Ok, so maybe these aren't exactly top-secret, but they're certainly exclusive. Now, as the Digital Marketing Maven around here, I definitely do a lot of lurking around the shop taking photos of my own, but I've gone a little rogue for our fans on this one. I went sneaking around and stole these pics out of our actual project Slack channels and put them here to give you a proverbial "how the sausage is made" for some museum projects we're currently working on.

These photos were all taken by our folks on the floor—the women & men who make the magic happen on a granular level, dealing with the nitty-gritty details of each element of a project. While these pieces might not look like much on their own, they ultimately become part of a finished whole: the epic storytelling we see when we walk through our favorite museums. So now, you lucky ducks, I present to you 20 photographs of our work behind the scenes.

The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK

The Gilcrease project is undoubtedly a team effort. It takes a lot of creative, capable minds to pull off a newly built, 9,000 sq ft facility with over 350,000 items in its collection. We've had the pleasure of collaborating on this project with the talented teams at Gilcrease, Scenario Global, and G&A. The "collection" we're contributing is made up of a huge variety of built elements. We're fabricating pieces large and small for this one: walls, simple-but-sturdy plinths, reader rails, wall graphics, artifact cases, artifact mounts...the list is honestly quite long. But it's been a great way to show off our truly diverse museum capabilities. This completely reimagined museum is slated to open later this year, and we can't wait to visit!

Exhibit A: Walls.

Not to toot my own team's horn, but we are really good at building walls.

Wall building isn't necessarily as straightforward as it seems. They can be massive but moveable. They can be light as a feather, but durable enough to stand the test of time.

It turns out walls—just like everything else we build—can be fully customized to fit the myriad needs of the museum they'll live in.

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Exhibit B: The Dome.

This large and lovely lady has gone through many stages of life, all guided by DFW's ever-capable, ever-innovative Finishing Department Lead, Robin. This piece will eventually be a suspended ceiling for a space at Gilcrease.

Now when you visit the museum, you'll be the cool cat who can turn to your friends, hike your thumb at this big, beautiful dome above you and say, "I knew this gal before she was famous."

Exhibit C: Artifact Mounts.

These tiny pieces do some very heavy lifting. In case you haven’t been paying attention, I'm here to tell you that our Museum Exhibition Specialist, Shaynna, is insanely good at her craft. (And if you seriously haven't been paying attention, get it together and go read this. It's ok...I'll wait.)

Whether she’s selecting a display box adhesive that won’t toxically off-gas and deteriorate the artifact it’s meant to protect, or ensuring the delicate tines that suspend an ancient bowl aloft in space are earthquake-rated, her depth of knowledge is impressive, to say the least.

Trust me when I say this: any artifact, no matter how aged or precious, would be safe in Shaynna’s expert, caring hands.

A Mystery Museum Somewhere in Georgia

To the untrained eye, this may just look like a bunch of metal we keep around so we can take pictures of sparks flying and feel like super-cool badasses. I mean, we did accomplish that, of course. But let's do some eye-training, shall we?

What you're actually looking at are the many, many pieces of raw modular steel that we've painstakingly cut, welded, and bolted together to eventually become 16 cases of varying sizes for never-before-seen Civil War artifacts.

While we're not at liberty to disclose where these are going, we are excited to head to Georgia when they're in their forever home to see the part they're destined to play.

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Bossier Parish Library History Center, Bossier City, LA

We've been selected as the fabrication partner for this "collective parish memory" project inside Bossier City's Central Library building. The new History Center will proudly tell the stories of its home area through interactive maps, murals, archival photographs, and several other experiential elements we're hoping will breathe life into history for those walking in the present. The new & improved History Center will open later this year.

Exhibit A: The Old Shed Road Replica.

Ok, time for a little story: in its day, the Shed Road was a local revelation with national impact. Before it was built, transportation in and out of the parish (and therefore commerce to Shreveport and New Orleans) ground to a halt during the rainy season, as the existing passage became a swampy quagmire.

Then some absolute geniuses in Bossier Parish decided to build a raised, covered road spanning nine miles that became both the first covered roadway and America's first superhighway (according to local papers, anyway)!

While this piece of history was foisted by the railroad and put out to pasture in the late 1880s, visitors will still be able to step into the replica and get an authentic feel for the era.

Exhibit B: The Movable Pedestal.

This piece may look simple, but it's got some sneaky engineering under its shiny veneer. We had to build it to be moveable, but rated for half a ton of weight.

Whatever they're putting on this mighty platform is obviously of historic value, because our team not only had to build it extra strong, but we also had to incorporate removable panels for quick + easy access to the brakes.

This gem looks polished, but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.

Exhibit C: The Caddo Diorama

When you're building a large, museum-quality diorama, you need someone on your team who's really good at making stuff look like other stuff. Enter stage left once again: Robin!

This absolute materials genius has been using scenic finishing basics like cement, epoxy, and urethane to mimic soil, water, tree bark, and other elements of nature.

Particularly exciting about the work on this diorama: we also get to build a full-size replica of a Caddo Hut, as this exhibit is dedicated to the history that pre-dates parish (and state) lines: that of the native people of the Red River valley.

That's all for now, folks. Each of these unassuming pieces you've just learned about will rise to greatness when their exhibits go live to the public. I don't know about you, but I find these photos fascinating once I understand their context. And the more you know about your favorite museum exhibits, how they came to be built, and what they're made of, it makes your already rewarding museum experience that much richer.

Stay curious, my friends! And stay tuned. Who knows when I might get the urge to go digging in the shop's business again.

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Do you have a vision for your next museum exhibit? Let us help you build it. From delicate artifacts to massive plinths and cases, we've got you. Let's get started today!

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