Bringing Maine’s First Amendment Museum to life
Located in a historic house a block from the Maine State Capitol, the museum brings First Amendment principles to life in a comfortable, human-scaled environment, showing how these freedoms touch virtually every part of our everyday lives. Active and engaging experiences will help visitors develop greater individual capacity to exercise their First Amendment rights and become more fully engaged in civic life.
As the lead content developer, I worked with exhibition designer Dan Wallis, graphic designer Helen Riegle, and writer Kris Bierfelt to create the interpretive vision for the museum. The design is focused on making the First Amendment more relevant, useful, meaningful, creative, and social in everyday life. It includes a “pantry of ideas” in the kitchen, First Amendment Bingo in the family room, a teen bedroom that explores how the five freedoms support identity formation, a current events lab, and a maker space.
In addition, I coached the FAM staff and board on museum best practices, capacity building, and interpretive process. Design development wrapped up in May 2019 and construction documentation will proceed once capital funds are secured.
“This team worked through our ideas with warmth and care. As relative newcomers to the museum-making process, we felt like we were in good hands with partners we could trust as our project continued to take shape and change.” —Rebecca Lazure, former Executive Director, First Amendment Museum