Split Rock Studios

SRS Receives AAM Award

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:12:39 +0000

Split Rock Studios and the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center were honored at the Association of American Museums 2012 annual meeting. The new center’s exhibits, which were designed, written, and fabricated by SRS, received a 2012 Excellence in Exhibition Special Distinction for Eloquent Presentation of Topic. Across the Wire: Voices from Heart Mountain, which examines how rights were denied to Japanese Americans during WWII, was chosen for the award “because of its sensitive and eloquent presentation of a difficult topic.”

You can read more about the award and the exhibits at Heart Mountain on the center’s website.

Welcome AAM!

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:30:36 +0000

Split Rock Studios welcomes the American Association of Museums to Minneapolis for the 2012 annual meeting and museum expo.

Come see us at booth 1111, next to the AAM Showcase.

New Visitor Center Open at Table Rock Lake

admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:22:09 +0000

The Dewey Short Visitor Center in Branson, MO, opened on Friday with a ribbon cutting and celebration. The 15,000 square foot facility thrilled visitors with its engaging exhibits, exciting interatctives, and gorgeous views of Table Rock Lake. KOLR news ran a feature story on the new center. The video shows a great overview of the exhibits and visitor reactions. Also be sure to check out the article at News-Leader.com for more pictures and facts about the visitor center.

SRS is on the air!

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:11:43 +0000

As part of their President’s Day coverage, ABC affiliate KSTP came to Split Rock Studios to learn how the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership was designed and built here in Minnesota. The video includes interviews with SRS staff and some great shots of our work at Ford’s Theatre.

Also, NPR’s Morning Edition interviewed Paul Tetreault, director of Ford’s Theatre, about the book tower designed and built by Split Rock Studios.

You can read the interview on NPR’s website or listen below.

Center for Education and Leadership is Unveiled

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:34:50 +0000

After nearly five years in the making, the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership held a ribbon cutting ceremony last week and will be open to the public on February 21. The opening has attracted the attention of major news outlets across the country, including the New York Times and the Washington Post .

Fox News Sunday interviewed presidential historian Richard Norton Smith about Lincoln’s legacy and the new center. The video below features a tour of the Center and exhibits, which were designed and built by Split Rock Studios.

News Flash: SRS exhibits in the news

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:23:32 +0000

Some Split Rock Studios projects have been in the news lately. Jacqueline Trescott, at the Washington Post Arts Post blog, got a sneak peek of the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership book tower. The tower, made of aluminum book replicas, will be 34 feet tall and feature more than 200 books about Abraham Lincoln. Also, The New York Times published a review of the new Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center. “Only one building from the camp remains…So the impact must come from the exhibition itself…It is meant to honor those whose lives were so overturned, explain how the internment happened, give some sense of camp life and suggest lessons for the future.”

The Interactive Learning Lab at ATEEC in Davenport, Iowa, was installed over the summer and they have set up a wonderful website.You can learn more about the Learning Lab, environmental technology, and see great pictures of the exhibits designed by SRS by checking out atteclab.org

SRS Welcomes John Gunning

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:46:54 +0000

We are pleased to welcome John Gunning to the Split Rock Studios team. John will be serving as the new Vice President of Sales for the Eastern Region.

John brings years of exceptional experience in major museum exhibit production to SRS. You can reach John through the contact information page.

Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center Opens

admin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:37:46 +0000

The Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center opened it’s doors on August 20, with 500 former internees and a crowd of 1,400 making the journey to Powell, WY. Some prominent guests were in attendance and participated in the Center’s opening ceremony, including Tom Brokaw, Judge Lance Ito, former Secratary of Commerce and Transportation Norman Mineta, and Senator Daniel Inouye.

The opening of the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center has received a great deal of press coverage from media outlets all across the country. Follow the collection of links below to read about the opening, exhibits, and the internee experience at Heart Mountain.

Links

Tom Ashbrook, of Boston NPR affiliate 90.9 WBUR ,interviewed Heart Mountain Foundation board members Eric Muller, Shirley Ann Higuchi, and Toshi Ito.

Rafu Shimpo, a Japanese-American newspaper out of Los Angeles, has provided a detailed account of the opening ceremony and the years of hard work that went into making the Center a reality. They also published the recollections of Bacon Sakatini, a former Heart Mountain internee.

KULR in Billings, MT, has video of the opening and tells the story of a couple who were married at Heart Mountain returning to see the museum.

You can read more at Reuters, Capser Star-Tribune, and Cody Enterprise.

Loess Is More: SRS Installs New Exhibits at Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center and Others

admin — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:05:32 +0000

Just in time for the summer travel season, Split Rock Studios has just completed multiple exhibits across the Midwest.

The Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center in Sioux City, Iowa, opened its doors to the public on April 9^th. Split Rock Studios designed, built, and installed 50 new components throughout the 2,500 square foot exhibit space. The centerpiece of the new exhibit, titled “Exploring Fragile Giants,” is a walkthrough diorama of the Loess Hills that allows visitors see the world from an animal’s point of view.

Dawn Snyder, DPNC’s Educational Programs Director, said the exhibit opening “was a great experience for us all and the exhibits are well-received!”

Four hours away in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the Ice House Museum re-opened its doors on June 5^th. The museum had been closed for more than two years because of flooding in 2008. Split Rock Studios designed and built the new exhibits, and Jon Ericson wrote in the WCF Courier that, “the new museum has far fewer items stored within, but presents a cleaner, more focused emphasis on the ice-cutting industry.”

The new museum also features exhibits about Cedar Falls history, a theater, and a two-story wall of faux-ice blocks.

Coinciding with National Get Outdoors Day, the grand opening for Big Bog State Recreation Area’s new visitor center will be held on June 11^th. In celebration of National Get Outdoors Day, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is waiving the vehicle permit fee at all 74 state parks.

Split Rock Studios created exhibits for the new visitor center, complete with beautiful photomurals and hands-on interactives. Interpretive exhibits can also be found outside at the newly restored fire tower.

UPDATE: The Bemidji Pioneer has video of the Ribbon-cutting ceremony and view from the fire tower here.

Artistic Fabrication Gallery

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:02:08 +0000