The American Writers Museum Concept Plan May 2012 Henry Adams Daniel Alarcón Edward Albee Nelson Algren Rudolfo Anaya Maya Angelou Gloria Anzaldúa Paul Auster Mary

Home , Annie Dillard, Annie Proulx, August Wilson, Daniel Yergin, Don DeLillo, Edith Wharton

The American Writers Museum concept plan May 2012 Henry Adams Daniel Alarcón Edward Albee Nelson Algren Rudolfo Anaya Maya Angelou Gloria Anzaldúa Paul Auster Mary

Austin James Baldwin Toni Cade Bambara Amiri Baraka L. Frank Baum Ishmael Beah Harriet Beecher Stowe Saul Bellow

Ambrose Bierce Elizabeth Bishop Judy Blume William Bradford Anne Bradstreet Gwendolyn Brooks Sterling A. Brown

Margaret Wise Brown William Cullen Bryant Truman Capote Eric Carle Joyce Carol Oates Raymond Carver Ana Castillo

Willa Cather Michael Chabon Raymond Chandler Mary Chesnut Charles W. Chesnutt Susan Choi Kate Chopin Sandra Cisneros

Michelle Cliff Lucille Clifton Billy Collins Jaime Cortez Stephen Crane Nilo Cruz Countee Cullen Edwidge Danticat John

Dau Don Delillo Tomie dePaola Junot Díaz Emily Dickinson Joan Didion Annie Dillard H. D. Frederick Douglass Theodore

Dreiser W. E. B. Du Bois Paul Laurence Dunbar Jonathan Edwards Jennifer Egan T.S. Eliot Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Emerson

Martin Espada Jeffrey Eugenides Ezra Pound William Faulkner F. Scott Fitzgerald Jonathan Safran Foer Benjamin Franklin

Jonathan Franzen Robert Frost Theodore Geisel Allen Ginsberg Jessica Hagedorn Dashiell Hammett Lorraine Hansberry

Rebecca Harding Davis Bret Harte Nathaniel Hawthorne Joseph Heller Lillian Hellman Ernest Hemingway Aleksandar Hemon

Patrick Henry Jaime and Gilbert Hernández Víctor Hernández Cruz Oscar Hijuelos Oliver Wendell Holmes Langston Hughes

Quiara Alegria Hughes Zora Neale Hurston David Henry Hwang Washington Irving Harriet Jacobs Thomas Jefferson Gish Jen

Ha Jin Gayl Jones r A Jiv Joseph Jack Kerouac Martin Luther King, Jr. Ma xine Hong Kingston Etheridge Knight Yusef Komunyak aa

Nicole Krauss Jhumpa Lahiri Emma Lazarus Chang-Rae Lee Harper Lee Jonathan Lethem Sinclair Lewis Abraham Lincoln Jack

London Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Robert Lowell Nathaniel Mackey Norman Mailer Paule Marshall Cotton Mather

Colum Mcc Ann Robert McClosk e y c Arson McCullers John McPhee Suk e tu Mehta Herman Melville Arthur Miller Lin - Manuel

Miranda Toni Morrison Willard Motley Daniyal Mueenuddin Siddhartha Mukherjee Harryette Mullen Vladimir Nabokov

Lorine Niedecker Flannery O’Connor Eugene O’Neill Simon Ortiz Cynthia Ozick ZZ Packer Thomas Paine Dorothy Parker

Suzan-Lori Parks John Dos Passos Ann Patchett Lucia Perillo Ann Petry Robert Pinsky Sylvia Pl ath Edgar All an Poe k ATherine

Anne Porter Ezra Pound E. Annie Proulx Thomas Pynchon Ishmael Reed Adrienne Rich Alberto Rios Ed Roberson Richard

Rodriguez Theodore Roosevelt Henry Roth Philip Roth Muriel Rukeyser J.D. Salinger Carl Sandburg May Sarton Jon Scieszka

Maurice Sendak Ntozake Shange Leslie Marmon Silko Upton Sinclair John Smith Bessie Smith Gary Snyder Susan Sontag

Edna St. Vincent Millay Gertrude Stein John Steinbeck Rene Steinke Wallace Stevens Amy Tan Edward Taylor Henry David

Thoreau James Thurber Héctor Tobar Natasha Tretheway Mark Twain John Updike Luis Alberto Urrea Alice Walker Margaret

Walker David Foster Wallace Eudora Welty Nathanael West Edith Wharton Phillis Wheatley E.B. White Walt Whitman John

Edgar Wideman Thornton Wilder Laura Ingalls Wilder Isabel Wilkerson Tennessee Williams William Carlos Williams C.K.

Williams August Wilson Herman Wouk C. D. Wright Karen Tei Yamashita Jonathan Yardley Daniel Yergin Kevin Young Table of Contents

Acknowledgment 3

Introduction 5 the museum 7

Mission, Message, goals 19 guiding principles 21

Interpretive Strategies 23 design considerations 25 charette participants 28

american writers museum concept plan may 2012

Acknowledgement

Development of this concept plan was made possible through grants by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Stead Family Foundation. These grants funded intensive and inspirational development charettes in Chicago, New York, and Boston. Participants included a diverse mix of scholars, writers, publishers, designers, and museum professionals. The leadership of the American Writers Museum Foundation gratefully acknowledges the generosity of treasure, time, and wisdom so fully given by all those who have made this plan possible.

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 3 “There is a void in the American museum world. We collect in central points the artifacts of civilization and honor politicians and soldiers, athletes and artists, inventors and entrepreneurs, but we neglect our writers. In a country established as an idea explicated in written documents and embellished by generations of poets, novelists, and critics, the case for commemorating the written word is self-evident. After all, what is written describes a people and what is celebrated defines their values.”

Jim Leach, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities Introduction

America as a nation is built on its treasured visitors to the worlds that books have created by writings—the Declaration of Independence and reenacting the stories and their context. We will the Constitution, the great writings of the show visitors the national significance and global nineteenth century, the extraordinary riches of the reach of American writers and their works. Visitors twentieth century. Americans as a community and will leave the museum encouraged to read and as individuals have been shaped by stories, poems, write at all levels. The American Writers Museum speeches, plays, songs, is both an idea and a place. It will be a vibrant, “It is time autobiographies, histories, experiential center dedicated to the explication and for a national essays, screenplays, and more. exploration of American writers and their works, and it will be a hub for national discourse on Our writers have recorded museum of writers and writing. our history, imagined our American lives, entertained us, and While not collections-based, the American writing and explained us to ourselves, Writers Museum will leverage national partner continuously helping to relationships to create changing exhibitions that writers…” shape and enrich not only include important our sense of ourselves individually but also our “to celebrate the collections from shared understanding of who we are as a nation. It role of writing universities, libraries, is time for a national museum that celebrates other museums and writers, studies the role of writing in our nation’s in our nation’s private collections. We history and culture, and helps place writing and history and will not compete with writers at the center of our national conversation. other outstanding culture…” programs, but rather, Welcome to the American Writers Museum! It is we will make the museum community aware of rooted in the essential pleasure of reading. It will the myriad literary resources available nationwide. be a place for adventure, revelation, contemplation, Web-based exhibits, programs and partner links participation, learning, sharing and delight. will be essential tools for ensuring wide visitor Galleries, exhibits, and social spaces will invite involvement and long-term sustainability. visitors to participate in discovering the rich variety of American literature, from the earliest works to the most recent. We will transport

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 5 “The idea of an American Writers Museum seems to me long overdue. The literate world has known and prized American writers since the generation of Emerson and Thoreau. Whitman and Emily Dickinson have influenced poets and readers in English and in translation into many languages. The great current continues, and a museum honoring and portraying American writing would be an honor to the suffering and vision from which our literature came.”

W.S. Merwin, US Poet Laureate the museum

The idea of the American Writers Museum Through the charette process, we have vetted has been met with universal acclaim. The most numerous exhibit and visitor experience common reaction to it is, “You mean we don’t possibilities. While conceptualizing the physical have an American writers museum?” The aspects of the new museum we have been mindful questions that immediately follow are, “What of the incredible possibilities of web-based will be in it, what will it look like, and what engagement with our audience as well. Integration will I do there?” of website experiences with the on-site experiences will continue to be a fundamental part of the Here is what The American Writers American Writers Museum’s identity. Museum will be: It will be a place where A concept plan is not a design. Therefore, the task of such a plan is to present evocative diverse audiences have unique and examples without locking in too much specificity unexpected encounters with American too soon. The examples that follow are indicative, only to be refined and improved through writers and writing; it will be a place continued discourse. with engagement so compelling it will be a must-see, must-do part of the nation’s cultural landscape. This concept plan is a milestone in the evolution of a simple idea into an institution of substance. We know the American Writers Museum will grow and adapt to new insights and influences over its next period of development. This document represents our aspirations today.

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 7 Museum Organization are accessible off the Literary Lounge: the multi- Themes The diagram below distills the more detailed purpose theater and the Writers’ Hall. Nested The intellectual framework for The American visitor experience descriptions that follow into a around the Writers’ Hall are the focus halls aimed Writers Museum is characterized by its content simple overall museum organization. You will see at specific changing exhibitions. In addition, themes. Our themes introduce visitors to multiple an arrival hall and Literary Commons surrounded special purpose spaces such as building services, perspectives of American writing and writers, and by the Literary Lounge, the Scribblers Café and administration, and the Education Center will be encourage visitors’ exploration and engagement the Writers & Readers Bookstore. Two large spaces accessible from the Literary Commons. with them. • Writers shape America. • Diversity of many kinds is a defining quality of American writing. HALL 1 • America is a nation of immigrants, and

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING HALL 2 immigrants significantly shape its writing. SERVICES • The personal stories of writers matter to the work and the reading experience. THEATER EDUCATION • Reading is a fundamental personal experience. CENTER HALL 3 • There is an interconnectedness between writing F

O C and other forms of cultural expression U

L Experience Description

L HALL 4 E

LITERARY COMMONS WRITERS’ HALL R I

ARRIVAL E

S A well designed arrival experience makes visitors feel immediately welcome and ushers them expeditiously through ticketing, coat check and WRITERS HALL 5 & READERS SCRIBBLERS other essential needs including rest rooms and LITERARY BOOKSTORE CAFÉ LOUNGE orientation. Visitors to the American Writers Museum will also know that their experience will be something different—something beautiful, HALL 6 moving, intellectually stimulating, memorable, HALL 7 museum organization (ETC.) and fun.

8 american writers museum concept plan may 2012 Literary commons We envision a signature, iconic element positioned in the arrival hall or Literary Commons, at the crossroads of the galleries, the theater, education center, and other visitor amenities. Characterized in this sketch is an “Ink Fountain”— a three dimensional interactive “pool” of letters and words that spool outward onto the walls of the Literary Commons. Visitors are invited to “dip” their fingers into the ink to discover familiar phrases from writers they love, or to create new word combinations that express their own literary prowess. This soaring interactive will be constantly changing and is envisioned as a combination of state-of-the-art digital projection and an intuitive human interface. With the Ink Fountain as its anchor, the Literary Commons will encompass the arrival area and visitor services, and it will provide a link to all other areas of the museum. The Ink Fountain will serve a dual purpose as a central orienting feature and introductory interactive experience. Further, the Literary Commons will accommodate programming for small group lectures and presentations. It will be a vibrant, changing space featuring current literary information drawn from links with partner institutions and generated Ink Fountain by visitors.

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 9 writers’ hall vignettes Main Gallery: Writers’ Hall

The Writers’ Hall will be organized One of the challenges in developing a concept around a series of themed vignettes for the American Writers Museum is establishing tied to literary groupings that can an exhibit platform that is flexible enough to provide interesting and surprising accommodate the breadth of American writers juxtapositions. and writing. We have solved this challenge in the Writers’ Hall by providing a set of vignettes, stage sets essentially, that can serve the needs of exhibition for a variety of authors and subjects. The civil war first-person america The additional benefit of this approach is that we can change authors and subjects on a regular basis, which means that while we do not need to be either encyclopedic or comprehensive on opening day, we can promise over time to feature the full range of vital American writing. The Writers’ Hall will feature a series of vignettes themed to a particular topic or era. Each vignette will utilize a unique display and interactive

Spirituality & Religion industrialization oppression technology so that the range of experiences in this area will be vast. The experiences will be participatory and intuitive. The five examples that follow suggest the depth of literature exploration that will be possible. Surprising juxtapositions will be possible by pairing canonical and non-canonical works.

southern renaissance the frontier & the west who is an american?

10 american writers museum concept plan may 2012 1. aMERICAN QUESTS 2. AMERICAN FAMILIES 3. AMERICAN TOWNS & COMMUNITIES Imagine a map of America nearly 20’ across. Take a seat and take a role in the all-American Thornton Wilder’s Our Town is usually staged Now imagine it as a projection surface on which kitchen. In a mid-century American kitchen, with little more than ladders for props. This visitors can choose to trace the route of Jack visitors will play out roles of their favorite vignette is inspired by that minimalism. Monitors Kerouac’s On the Road, or share in the explorations characters from authors such as Baldwin and are arranged around the room. Each shows aspects of Lewis and Clark. With this map visitors will Alcott. Features will include lighting effects, audio of the American town—the farm, meeting hall, explore historic images, video, and audio to cues, and interactive surfaces. church, places of work, home, etc. Here visitors contextualize the stories of American Quests. have a more contemplative experience, exploring Authors and their works can include: the ordinary subjects of great American writing. Authors and their works can include: • Louisa May Alcott, Little Women • Journals of Lewis and Clark • Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence Authors and their works can include: • Herman Melville, Moby Dick • Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey Into Night • Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi • Zora Neal Hurston, Their Eyes Were • Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun • Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology Watching God • William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury • Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio • Jack Kerouac, On The Road • Robert Lowell, Life Studies • Willa Cather, O Pioneers! • Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of • Henry Roth, Call It Sleep • Gwendolyn Brooks, A Street in Bronzeville Frederick Douglass • August Wilson, Fences • Henry James, Washington Square • Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust • Sinclair Lewis, Babbit • Eudora Welty, The Wide Net • Robert Frost, North of Boston • James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain • Edwin Arlington Robinson, poems of • F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Tilbury Town • Ernest Hemingway, The Nick Adams Stories • Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine • Saul Bellow, Augie March

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 11 4. WORKING 5. CONFLICT Working is set in a Depression-era movie theater. Imagine a boxing ring or sporting venue. All interpretation here is on screen, allowing Overhead is a JumboTron. Embedded in the floor visitors a chance for a short cinematic experience. is a video that illustrates conflict narratives. Interactive technology will be built into this Seating is provided. The JumboTron can display experience to allow visitors to make in-seat what is being seen in the floor or historic imagery. viewing selections and to respond to queries The “ring” can be propped with tactile artifacts. embedded within the narratives. This is a group experience, with the audience on all four sides. Authors and their works can include: • John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Authors and their works can include: • James M. Cain, The Postman Always • Joseph Heller, Catch-22 Rings Twice • Martin Luther King, “Letter from • Clifford Odets, Waiting for Lefty Birmingham Jail” • Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems • Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Richard Wright, Black Boy • Steven Crane, The Red Badge of Courage • Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie • Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead • Studs Terkel, Working • Muriel Rukeyser, The Book of the Dead • Grace Paley, Collected Stories • Allen Ginsberg, Howl • Tillie Olson, Tell Me a Riddle • Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man • Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman • Cyrus Colter, The Beach Umbrella • James Welch, Fools Crow

12 american writers museum concept plan may 2012 Focus Galleries contemplative use. The focus galleries will allow specifically for youthful readers to engage with An integral part of the visitor experience, the the American Writers Museum to showcase an authors and stories in ways that they cannot on focus galleries will be accessible from the Writers’ ever-changing array of exhibitions to encourage their own or in libraries or bookstores. repeat visitation and to keep the institution fresh. Hall. These galleries will ideally be sized to flexibly Imagine a space where children can “talk” to accommodate a wide range of uses and subjects. Children’s literature in American writing is rich. characters from their favorite books or they can One focus gallery can be dedicated to a single Cultivating a life-long love of reading in children interact with unfamiliar characters from new author or a single subject such as “banned books,” is a national calling. The American Writers books they have not yet read. Imagine a books that were read to me, bestsellers, and great Museum will include experiences for children and storytelling platform dedicated to kids’ literature books that found few readers in their time, while families throughout, of course, but the focus where children act out scenes from books. Imagine another can be designed for quiet, galleries offer the possibility of creating places listening stations where visitors can hear the voices of children’s literature authors reading excerpts from their own books—with commentary from kid visitors. And imagine visitor-created stories using key words, images and sounds. If you can imagine this, you begin to get an idea for the possibilities for a kid-centered focus gallery.

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 13 Social Spaces We have identified a series of “social spaces” connected by the Literary Commons. Designed for multipurpose use, they will allow visitors to explore American writers and writing in both familiar and unexpected ways in themed spaces designed for social interaction. Our three main social spaces are a club, which we call the Literary Lounge, which will be tailored toward small performances and themed like a modern nightclub. A café, called the Scribblers Café, will offer food but will also be configurable for small and interpersonal discussions. A bookstore, named Writers & Readers Bookstore, will be designed for retail and there will be provisions for sharing recommendations and commenting on others recommendations. All three of these spaces will foster repeat visitation through changing programming, social interaction and the ability to create a personalized experience.

14 american writers museum concept plan may 2012 The Places Bar will have seating and leaning rail in front of a large multi-screen monitor array. Here, visitors will explore American writers and their places of origin.

The Performance Stage will be a small performance venue to feature author readings and interviews. Visitors will engage in Flash Fiction Contests and Literary Karaoke and explore “Less is More: Brief and Powerful Speeches”.

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 15 Theater education center The theater will be designed for larger audiences. the American Writers Museum’s core educational It will host films, lectures, readings, panels, mission includes a firm intention to work in close dramatic performances, events combining partnership with schools. We will establish the literature and music, and other presentations. museum’s education center as an accessible an The theater will also serve as the venue for “master educational resource for schools and school class” writing workshops and programming that districts. Our staff will work to develop ongoing will be unique to the museum. It will serve as the relationships with principals and teachers that will prestige presentation venue for important include assistance in designing innovative © Tim Pannell / Corbis American writers and for national conventions of classroom learning strategies as well as museum- literary organizations based elsewhere. It will be a based programs. We are committed to emphasize host space for small national gatherings convened the range of ways in which the centrality of by the museum (as, for example, of directors of American writers throughout the nation’s history museums dedicated to writers’ homes). It will be a can be integrated into lively co-presentation space that will exemplify the standard disciplinary museum’s partnerships with other cultural and areas such as literature, educational institutions and sponsors (both local history, geography, and national). Theater events will introduce new and cultural studies. visitors to the museum, and when other cultural Classroom space will and educational organizations, large and small, offer school groups a present events in the theater—and especially place to convene at the literary organizations and sponsors—the museum museum to solidify enrichment experiences in the will welcome new constituencies to its own space. galleries that are linked to curriculum guidelines for each educational level. We envision the education center as a community resource that will include adult programming as well.

16 american writers museum concept plan may 2012 “Establishing a national institution that will celebrate American writing is an inspired idea. the American Writers Museum will honor the achievements of more than 300 years of American writing. Through its programs, exhibitions, public readings, and film presentations, the museum will kindle a new appreciation of our literature and deepen our understanding of American writers.”

Professor Thomas F. Staley, Director of the Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 17 Mission The mission of the American Writers Museum is to engage the public in celebrating American Writers and exploring their influence on our history, our identity, our culture, and our daily lives. Mission, message, goals

Core Message Goals • Maximize visitor engagement by inviting visitors to “write back” to American literature Our vision gives us a purpose Through programs, interpretive strategies and with participatory opportunities both on-site and our core message reveals visitor experiences both on-site and on-line, and on-line. the central insight we trust the American Writers Museum will: visitors will gain through their • Present and celebrate American writing and • Encourage the reading of literary works of engagement with us: writers in ways both new and familiar to a all genres, and enhance the literary education of both young and adult populations. Writers shape America and their works are central broad audience. We will show to our history and culture. They are at the heart of how thoroughly American life • Broaden visitor experience by offering our nation and of ourselves, reflecting our variety has been influenced by diversified programming combining literature of origins, traditions, persuasions, beliefs, and American writers, and how and other art forms in exhibitions and cultural diversity. thoroughly the variety of performances, and by presenting living writers, American experience has drama productions, and other forms of The particular nature of American ideas and shaped American writing. visitor engagement. conflict, laughter and sorrow, myth and fact, • Explore the impact of American writers and wisdom and folly, meditation and entertainment, • Provide access for members to an array of their works using experiential, interactive poetry and politics—all of on-line literary archives and resources. opportunities that excite all visitors and make this is contained within young readers, especially, eager to learn more American writing. The about writers and their books. American Writers Museum is where visitors will encounter • Through exhibitions, programs and activities in one place (both real and that delight, surprise, and provoke, invite virtual) the full range of American literary visitors to discover and to share with each inventiveness and insight, and will cherish the other the writers and books that speak to their value of writing and reading in our lives. own lives. • Bring American literature, past and present, to the center of our national conversation and thought.

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 19 “There is nothing that reveals America’s character, creativity and national experience more profoundly than the literature our great writers have created.”

Frank Sesno, Director, School of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles for the American Writers • The American Writers Museum will not be a Museum express the underlying attitudes and collecting institution assumptions that ground the selection of themes • Viewpoint-driven themes or emotional/ and topics the museum will showcase. We will moral/political/societal questions readily inspire refer to these often as the museum develops to explorations of how an author reflected or ensure we stay true to these principles. challenged popular opinions in his/her • The American Writers Museum is a place audience. for readers. • Everyone is an individual reader, with an • Cumulative experiences in the museum may intimate personal history as a reader, and with be more profound and have more lasting effect favorite books and memorable experiences than a single, large-scale experience. of reading. In this way reading is egalitarian • The American Writers Museum must be and inclusive. relevant to a large and diverse group of people. • Everyone has something to say about reading • From the founding documents through the and writing, and the American Writers novels, poetry, speeches, autobiographies, and Museum will solicit and welcome multiple plays of the present day, America is a nation perspectives and viewpoints. founded on, furthered, and re-imagined by acts • Museums are the physical expression of an of writing. institution’s values and ideas. These can be • Human minds are hard-wired for stories; shared in other ways, including programs, the American Writers Museum will be story- exhibits, traveling shows, and on-site and driven. on-line interactive media. All of these outlets and techniques combined are to be considered • Human voice facilitates accessibility to content. the American Writers Museum. • Surprise and humor are essential elements of • Local, regional, and national Partnerships will much good writing and enjoyable reading, and be an essential part of the American Writers will be elements of our visitor experience. Museum operational model. Partnerships will • Visitor experiences that provoke an emotional offer shared content and loaned collections for response have lasting impact—the American mutual benefit. Writers Museum will be experiential.

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 21 “How thrilling to imagine a museum dedicated to the great achievements of American literature. Such a museum—no matter where in the U.S. it was located—would immediately become both a national center and a national symbol for creativity, education, and the highest aspirations of our culture.”

Dana Gioia, Poet and former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts Interpretive Strategies

Each gallery, theme and exhibit will ultimately Provide Fle xible, receive a custom design, tailored to ensure the Multiple Points of Entry goals and visitor outcome objectives are met. Research has provided rich detail about how Interpretive strategies developed in the workshop people engage in informal learning environments. process and identified below will be employed No two people engage throughout the visitor experience. Each of these in the same way. will be used to varying degrees, depending on the For this reason the type of experience presented. American Writers The vision for the American Writers Museum Museum will employ a relies on the robust interaction of its visitors, both consistent strategy of on-site and on-line, with the themes and topics the presenting content in museum will present. Visitors will have a role in multiple ways. This what is presented and how it is presented. means exhibits will offer content in visual formats, The interpretive strategies for the American digital formats, and in sensory formats using Writers Museum characterize the multiple tactile elements such as touch objects and techniques and approaches the American Writers touch screens. Museum will use to present its stories to visitors. Offer Opportunities for The aim is to offer access to the content in a Visitor-Generated Content variety of different ways to accommodate the largest degree of learning styles and cognitive, The phrase “visitor- emotional, developmental, and physical abilities. generated content” has layered meaning. With the above in mind, here are seven key It can strike fear in the interpretive strategies the museum will employ: hearts of many curators, but its intent is positive —to increase visitors’ commitment to the museum by giving them a voice within its virtual and physical walls.

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 23 Make Ample Use seek Humor and evoke Emotions Complement Exhibits of Inter ac tive with Programs Experiences Discovering humor in writing is among the pleasures of reading. Emotional experiences are Exhibits will be designed to be stand-alone; Successful visitor those that tend to last. With these points in mind, visits will be successful if self-guided. Nonetheless, engagement is often a the American Writers Museum will seek humor programs will complement and enrich an exhibit result of quality and evoke emotion in much of the visitor experience. It is known that personal engagement interactive experiences. These experiences can be experience, and will aim to modulate the visit with museum staff and volunteers greatly enhances simple (a matching game for example), or complex through a range of experiences intended, in part, visitor satisfaction. Thus, a key interpretive (a touch table). Their aim is always the same—to to evoke an emotional response. strategy will be to design programs to complement provide visitors with innovative ways to engage the the exhibitions, providing insights and content so that it is understandable, demonstrable, Foster Group Experiences observations that cannot be presented in an and memorable. The American Writers Museum Most museum visits exhibition format alone. These can and will envisions use of simple and complex interactives are with groups. The include self-guided tours on smart devices, plus throughout the visitor experience to both enhance fastest growing group tours led by staff “storytellers.” enjoyment and to anchor the learning objectives. of museum-goers is inter-generational Integrate Social Media families. With this in into the Museum mind, exhibits will be Experience designed to engage Many visitors will be groups of visitors in developmentally appropriate using social media to ways. This means exhibits will be designed to document their visit engage audiences of varying ages, abilities, and to the American interests while fostering group interactions. This Writers Museum and to share their experiences can be achieved through exhibits that invite with their friends. Social media is a tool that will inquiry and ask questions. be employed to amplify visitor connections to the Museum and its content.

24 american writers museum concept plan may 2012 Design Considerations

Modern museums can be marvels of innovation, even though not required by reasons of protecting both in the use of the latest technology and in fragile collections—it makes it impossible for the employment of design techniques that amplify many to read text or to navigate from place to the impact of visitor engagement. Audience place. By making them too noisy, it makes it research has repeatedly shown that visitors find impossible for some to hear targeted, local exhibit museum visits most satisfying when they offer audio. By providing only one way into the content, an experience that is unique, rewarding and it excludes those who miss that one way or find a often surprising. different way more intuitive. In this way design creates a context that has a material effect on the In this section we address five design audience’s ability to engage with the experiences considerations that have implications for the that are offered and to absorb the information that facility design as a whole, but have particular is presented. The American Writers Museum will implications for exhibition planning and design. keep these concerns in the foreground of its design inclusive design process, ensuring a design that offers multiple points of entry, including sensory experiences, and The American Writers Museum will be accessible utilizes the best practices of universal design to to everyone. This simple, yet profound declaration ensure accessibility for small children, older adults, means that the museum must be designed to non-ambulatory visitors and visitors with physical, include anyone who chooses to come. This can visual and hearing limitations. be achieved only if the commitment to do so is there from the start. Otherwise, it is almost certain that the museum will end up being more or less successful for some groups over others. In all aspects of its design, the American Writers Museum is committed to create visitor experiences that will be satisfying and accessible for all. Few public spaces begin a design process by deciding whom they are going to exclude, and yet many design decisions have the effect of excluding many visitors. By making museums too dark—

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 25 use of technology integration of the museum’s physical experience change Among the joys of the modern world is the pace with its on-line one. Specifically, technology Repeat visitation is the key to sustainability for at which technology evolves. Technology that is will be deployed to: most museums and this will be true for the routine in museums today was neither possible • Provide visitors with a way to add their American Writers Museum as well. Beloved nor affordable just a few years ago. This pace own stories and commentary exhibitions that are a constant become icons in of change brings with it great challenges for • Provide visitors with a way to see or hear many institutions, bringing visitors back to these museums, especially those that are projecting the stories of others touchstones time and again. But it is true that the use of technology • Connect on-site experiences to on-line change is a driver for repeat visitation as well. three years or more in experiences and vice-versa The content breadth and scope for the American the future. Decisions • Connect to social media in real time Writers Museum is huge. This means that it would about infrastructure, • Connect to partner programs in real time command the effort standards and • Foster a community of reading and writing, of many lifetimes to accessibility both nationally and locally present all the material on-line and on-site may • Foster social interaction and themes that have long lasting effect. • Refresh and update content on a routine and American writing and Technologies are being incorporated into our regular basis writers offer. The everyday lives in new and interesting ways with an As a general rule, we will utilize technology to American Writers unrelenting fervor. This growing familiarity of offer visitors a variety of ways to engage with the Museum does not technology offers new and exciting opportunities museum’s exhibitions, in recognition of the wide envision itself as either comprehensive or for visitor engagement in a museum setting. variety in interests and learning styles. encyclopedic, the opportunities to present new Technology will play an important role in the material are limited only by curatorial energy and American Writers Museum, but we do not want it partnerships exhibition funding. The American Writers to be the featured role. By this we mean that for Partnerships are an important part of the identity Museum will be designed for change. The Writers’ the most part, technology will be incorporated of the American Writers Museum. Partner content Hall vignettes will be designed to incorporate a to enhance the visitor experience but it will not and relationships may be featured on-site or changing roster of writers and their works; the be so much in the foreground that it becomes the on-line. As the museum develops its exhibitions, Focus Halls will accommodate changing subject experience. We envision the use of technology as partnership relationships will be integrated into matter; the Theater, Literary Commons and a way to foster social interaction, to provide easy the design philosophy as a whole in a flexible way. Literary Lounge will all have changing programs access to large amounts of data, and to allow an as a matter of course.

26 american writers museum concept plan may 2012 education • Providing opportunities for visitors to construct The American Writers Museum views education personal meaning from their visit. to be at the heart of its purpose. It is the desire to • Providing opportunities for the visitors to celebrate American writing and writers that is the discover new literary works and new insights inspiration for the —to promote the “aha!” moments. museum in the first • Facilitating discussions that lead to place. To be a successful transformative experiences involving new educational institution, awareness or understanding, a change in the American Writers attitude or behavior, or the acquisition of Museum knows it will new skills. need to keep its As the American Writers Museum moves its educational goals in building and exhibition designs forward, these view throughout its exhibition planning and considerations will be kept at the forefront of design. There are many models of successful our thinking. museum education programs, but they frequently share the same success characteristics, such as: • Engaging visitors as active participants in the museum experience, making use of a wide array of techniques within the galleries, including graphics, touchable and tactile objects, mechanical and computer-based interactives, video, audio and other facilitated programs. • Creating exhibitions that are consistent with learning theory and our understanding of cognitive development models, that include clear and meaningful learning objectives and are responsive to visitors needs.

american writers museum concept plan may 2012 27 charette participants

Andrew Anway Lisa Green Max Rudin Contributors to this Founder, Amaze Design Member, Lookingglass Theatre Co. Board Publisher, The Library of America Dr. Dennis Barrie Daniel Greene Dr. Alice Schreyer Concept Plan participated President, Barrie Projects Vice President for Research and Academic Assistant Director, in charettes in Chicago, Lee Bey Programs, Newberry Library University of Chicago Library Chairman, Chicago Central Dina Griffin Donna Seaman New York, and Boston and Area Committee Director, The American Institute of Architects Senior Editor, Booklist Leigh B. Bienen Chicago and president, Interactive Design, Dr. Werner Sollors provided on-going guidance Senior lecturer, Northwestern University Inc. Professor of English Literature and in the crafting of this School of Law Dr. Robert Gundlach Professor of African and African American Susan Brandehoff Professor, Weinberg College Writing Program, Studies, Harvard University document. The American Program Director, American Library Northwestern University Michael Spock Association Ronne Hartfield Scholar-in-Residence Writers Museum Foundation Julie Burros International Museum Consultant Chicago History Museum gratefully acknowledges Director of Cultural Planning, Department Werner Hein Paul A. Steinbrecher of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Senior Counsel, Mayer Brown Partner, Interactive Design, Inc. their unwavering support, City of Chicago Lamar Johnson Dr. Robert Stepto energy and commitment Antonia Contro Principal, Gensler Chicago Professor of English, African American Artist and Executive Director, Katherine D. Kane Studies, and American Studies, to this project. Marwen Foundation Executive Director, Harriet Beecher Yale University Andrew DeVigal Stowe Center Helen Sullivan Multimedia Editor, New York Times David Kipen President, InHouse Communications, Dr. Kimberly Dixon Former Literary Director, Noreen Tomassi Executive Director, Guild Literary Complex National Endowment for the Arts Executive Director of the Center for Fiction in Donald G. Evans Victoria Lautman New York Executive Director, Chicago Literary Radio and television host of literary programs Dr. Anne Trubek Hall of Fame Dr. Jeffrey Lependorf Associate Professor of Rhetoric & Composition David Fenza Executive Director, Council of Literary and English, Oberlin College Executive Director, Association of Writers and Magazines and Presses (CLMP) Dr. William Veeder Writing Programs Peter Linett Professor Emeritus of English at the Meghan Ferrill Partner, Slover Linett Strategies Inc. University of Chicago Writer-in-Residence, Studio/lab design group Dr. Haki R. Madhubuti Jim Volkert Dr. Ed Folsom Founder and Publisher, Third World Press, Principal, Exhibition Associates Roy J. Carver Professor of English, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett Professor Emeritus, Bruce Wyman The University of Iowa DePaul University Director of Creative Development, Design and production of the Tom Gallagher Dr. Malcolm O’Hagan Second Story American Writers Museum Concept Plan President, E&G Property Services Chairman, American Writers Museum Stephen Young by Amaze Design, Boston, Massachusetts Dr. Reginald Gibbons Foundation Program Director, Poetry Foundation Frances Hooper Professor of Arts and Scott Rabiet Humanities, Northwestern University Principal, Amaze Design

28 american writers museum concept plan may 2012 Henry Adams Daniel Alarcón Edward Albee Nelson Algren Rudolfo Anaya Maya Angelou Gloria Anzaldúa Paul Auster Mary