If you’ve had the opportunity to visit the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C, you can attest to the fact that the experience is nothing short of breathtaking. The meticulous planning of every detail that goes into the placement of the close to 37,000 objects on display contributes to the flow, aesthetic, and overall experience. Organizing these artifacts in a way that powerfully communicates the stories of the many trailblazers, visionaries and history makers who helped shaped this great nation is no small feat, but design firm, Ralph Appelbaum Associates executed the job with precision.
It was announced on Tuesday that the New York-based firm responsible for some of the country’s largest and most notable museum designs, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, has been tapped by the Obama Foundation to lead the planning for the exhibits at Barack Obama’s presidential library in Chicago. “We are honored to lead this incredible exhibition design team and to collaborate with the Obama Foundation to help develop a presidential center that reflects the dynamism and openness of the Obama presidency and encourages and supports civic engagement,” founder Ralph Appelbaum said.
Appelbaum, who also helped to design the exhibition spaces in former President Bill Clinton’s library in Little Rock, AK., will work together with a team of Chicago firms, that know the city and the South Side very well, to design the exhibition spaces in Obama’s library and museum when it’s built in Jackson Park. Obama met with community leaders in Chicago last week to begin fundraising for the construction of the library. We look forward to seeing Obama’s Presidential Library house his legacy on the South Side of Chicago.
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