FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 13, 2022
MEDIA CONTACT:
Anna Story
414-390-5500
astory@muellercommunications.com
MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM SEEKS COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
TO INFORM THE NEXT PHASE OF FUTURE MUSEUM DESIGN
Survey released in partnership with exhibit designers at Thinc Design will
inform priorities for exhibits, other design elements in new Museum building
MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Public Museum and its exhibit design partners at Thinc Design have launched a survey to gather community feedback for the Future Museum. Questions will request input on various exhibit topics and themes, preferred events and opportunities to engage, and insight into what visitors find most valuable in a museum experience.
“The input of visitors and community members has been a key component through the first phases of the Future Museum design process, with focus groups and thousands of individuals providing their input and guidance,” said MPM Chief Planning Officer Katie Sanders. “For this next phase of design, we are seeking even more input from people all around Wisconsin. The results of this survey will influence how we bring ideas to life as we enter the next phase of our design process — focused on the interior of the building and its exhibits.”
The survey is now open to the public and will capture feedback through Friday, Oct. 14. It can be accessed at www.mpm.edu/future-museum-survey.
As is standard practice for the experts at Thinc Design, public input will be incorporated into the design concepts they are creating for the exhibit floors.
“We want the design of the Museum’s exhibits and interiors to bring visitors on a journey of discovery through time, places and different perspectives, fostering curiosity about how the wonders of our world show how nature and culture are interwoven.” said Tom Hennes, principal and founder of Thinc Design. “Our approach, which is always informed by a feedback process, is to do a project with communities rather than for communities. It is critical, to our team at Thinc and to MPM, that when visitors explore the Future Museum, they recognize themselves, their history and their world in what they discover.”
The public phase of fundraising efforts for the Future Museum kicked off in July 2022 after MPM had already raised nearly $110 million toward its creation. In conjunction with the campaign kickoff, architect partners at Ennead Architects and Kahler Slater unveiled renderings of the Future Museum building.
Groundbreaking is slated for late 2023, with Mortenson and ALLCON overseeing construction, and the Museum is due to open in 2026. The Milwaukee Public Museum’s current home will remain open until the new space is finished. Learn more about the future Museum at www.mpm.edu/future.
About the Milwaukee Public Museum
The Milwaukee Public Museum is Wisconsin’s natural history museum, welcoming over half a million visitors annually. Located in downtown Milwaukee, the Museum was chartered in 1882, opened to the public in 1884, and currently houses more than 4 million objects in its collections. MPM has three floors of exhibits that encompass life-size dioramas, walk-through villages, world cultures, dinosaurs, a rainforest, and a live butterfly garden, as well as the Daniel M. Soref Dome Theater & Planetarium. MPM is operated by Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc., a private, non-profit company, and its facilities and collections are held in trust and supported by Milwaukee County for the benefit of the public.
About THINC
Located in New York, Thinc Design is a leading design firm serving clients in North America, Asia, Africa and Europe. For more than 25 years, Thinc has designed projects for a wide range of museums, science centers, aquariums, zoos, theme parks, corporations, and governments. Notable prior and ongoing projects include Expo2020 Dubai, Sustainability Pavilion; the Seattle Aquarium; the US Pavilion at the 2015 World Expo in Milan; exhibition design for the Smithsonian Institution; the National September 11 Memorial Museum; and the California Academy of Sciences. To learn more visit thincdesign.com
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