energy elements to try to form a successful power grid; a walk-through “air shower” like the ones used in nano labs; a 3-D printed Jeep; and a revolving exhibit of locally renowned Oak Ridge photographer Ed Wescott’s pictures of life in the “secret city”— some never before displayed.

Staff, community members, and former employees were all on-hand to celebrate. See more in this great article by the Knox News.

This Little Light of Mine wins Silver for Best Museum Environment in the 2018 Experience Design & Technology Awards

The awards just keep coming in! This Little Light of Mine, the three-story, interactive multi-media sculpture at the heart of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, won the Silver award for Best Museum Environment in the 2018 Experience Design & Technology Awards. Learn more about this great win here.

Athens Photo Project Debuts Downtown Public Display

Hilferty is actively involved in supporting its local community. The Athens Photo Project, founded in 2001, uses photography as a creative tool to improve the health of teens and adults with mental illness in Athens, Hocking, and Vinton counties in Appalachian Ohio. APP photographs have been featured in exhibits throughout the region, raising awareness for mental health care and celebrating students' talents.

Working with project staff and students, Hilferty has designed an outdoor exhibit to isplay work in downtown Athens for all to enjoy. This permanent exhibit is mounted on the exterior of a public parking garage, part of a central corridor of downtown activity. This display elevates the profile of the non-profit, celebrates participants work, and beautifies this urban corridor.

To view more images, visit our project page here.

South Eastern Museums Conference in Jackson, Mississippi Sees Peak Attendance

Hilferty was honored to be a part of the SEMC conference in Jackson, Mississippi this October. Key events were held at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and Hilferty helped to sponsor an evening reception, proud that hundreds of museum professionals from across the south eastern states could witness their award winning design work and collaboration with the staff of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

“Museums are living and breathing places…What we want to do is make sure that the stories are told authentically.”

Thank you to the Black Press USA for this insightful interview with Pamela Junior, director of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. “Museums are living and breathing places…What we want to do is make sure that the stories are told authentically.” Developed the project was an honor for our staff, who spent a great amount of time working alongside the museum and the community to identify and document the stories to be shared.

Click here to read the full article. 

"We don't need museums to calm us down... we need them to sound alarms."

A sober article that summarizes the social impact of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

"The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum offers no closure…The story it tells is still in progress: from 1960s Jackson, to Ferguson, Mo., Charlottesville, Va., and the 2017 White House. That the new museum says this outright, and leaves us upset, its story unresolved, is what makes it work. We don't need our museums--any of them--to calm us down; we need them to sound alarms."

Click here to read the full story.

“You hear the sounds of horror, but you hear the sounds of coming together.”

Thank you to the Los Angeles Times for this insightful article sharing and comparing the experiences of visiting the new Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

“Together, the two sites, about 250 miles apart, complement and build on each other, providing a modern, clear-eyed view of some of the country’s darkest moments.”

Click here to read the full article.

Hilferty presents at the Kentucky Museum and Heritage Alliance Conference in Louisville

Hilferty has had a strong presence in Kentucky museums for decades. Did you know that we helped create the Kentucky Horse Park and design the Kentucky Derby Museum?

Hilferty staff will be presenting at the Kentucky Museum and Heritage Alliance Conference in Louisville in June. Their innovative session, “Off the Shelf,” will use its name literally and figuratively. “Museums” come in all shapes and sizes – from volunteer operated to behemoth corporate institutions, in historic buildings or glossy ultra-modern galleries. What can we learn from and share with each other, and what can we beg, borrow, and steal from other fields? What can you get “off the shelf” to enhance what you have– or how can you re-think what is already on your shelves? This session will share a snapshot of today’s best projects in the field, with practical takeaways on how you can try it at home. 

Mississippi Civil Rights Museum wins two AAM MUSE Awards

Hilferty was honored to be recognized with two American Alliance of Museums Media and Technology MUSE Awards alongside our larger team including Monadnock Media, Inc., and staff from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

The awards include Honorable Mention for the Freedom Summer Immersive Theater and a Gold Award for the Chaney Goodman Schwerner Theater.

The American Alliance of Museums MUSE awards recognize outstanding achievement in media in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums media and celebrate scholarship, community, innovation, creativity, education and inclusiveness.

Join us for a Special Reception at AAM Phoenix Celebrating "This Little Light of Mine"

Join the team that created This Little Light of Mine for a special reception at the American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting in Phoenix.

The informal reception, led by Transformit, will include staff from Hilferty, Exhibit Concepts, Monadnock Media, and Communications Electronic Design, who will be on hand to share their stories about their innovative work on this project

This Little Light of Mine is a lighting sculpture of intertwined “blades” that consist of a metal framework and fabric, with a series LED lights mounted to the framework.  The sculpture is made up of 18 blades, and over 6000 total LEDs, that extend up into a three-story atrium and out into the museum exhibit galleries. The sculpture houses sensors which monitor visitor movement and allows the visitors to “direct” its lighting effects.  Speakers are located around the perimeter of the space, as well as in the bottom of the sculpture.  The sculpture “dances” during “show mode” to two songs, “This Little Light of Mine” and “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” performed by a local Mississippi choir.

Hilferty led the design for the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, the first state-sponsored museum of its kind in the US, which opened in December 2017. The This Little Light of Mine sculpture and gallery was designed as a space of inspiration and contemplation at the heart of the challenging museum exhibits. The fabric & tubular aluminum sculpture was constructed and installed by Transformit acting as a subcontractor for the exhibit fabricator Exhibit Concepts. The lighting and multimedia was programmed, produced, and installed by Monadnock Media, Inc. and their subcontractor CED - Communications Electronics Design.

The reception will be hosted at the Transformit AAM Expo booth from 3:30-5pm on Monday May 7. Refreshments will be served.

“In order to have a better future, you have to confront the past and the present.” Smithsonian National African American Museum Director Visits the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum was honored to have a visit by Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington D.C.

He toured the museum with Director Pam Junior. We were thrilled to see images of the two in front of our exhibits. Hilferty led the design for the new museum, which opened in December 2017.

Read more about his visit here.

How do we keep up? Our 2018 outreach schedule

Hilferty is passionate about museums – ever since our start in 1971. This year we are participating in over a half dozen conferences, workshops, and programs in the fields of museums, history, exhibits, and design.  We are presenting with our museum colleagues on topics like human rights, design, innovation, and building community relationships. We are learning about the latest trends in the field, in ideas and materials, so we can ensure our future projects are the best they can be for our partners.

Here’s an overview of where we have been and will be in 2018!

March 9-11, Building Museums Conference, Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, Philadelphia, PA

March 17, History Relevance Workshop, Harrodsburg, KY

March 21-23, Tennessee Museum Association, Pickwick Landing State Park, TN

April 14-16, Ohio Museum Association Conference, Dayton, Ohio

May 6-9, American Alliance of Museums Conference, Pheonix, AZ

June 10-12, Kentucky Museum and Heritage Alliance Conference, Louisville, KY

July 19-12, Association of Midwestern Museums Conference, Chicago, IL

September 26-29, American Association of State and Local History Conference, Kansas City, MI

October 8-10, South Eastern Museums Conference, Jackson, MS

Stay tuned! We have other proposals pending. Do you have an idea for collaboration? We are very open to exploring projects and programs that support learning and innovation in our field!