top of page
The Ol' Ball Game exhibit at Esplanade Art Gallery & Museum

"All Hell For A Basement"

Museum Exhibit Design

The Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre in Medicine Hat, Alberta is the cultural hub of the community. It is a museum, theatre, art gallery, archives, and education centre all under one roof. Every few months, the Esplanade Archives chooses a topic of local, historical significance to highlight on their vignette wall.

The first project I participated in was called Prairie Roses. It was an exhibit dedicated to telling the stories of how women had shaped the community in its early years and the many rolls they played as the city was forming. I worked with a team of archivists and researchers to create six large panels explaining these stories. I also designed custom cameo heads depicting these “many hats” which were displayed in vinyl above the panels.

Next was a project was called The Ol’ Ball Game. It was a retrospective on the local baseball culture of the area. I put the viewer on the home plate of a large stadium. The screen played a loop of archival footage of past local baseball games ranging from amateur to pro. Vinyl stadium lights towered over the display and viewers could walk along the timeline to explore facts and images capturing the sport during each milestone year.

These vignette displays were an important educational tool in both the Esplanade, and the community as a whole. It provided an opportunity to present history in a quick and approachable way which allowed citizens and visitors of all ages to learn new facts and, through that knowledge, feel more connected to the city of Medicine Hat.

bottom of page