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Islandwood “A School in the Woods” | Interpretive, Educational + Environmental Graphics

client: Islandwood
location: Bainbridge Island, WA | size: 255 acre campus | opened: 2002

IslandWood is an environmental education center in a forest on Bainbridge Island just outside of Seattle, living up to its promise of changing the lives and minds of fourth and fifth graders. Lehrman Cameron Studio designed a complex system of site signs and interpretive graphics for the facility, adding a depth of visual and verbal information to the educational discourse, in harmony with the existing, award-winning sustainable design. This project is an example of the environmentally sensitive work for which LCS has a passion and in which LCS has consistently excelled. The campus and programs are the embodiment of founders Debbi and Paul Brainerd’s vision and energy. The architecture is by Mithun Architects and the landscaping is by the Berger Partnership.

African Village Interpretive Elements

client: Woodland Park Zoo
location: Seattle, WA | size: 7,500 sq ft | opened: 2001

The African Village is the signature entry to the African Savanna Habitat at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. LCS designed the furniture, props, artifacts, and other items that tell the story in an immersive environment, all without using third person signage. Working as the interpretive designers for Patrick Janikowski Architects, Mindy and her team designed this experience so that visitors feel as though they have lived a day in East Africa. The primary message is that East Africa is a complex environment, combining elements of the ancient and modern, where humans and animals live in increasingly close proximity. (Remarkably, Mindy designed of much of the furniture without research and only afterwards confirmed that it was correct. Having not yet visited Kenya, National Geographics in Mindy’s childhood must have made an indelible impression.)

It feels like home. – Kikuta Hamisi, Maasai warrior and interpreter for the WPZ African Village

“Soundbridge”, Seattle Symphony’s Music Discovery Center

client: The Seattle Symphony
location: Seattle, WA  – at Benaroya Hall | size: 2,300 sq ft | opened: 2001

“Soundbridge” is an interactive and interpretive setting for the exploration, creation, and understanding of symphonic music. The intent was to make symphonic music accessible to a diverse and inclusive (often new) audience for the symphony. Mindy and her team at Lehrman Cameron Studio developed and designed all interior elements and exhibitions.

Exhibits deal with music theory, sections of the orchestra, science of sound, musicians, composing, and conducting. The main challenge was to satisfy multiple, potentially competing, functional requirements in a small space. There is a performance/workshop space, hands-on exhibitry with touchable and playable instruments, a “listening bar”, and visitor services, tied together by sophisticated computer, audio/visual, and telecommunication systems, all within an acoustically controlled interior.

For Mindy, an important aspect of the design was that there would be representatives of people from a range of races, and genders. Several symphonic musicians were interviewed and filmed to beckon at each of several “Meet the Musician” stations so that visitors can immediately see and meet artists with whom they may relate.

LCS worked with Partners in Design on the graphics and Butler Robbins Alliance on lighting design. (Many photos on this site are © Lara Swimmer, 2001.)

This is one of the coolest places for children in all of Seattle… – A Parent’s Guide to Seattle, by Tom Hobson

Stanford University Museum of Art Galleries

client: Stanford University

location: Palo Alto, CA | size: 44,000 sq ft | opened: 1998

Founded in 1891, the Stanford University Museum of Art developed a collection of artwork from many eras and all over the world. The Museum closed in 1989 due to earthquake damage, but was restored, expanded, and reopened as The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts in 1998.

At the time of the restoration, LCS had recently moved to Seattle and was comprised of Mindy plus one assistant, Juliet Hebert (now Anderson). We were hired to develop the master plan for the galleries, design all exhibit furniture and supports, choose wall colors, and consult on graphic design and lighting. The project reinstalled nineteen galleries, including modern and contemporary, Ancient Mediterranean, Asian, Rodin, European, American, prints, drawings, and a temporary gallery.

Over two years, we organized the input of 10 (sometimes warring) curators, Museum Director, and technical and administrative staff to achieve an intelligent exhibition design that not only succeeded for the reinstallation’s opening shows, but for the long-term. As added value, we gave the museum nineteen gallery models with all artwork to scale so that they could plan for the future.

Those who care about the arts in the Bay Area will be thrilled by what they see. – Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle