The Morris Thompson Center exhibits have a fresh new look! The original exhibit designers returned to Fairbanks to modernize the exhibit lighting with LED technology. Chris and Bianca, pictured here in the exhibits’ smoke-house, threw themselves into upgrading the exhibit lighting with a passion born of their long-term dedication to and vision for the Morris Thompson Center.
Chris and Bianca described their remarkable work as “painting with light.” Building staff who have worked here for years say that they are noticing new details in the dioramas. Standing at the Summer diorama, one now feels a sense of depth and near-dizziness, as though actually gazing down a steep cliff to the river valley below. One senior staff member even said she might set up a lawn chair in there to see if she could get a tan from the sunny-feeling new lights.
Bianca Message is the senior interpretive designer for André and Associates, the interpretive planning and design firm that joined the Morris Thompson Center project team in 2003 and worked with the community and partners to create our immersive seasonal dioramas and displays. From Interpretive Planning and Project Management of the Hong Kong Museum of History’s 80,000 square feet of exhibits to the 300 square foot Exxon Valdez Oil Spill exhibit, no matter the size, Bianca’s 30 years of experience in museum exhibit planning and design demonstrate her passion and commitment to storytelling though immersive experiences.
Her close collaborator, Christopher Sia, is the creative genius behind CPS Electronics and the designer and engineer of the unique sunset and northern lights show outside the window of the BLM cabin in the winter diorama. Please come by to see just how beautiful the exhibits look. Thank you, Chris and Bianca!