Have you ever taken a good look at the exhibit cases at The Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Memorial Museum?
No?
Then the architect’s nefarious plan has worked. Bwahahahaha!
When Foster Dunwiddie was designing the Weyerhaeuser Museum, exhibit furnishings were part of his work. He wanted to create a system that allowed the exhibit cases to disappear into the background, allowing the artifacts on display to take center stage.
He explained his thinking in the “Facility and Interpretive Program Study of The Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Memorial Museum, Little Falls, MN,” written in 1981.
“The exhibit furnishings are an integrated system of casework which was designed to provide a flexible format for a variety of exhibit ideas. It was carefully matched to the museum interior in an effort to neutralize its effect on the interpretation and artifacts it would house. The system consists of a number of interchangeable elements including vertical and horizontal cases which could either be hung on the wall or placed on a platform,a series of three nesting platforms with a selection of acrylic covers, wall hung panels for graphics or visuals and a system of portable wall sections which could be used to create spaces within the exhibit rooms. In addition to this standardized system, a number of specialized pieces were supplied to allow display of oversized artifacts.”
This system has worked very well for the museum over the years, with one improvement being made to some of the cases in the past year; we added wheels. The exhibit cases are quite heavy and part of their flexibility comes in being able to move them. The wheels allow museum staff to move cases without breaking our backs or needing assistance.
The next time you visit the museum, have a look at the exhibit cases and marvel, as we do, over their versatility and ability to quietly blend in. These cases have held a lot of Morrison County’s history over the years.
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Celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Memorial Museum.