Traveling Exhibit Educates and Entertains Chicago Schoolchildren
Chicago Scenic has made learning more fun for generally underserved children in the Chicago area by designing and building a three-dimensional activity area in the Kohl/McCormick Storybus that depicts the story of The Three Little Bears. The goal of the bus as it travels to various schools is to immerse these children in various stories as soon as they enter the bus with the goal of jump-starting their interest in reading.

Chicago Scenic decorated the existing kitchen area to reflect the bears’ taste for porridge, constructed their individual beds, and built Baby Bear’s infamous chair which Goldilocks breaks so indelicately in the story. Everything is completely interactive, which means that kids can work in the kitchen, jump on the beds, and break down and reassemble the baby’s chair. Nothing is off-limits to the children that visit the bus so CSSI had to be sure that it was all virtually indestructible.

Chicago Scenic also created an entry door to their home, a surround for a face-painting area, fabric blossoms, a beehive, and an interactive fishing game, a wall panel for a Leap Frog play area, among other activities and general decor.Project Manager Mark Ewing worked with Gail Sikevitz of Kohl Children’s Museum, Robert Kovach designed the exhibit, and Luis Salces led the job through the shop.

Learning Curve/RC2's Toy Fair Booth Redesigned to Meet Company's New Needs
Chicago Scenic worked with long-time client Learning Curve International and their new owner RC2 to redesign and reconfigure their International Toy Fair booth in New York from a 50-foot by 80-foot space to 20-foot by 50-foot, cutting their space by 75%. The new booth served to give buyers a taste of the company’s permanent showroom in the toy building. CSSI was able to reuse walls from the previous booth (also designed and built by Chicago Scenic) to create a space that gave visitors a peek at all of their various toy lines, including Lamaze, Thomas the Tank Engine Wooden Railway System, a combined Harley-Davidson and diecast car area, and extensive theming for their latest line, Giggle Wings. CSSI also created new corporate signage to identify Learning Curve’s new ownership.

Other pieces of original booth have been recycled and cut down to eight-foot high wall panels to travel to regional shows around the country.

Project Manager Gary Heitz worked with Phyllis Becker, Pete Hensler, and Greg Miller of RC2 to complete the reconfiguration of the booth that was designed by CSSI’s Tom Ryan. Dave Duwell was once again the job lead in the shop and on-site.

<<Back to Exhibits/Museums
<<Back to Spring 2004 Newsletter