Most clients have an idea of what they want some of their exhibits to look like before they start working with a firm. Those ideas may come from other things they have seen at sites similar to theirs. What clients typically don’t know, is if that idea is feasible. Our job is to listen to those ideas and work to execute their dream exhibits as close as possible. This was the case when TSI began working with the Isle a La Cache Museum in Illinois during the summer of 2020. This site interprets the 18th century fur trade and the relationship between the French voyageurs and Potawatomi people that passed through the area. TSI was brought on to help create outdoor exhibits that shared information on the Potawatomi and their lifeways.

Prior to visiting the site, TSI had a phone call with the client in which they shared some wish list items they were hoping to have included in the design. Two of those items were:

• Woodland Grove Deck exhibit that shows visitors what the site may have looked like (etched glass frames)

• Exhibits with imagery that allows visitors to visualize the area when the Potawatomi tribe may have lived there.

Along with telling us these ideas, the client sent along a reference photograph for the etched glass frame. This photo showed a concept that appeared to be a glass pane with an etched design of a historic building. It created a sort of window to the past and overlaid the historic building onto the surrounding landscape. The client loved this idea and wanted us to explore the concept to show visitors what a Potawatomi village may have looked like. With all the money and space available in the world, we and the client would have liked to recreate an entire wigwam village, but that wasn’t feasible. The budget wasn’t there and the space available wasn’t accessible to visitors. (see map image below) The space for this exhibit was the area off of the Woodland Grove Deck. This deck was recently built that looked over the land that would have been a likely location used by the Potawatomi tribe for a village during the summer season. The land currently does not have any paths through it as it is known to flood occasionally.

We liked the idea of creating a “window” to the past, but we also wanted to create some sort of life-sized display to help visitors visualize the village. So, we brainstormed until we created a solution that did both. Building off the reference photo that the client sent us in the beginning, we started with creating a village scene that would overlay onto the real landscape. TSI worked with the client and an illustrator to create a Potawatomi village during the summer. See the image below. This image was printed on polycarbonate and everything that is shown as blue was clear, so that the ground was filled in by the real landscape behind the frame.

As for the life-sized display, an almost full-sized wigwam silhouette was created out of Corten steel. This material was being used elsewhere in other exhibits, and because it will naturally rust, it was a great material choice for the outdoors in an area with potential flooding. The wigwam silhouette was set back within the landscape, allowing visitors to see what a life-sized wigwam would have looked like here.

The magic happens when the two pieces are together. When using the right perspective, the wigwam silhouette lines up in scale and size to fill an open space in the illustration of the village. The two pieces together help visitors visualize a wigwam village in multiple ways. Along with descriptive text on a graphic to the left, visitors can use their imagination to bring the village to life.

This solution was created through the collaboration between TSI and the Isle a La Cache client. TSI needed the client’s inspiration photos to kick off their brainstorm. Isle a La Cache needed TSI to execute their idea in a sophisticated and durable way. This interaction taught us to embrace inspiration in all forms and those creative solutions can be within reach, especially when open to shifting perspectives.