Building a creative exhibition infrastructure for Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT, significantly expanded the institution’s gallery space and public profile with the 2016 addition of the Thompson Exhibition Building. Mystic Seaport’s leadership set a high bar when planning the first major exhibition for the new building, intending the project to usher in a new era of creative thinking and audience-centered engagement at the Seaport.

In the early stages of this process, the museum leadership brought me in to help the exhibition development team jump-start their energy and technique: in other words, to “teach them to fish.” Working with my longtime collaborator Linda Norris, I developed a series of activities, conversations, and conceptual models to help the team establish a creative infrastructure for their individual and collective process.

Linda and I guided the exhibition staff through workshops in identifying a big idea—sea change—as well as conceptual themes, signature objects, and interpretive ideas. Shortly after the new building opened in September 2016 I returned to bring a similar level of engagement, creative practice, and shared language to the interpretive guides who provide live programming in the Thompson Building.

Read this review of the exhibition Sea Change in Connecticut Magazine.