Rediscovering Waltham’s Harpsichord History
Illuminating a new angle on Greater Boston’s Harpsichord and Early Music History.
Client
Museum Exhibit for the Charles River Museum
Impact
180 visitors over first two days (including the mayor of Waltham)
Role
Graphic Design, Research, Writing
Press
GBH, CAMD Year in Review
Overview
Why was the Charles River Museum building #5 labelled ‘harpsichord factory’?
With a tight deadline of under two months, our team, led by Museum Director of Education Steve Guerriero, dove into the harpsichord’s story. I connected research across books, interviews, videos, and store copy, with a focus on harpsichord craftsmanship in relation to Waltham’s manufacturing history.
Together with fellow exhibit designer Gengyi Li, the wealth of information was categorized to make the best of our wall and floor space. Information print-outs and wall panels were carefully planned to accommodate the artifacts we were able to loan.
Research and Writing
Although harpsichord builders were visiting, the exhibit still aimed to reach a general audience. With our main categories finalized, I focused on simplifying text, and deciding what key concepts to visualize. Final panels were then proofread by veteran harpsichordists Hendrik Broekman and Mark Kroll.
Managing Visuals
As each panel passed through production and tested in the exhibit space, changes were constantly being made by the team to design and content. It was my responsibility to ensure final panels were visually consistent, as well as up-to-date and correct.
