Museum reshaping itself audaciously - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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million renovation and installation of permanent The museum, which is at 701 Arch St. in Philadelphia, planws a June 19 debut of “Audacious The History of African Americand inPhiladelphia 1776-1876,” a core exhibit that will take over a substantialp portion of the building. “Audacious Freedom” will use life-sized, 3-D characters to recountf the experiences of Africans in 18thcenturyg Philadelphia, along with an interactive timeline documentingh the lives of African-born Philadelphianxs and subsequent generations. , a Kansasw City, Mo., firm, designed the exhibition.
Othe works by the design firm include thein Williamsport, the Nationaol Jazz Museum in Chicago and the in Ala. It has also done work for Disney. “Thety had a keen interest in but also in providing a high leve lof presentation,” said the museum’es president and CEO, Romona Riscoe Benson. “We have not been know n for that. We haven’t had any technology, so we’vd been functioning at a very different “Sixty percent of our visitors are school-age, so we neededd more interactive exhibits. It will also be interesting toadultt visitors,” she added. The exhibition will cost $1.5 million to desigb and install.
Another $3 million will be spenrt to upgrade floors, bathrooms, HVAC, lighting, roof, catering kitchen and the facade. The museukm has raised $4 millioh of the $4.5 million needed, Bensoh said. Philadelphia provided $3 million for buildingb renovations. is the exhibition’s presenting contributing $500,000. Other gifts came from Dr. Walter and Mrs. Beverly Lomax; the Lomaxc Family Foundation; Macy’s East, a division of Macy’sd Inc.; and U.S. Rep. Chakq Fattah pledged $150,000 in federal funds. The African American Museum of Philadelphia opened in 1976 as part of theBicentennialp celebration.
It was the first museum of its kind in abig “Audacious Freedom” will have a soft opening on Memorial The grand opening will be June 19, or which commemorates the date in 1865 that the last enslavec people in the nation were From the museum’s perspective, the story of African Americans in Philadelphiq is significant because it had one of the largesyt populations of free blacks, many of whom were active in the Abolitioj movement. “People of color playefd a vital roleas entrepreneurs, craftsmen and advocates for socialk justice,” Benson said.
“Telling thei story is a critically important part ofthe museum’s missionn and responsibility to this communitt and to the overall fabric of the role of African Americanz in American history.” One galleru will feature an interactive timeline spanning a century and included topics like entrepreneurship, education, religion and family traditions. A second gallery will feature 10 lifesizse figures that are videp projections of trailblazers from the18th century.
When museum visitorz approach, the interactive figures come to life, talking about life in Philadelphia inthat