Field Museum Highlights Evolution
Evolving Planet, a new permanent exhibition at Chicago’s Field Museum, takes visitors on an awe-inspiring adventure through billions of years of life on earth. The exhibit details the evolution of life on earth through animated videos, hands-on interactives and nearly 1,300 unique fossils and specimens.

Partnering for the first time with the Field’s exhibit supervisor Eric Frazier and exhibit designer Robert Weiglein, Chicago Scenic was entrusted to fabricate the final stop in this amazing exhibit. The mission: creating a 32’ x 10’ curved light box wall to display a colorful graphic mural highlighting more than 90 organisms alive today, from the world’s smallest to the largest. The primary challenge: making the wall appear seamless, hiding a significant amount of framing behind the light box. The result: a flawless, vibrant wall which beautifully encapsulates the final message of the Evolving Planet exhibition.

Evolving Planet is made possible by Kenneth and Anne Griffin. The Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust is the generous sponsor of Evolving Planet’s Genius Hall of Dinosaurs.

From Stumbling Blocks to Building Blocks
The Chicago Architecture Foundation recently unveiled a traveling exhibition that investigated the evolving conditions of public spaces including Chicago – from the development of streets and gardens throughout the city, to the remarkable new Millennium Park. Open: New Designs for Public Spaces welcomed visitors to the Atrium of the Chicago Architecture Foundation from January 28-May 7, 2006.

The Atrium location presented an interesting stumbling block: the original design called for wall displays, yet the available space dictated a free-standing exhibit. Creating an engaging lobby experience was critical to the success of this presentation.

Chicago Scenic collaborated with Chicago Architecture Foundation’s curator Ned Cramer and Allison Krier, public programs coordinator, to build an attractive, durable support system that showcased more than three hundred architectural renderings, photographs and models.

Conquering the Trade Show Dreads
Exhibitgroup/Giltspur wanted their Exhibitor 2006 trade show booth to evoke a memory of a simpler time, when winning at Candy Land was one of life’s big challenges. Of course, EG’s game is to create an impact with captivating trade show exhibits.

EG brought trade show management to life by turning its own booth into Simply EG, a life-sized interactive board game incorporating the steps involved in developing an effective exhibit program. Visitors were asked to make decisions about the design, construction and messaging involved in a successful trade show program. The right decision led to Serenity, a relaxing lounge with champagne and hand massage. The wrong decision brought forth “The Dreads,” three-dimensional spoofs of nightmare characters that represented the consequences of making bad choices.

Chicago Scenic constructed “The Dreads” for the EG booth. The five handcrafted figures – ranging in size from 2’ to 4’ tall – were carefully sculpted out of foam, covered with a protective hard coat and painted with vivid colors, creating fun, 3-D cartoon characters that helped communicate the company’s message.

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