News
The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway takes you on a journey through the towns, villages, historic sites, farms, rivers, and scenery, which reflect the Chesapeake culture that gave rise to Tubman. RWD is proud to be designing the interpretive graphics as well as writing and researching the interpretive content for the Byway’s wayside exhibits. The route is 125 miles long and it meanders through what many consider to be the heart of the Chesapeake Bay. From Dorchester County, visitors follow a route north through Caroline County where many Maryland abolitionists supported the cause of freedom. In October 2009, the Harriet Tubman Byway was designated as an All American Road through the Federal Highway Administration. To be an All-American Road, a byway must be “… a destination unto itself” and offer the best of history, culture, recreation, scenery, geology and/or archeology in the nation. The Byway links together other opportunities for exploration that include water trails, bike routes, Main Streets, Arts and Entertainment Districts and Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.
RWD is currently planning and designing exhibits for the Bethlehem Landing Visitor Center in Bethlehem, PA. The project is located on the planned SteelStacks Campus, an emerging arts and cultural destination on the former Bethlehem Steel Plant. The visitor center will be located in the former Stock House building of the plant. An important component will be the visitor center, which will orient visitors to local programming and events, regional attractions, overnight accommodations and shopping and dining opportunities in the Lehigh Valley. The exhibits will feature the latest interactive technology to allow visitors further exploration into the cultural history of Lehigh Valley and how the local steel industry helped to build America.
RWD and the National Park Service held an Exhibit Planning Workshop to refresh the exhibits in the Fort Harrison and Cold Harbor Visitor Centers. The planning team identified thematic goals, different types of visitors and desired visitor experiences. Fort Harrison and Cold Harbor have significant connections to the Peninsula, Petersburg-Richmond, and Grant’s Overland Campaigns. Some of the stories will include but not be limited to the advances in strategy and tactics from 1862 to 1864, the depiction of soldiers’ life through diary entries and letters, and the importance of the preservation of battlefield sites. The battlefields are the most amazing artifacts to see, therefore visitors will be provided with a list of opportunities to discover once they leave the visitor center. Check out the refreshed exhibits in June of 2012!
RWD recently designed and installed new exhibits in the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Old Woman Creek State Nature Preserve & National Estuarine Research Reserve. The new estuary exhibits include dioramas featuring live animals and interactive maps, video, and games. Estuaries like Old Woman Creek protect Lake Erie by removing pollutants from streams and rivers and benefit coastal communities by buffering against floods and erosion. The estuary serves as a field laboratory where scientists can study this naturally functioning system and as a place where visitors can learn about estuarine ecology in a natural setting. RWD is also designing a mobile interactive trail map to enhance visitors’ experience as they explore one of the few remaining freshwater type estuaries in the Lake Erie region.
RWD worked closely with the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission to develop an immersive experience within an expandable tractor-trailer. Its purpose is to reach communities and schools across Virginia and will be on tour through July 2015. The HistoryMobile draws together stories from all over Virginia and uses state-of-the art technology and immersive exhibit spaces to present individual stories of the Civil War from the perspectives of those who experienced it – young and old, enslaved and free, soldiers and civilians. The exhibits are divided into four sections: Battlefront, Home-front, Journey to Freedom, and Loss, Gain and Legacy.
RWD recently collaborated with The State of Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation to plan, design, and install exhibits for Shenandoah River State Park’s newly constructed Raymond “Andy” Guest Visitor Center. The space features exhibit areas, class/conference room, photo gallery, and lobby displays. The exhibits celebrate the park’s history, natural beauty, and recreational value, focusing on the centrality of the Shenandoah River to those themes. Riggs Ward’s design includes indoor and outdoor water features that highlight Shenandoah River’s ecosystems, an area for housing both temporary and permanent exhibits, interactive displays that allow visitors to follow the area’s historic timeline, as well as three-dimensional artifacts including a number of taxidermied animals. In addition, three large fish tanks contain several species of fish that offer visitors an up close view of life in the river.
The new West Virginia University (WVU) Visitor Center will be a high-tech immersive experience with an HD panoramic video experience, multi-user touch tables, and a virtual tram ride. A new reception desk will allow better interaction among visitors and staff. The exhibits will explore student, alumni, academic and student life stories. Of particular focus will be WVU’s significant contribution to forensic sciences and clean energy technologies. These two very prominent and highly respected areas of research by WVU will be shown via experiential exhibits that will evoke strong connections among the academia, corporate, and government leaders and the scientists who will visit the center.
During the 2011 American Association for Museums Annual Meeting, thousands of museum professionals from all over the country and the world visited the Library of Congress' traveling exhibit, Gateway to Knowledge. Through exceptional teamwork and collaboration with the Library of Congress, RWD created a dynamic visitor experience that brings the Library's riches to areas of the nation that may not be aware of how to access their collections. Once the trailer expands three times its road width, visitors encounter a multimedia display; graphic panels that highlight some of the Library's many highlighted artifacts; and computer terminals displaying Library of Congress websites including the main site www.loc.gov and sites pertaining to U.S. collections, exhibitions, and a special site for use by teachers. The exhibition features facsimiles of such treasures as the 1507 Waldseemüller Map (the first document to use the word "America"); the 1455 Gutenberg Bible; the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence in Thomas Jefferson's hand with edits by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams; the 1962 drawings for the comic book that introduced Spider-Man to the world; the handwritten manuscript to jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton's Frog-i-More Rag; and Walt Whitman's poem Leaves of Grass. Beginning in September 2010, the Gateway to Knowledge rolling exhibition visited sites in states across the Midwest, South, and Northeast through September 2011, concluding its tour where it began, at the Library of Congress National Book Festival.
By 2013, Niagara Falls, New York, will have a new Amtrak station, which will include an Underground Railroad Interpretive Center. The Interpretive Center will provide a gateway to the important Underground Railroad and anti-slavery history of the area as well as direct visitors to visit other local and regional attractions. It will be housed in the former U.S. Custom House, which is adjacent to the new International Railway Station/Intermodal Transportation Center (Amtrak). This brick building was built in 1863 and served inspectors for the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge. The City of Niagara Falls has a unique connection to the history of the Underground Railroad. There is documented evidence that Harriet Tubman used the city’s Suspension Bridge to make her first crossing into Canada with other Freedom Seekers. Through a strong collaboration with the local community and regional partners, RWD is designing and planning the exhibits in the Interpretive Center, which will also provide a foundation for future heritage development projects in Niagara Falls. In addition, because of its proximity to Canada, the entire Bi‐National Niagara region shares a strong historical connection to the Underground Railroad. The City wants to tap into this history and make it accessible to its one million annual visitors.
“This is the biggest and most important project in the entire nation for the Sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and Appomattox is the right place to put it,” announced S. Waite Rawls III at the September 23 groundbreaking ceremony for the Museum of the Confederacy-Appomattox. RWD is planning and designing 5,000 square feet of exhibit space that will display iconic relics such as the pen that Gen. Robert E. Lee used to help end the Civil War, the elegant uniform that he donned that day, and the sword that he carried to the momentous surrender of his army. The Museum of the Confederacy at Appomattox will be focused on the end of the war and the reunification of the country. The museum will open in the Spring of 2012.
RWD, in collaboration with Glave and Holmes Associates, is currently developing a new visitors and admissions center for Virginia Tech that will give prospective students visiting the campus for the first time a sense of the school’s students, faculty and campus and how it differs from other universities. RWD’s exhibition design and related programs will make every visitor feel a part of this vibrant community. To achieve and reinforce this message, names and images of visitors may be used to create an “instant and immediate” connection to the university. The ultimate goal of the visitor center experience should be that every student who walks in the door will leave wanting to be “Virginia Tech.”
St. Charles County’s Parks and Recreation Department hired Riggs Ward to design approximately 4,000 square-feet of exhibits in their new Heritage Museum, a renovated historical home and a recent addition. The new facility and its exhibits focus on the cultural contributions made by past residents of St. Charles County, Missouri. Riggs Ward helped the museum dedicate distinct spaces for both permanent and temporary exhibits. The first portion of the permanent displays, located in the main house, introduces visitors to the site and the families who once lived in the historical home and began using the property as a community space in the early 1800s. Other displays in the house feature information related to archeological research done in the area, a history of Native American cultures in the area, and the life and work of a prolific photographer who lived and worked in St. Charles in the late 1800s. In the large barn-like gallery that was added on to the main house in 2009 are temporary exhibits describing trades practiced by German immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The displays highlight trades and tradespeople whose work influenced life in St. Charles County historically and today. Exhibit components such as platforms, a railing system, and a graphic panel system, were designed by Riggs Ward to be modular and movable for easy use in future temporary exhibits.
The Atlanta History Center (AHC) has retained Riggs Ward Design, a Richmond, Virginia-based exhibit design firm, for master planning and exhibit design services. The primary goal for this collaboration is to create a more accessible, serviceable environment that will provide visitors compelling and memorable experiences. Long-term goals for the center include a café and classrooms. This project is part of an already successful relationship between RWD and AHC. They are currently working together on the master planning and exhibit design of the Center's Barbecue Nation exhibition. RWD also is coordinating the AHC's installation of With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition, an exhibit that RWD originally designed for the Library of Congress. "Working with the Atlanta History Center is always a collaborative and creative experience," said Brent Ward, Managing Principal of Riggs Ward Design. "Our team effort will create an enhanced visitor experience deserving of this diverse and historic facility." Since its formation over 13 years ago, Riggs Ward Design has offered multidisciplinary services to a wide variety of clients. From its work with small, local museums, and corporations to large government agencies, RWD is quickly establishing a national reputation for excellence in design and customer service. Riggs Ward's unique range of services, combined with its staff of established and well-respected professionals, offers businesses, educational associations and cultural institutions a single source for all their creative and content needs
The Atlanta History Center (AHC) has retained Riggs Ward Design (RWD), a Richmond, Virginia based firm, to provide coordination and installation services, as well as an innovative and fresh re-design for the much-anticipated With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition, an exhibit that RWD originally designed for the Library of Congress. Scheduled to be on display at the AHC from September 4 through November 76, 2010, this exhibit will reveal the more personal side of Lincoln. While With Malice Toward None will be revamped to make it the AHC's own, RWD will employ many of the same compelling elements used in the original Library of Congress show: interactive computer stations, multimedia presentations, documents, books, broadsides and newspapers, prints and photographs, artifacts, and maps that provide a unique glimpse into Lincoln's life and presidency.
Raven Rock State Park in Lillington, North Carolina (just south of Raleigh) recently opened its new Visitors Center, a LEED-certified building featuring exhibits designed by Riggs Ward Design (RWD). The exhibition focus on the natural plant and animal communities found in the Park, while telling the story of the fall zone and the heritage of the residents who lived and worked in the area. RWD's design elements include a huge replica of the Raven Rock, a massive geological formation located along the Cape Fear River. This model is a major highlight of the space and is particularly beneficial to those visitors who are unable to make the trek through the Park to see the original. RWD also included computer and hands-on interactives that serve to teach both children and adults valuable lessons about the region's flora, fauna, and history. Raven Rock State Park is the second visitor's center completed by Riggs Ward for the State of North Carolina in the past two years. Riggs Ward Principal Brent Ward announced, "Everyone at RWD is so excited about designing green exhibits for a LEED-certified building. We appreciate the Raven Rock team's hard work and the great relationship that we have developed with everyone at North Carolina State Parks." Since its formation over 13 years ago, Riggs Ward Design has offered multidisciplinary design services to a wide variety of clients. From its work with small, local museums and corporations to large government agencies, RWD has established a national reputation for excellence in design and customer service. RWD's unique range of services, combined with its staff of established and well-respected professionals, offers businesses, educational associations, and cultural institutions a single source for all of their creative and content needs.
Historic Christ Church's new Visitors Center is scheduled to open April 25 to the public. Riggs Ward designed and programmed all of the new exhibit, visitor services and retail spaces, including the design and production of the hands-on and touchscreen interactive experiences.
RWD has begun design services on a significant new agricultural museum in the Carolinas. Focusing on compelling personal stories and interactive exhibits, the museum will be the definitive exploration of farm life in the rural South.
To celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, RWD and the Library of Congress will open an exhibition on February 12, 2009 featuring the 16th President's most significant speeches and writings.
RWD and the Virginia Center for Architecture announce the opening of Italian Dressing: Palladio and American Classicism, on display through October 5, 2008. Andrea Palladio's ideas remain heavily influential to architects today, 500 years after the first publishing of his revolutionary books.