DoSeum Design Studios was hired by the McNay Art Museum to put its community-focused mission front and center in the form of a space dedicated to art creation, curation, and discovery.

We transformed their former store into an interactive space for all ages. It was truly a collaborative effort between an art museum and a children’s museum with a unique outcome.

The whole space is designed to showcase the unique features of the McNay, including its beautiful gardens and incredible collection.

Inside, visitors can explore discovery boxes in an immersive garden wall, create shadow shapes, view artworks, share their thoughts and ideas on art, and even create their own exhibition using McNay’s collection. We hope visitors leave saying they belong here as artists and Creator.

USAA'S FORT INNOVATE

Content for the mobile museum 

Working with 160 over 90 and USAA, The DoSeum helped develop the concept and content for Fort Innovate, a mobile innovation lab visiting museums across the country this summer!

CELEBRATING MILITARY INNOVATIONS

Through kid-forward interactivity

We identified 5 family-friendly innovations to explore in the mobile museum: night vision,  VR, drones, silly putty, and radio communication. We helped develop the exhibits and wrote the history, how it works, and fun facts for each. 

EVERYONE CAN BE AN INNOVATOR

Giving agency to children 

The experience includes a quiz to determine what type of innovator you are: Breakthrough, Trailblazing, Sustaining, or Research.  We want everyone who visits to feel a connection to the innovations created and to feel that they too are an innovator.

Design Studios developed, designed, and built a model to be taken to area schools for outreach. Children activate sensors to bring a variety of power sources to the power plant. They then must connect a series of circuits to carry the electricity through the Texas power grid to the transmission substation. Finally, children build a city that must balance the available power on its grid. The model was developed to engage a large group of children at a time.



Design Studios worked closed with the utility to develop age-appropriate content. We prototyped it at The DoSeum to get kids' feedback. We developed a system that is highly durable and transportable.

Working with Atelier Bruckner, The DoSeum helped develop the concept and content for the children's floor of the new Museum of the Future. On this innovative floor, children develop skills and earn badges to become Future Heroes. 

FUTURE HEROES

Aligning area educational goals 

We worked closely with the Dubai Future Foundation and the exhibition designers to create educational goals that aligned with the educational initiatives of Dubai. Children may explore the playful landscape or participate in challenges led by "Future Trainers." Participation will earn them "Future Skills Badges" encouraging collaboration, communication, and creativity. 

IMAGINE LAB

A content-rich exploration of the Earth and Beyond

One feature of the floor is the Imagine Lab, in which guests explore orbs with four senses, discover what's within, and work to find similarities. The DoSeum prototyped this, and all of the labs, using culturally-relevant affinity groups. We wrote, selected, and edited the content based on this research. 

DoSeum Design Studio provides a unique, hands-on approach to exhibition design by getting up close and personal with the needs of the client. To kickstart the creation of a new children’s museum in Temple, TX, we began by facilitating engaging workshops focused on STEM-based education and joyful learning to achieve the desired outcome.

We completed the Schematic Design Phase for Temple Children’s Museum in July 2019.

Design Studio team met with board members and community stakeholders for Temple Children’s Museum to learn what concepts and educational outcomes were most important and relevant to the children of Temple. We loved our conversations around the needs of this growing town.

Among stakeholders were local teachers and business owners who have a vested interest in opening access points to underserved communities in their area to provide children with more educational opportunities outside of the classroom. Improving kinder readiness was at the core of many of these conversations.

We’re excited for the potential of this former warehouse right in downtown Temple. 

We also spent time in local elementary schools, providing activities for children who will benefit from the future museum, and asked them to design their own exhibitions.

From all of our research, we provided Temple Children’s Museum with interior space planning and renderings that illustrate the concepts that were most integral to TCM’s target audience. TCM plans to move forward with a capital campaign to fundraise and begin the next design phases!

Virtual Design Lab
In partnership with MERGE

Unlock a child’s “inner maker” by allowing them to create in augmented and virtual reality. Visitors can design virtual objects via an easy-to-use CAD app and then upload their object to a virtual world and where they can interact with it in augmented and virtual reality. Visitors can look through soft and durable MERGE AR/VR headsets to view their creation and those of other visitors. Next, they can hold and interact with their creation in augmented reality using the MERGE Cube. Finally, they can take the experience home by purchasing a MERGE Cube and downloading the free the Object Viewer app to continue accessing their virtual object plus hundreds of others. Visitors become content creators instead of content consumers, as they design and create in AR and VR.

The DoSeum Design Studio can work with you to determine the best options for your institution. We can help design and build a custom exhibit based on your needs.

Future STEM Career Generator

Kids choose two of their favorite interests—whether it’s the arts, space, or animals—and are given engaging information about possible future career paths.

ROLE PLAY OPTION

Kids can use their job title to begin to role play. For example, a Holographic Space Transporter can operate a robot in space to fix a problem on a space shuttle. An Astro-Culinary Artist can welcome people to their 5-star restaurant on the moon.

CALL TO ACTION OPTION

The host organization can program the generator to give kids their first step to achieving this career. An Artificial Intelligence Designer can be encouraged to participate in a local robotics program. A Digital Nutritionist can connect with a local food bank.

This exhibit was developed in collaboration with SA2020, a local nonprofit that drives progress toward shared community goals through data indicators and public activations.

City Lab Augmented Reality Table

Kids and adults virtually build the city of their dreams using a variety of collectible tiles representing six core values.

Arts & Culture | Community | Nature | Education | Transportation | Health

When placed under a digital tablet, the tiles come to life revealing futuristic structures, buildings, and places. A flood occurs, and the children quickly learn which values their city needs. Only a well-balanced city, incorporating all necessary values, will survive and thrive!

This exhibit was developed in collaboration with SA2020, a local nonprofit that drives progress toward shared community goals through data indicators and public activations.

Download The DoSeum City Lab app at Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

All our exhibits are in English and Spanish.