History Exhibits in a Small Space

Corn Silo Exhibits at Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm

The Rochester Hills Museum has wanted to convert the oldest standing regional corn silo into an exhibition space for a while. It is a challenging room for history exhibits — being, as it is, tight, round, and with walls of brick. Flutter & Wow had already successfully redesigned the adjoining dairy barn into a museum about the history Van Hoosen Farm. In the silo, we are asked to tell a deeper and broader story — to fit ten thousand years of history exhibits into a small, circular space.

It turns out that the silo is a perfect space to manifest one of our favorite pathways into history: multiple multi-disciplinary answers to the question, Where am I standing right now? With a handful of artifacts and compelling graphics, we could lead the visitor on a story of the land, from the perspective of the very spot where they are standing. 

Flutter & Wow was determined to fit ten thousand years of history into this small space. The exhibits begin with the geological formation of the Great Lakes peninsulas and continue to a vivid description of the giant mammals that thrived here as the glaciers receded. 

We researched seven chapters in the history of the spot where the silo stands, and helped develop a collection of artifacts to tell those stories. We engaged experts — in addition to the museum’s own curator and archivist — in Anishinaabe culture, local flora, paleobiology, paleontology, Michigan pioneer history, and livestock silage.

We developed custom mounts for some beautiful and challenging artifacts, including a mastodon leg, a giant beaver skull, Anishinaabe projectile points found on this farm, and a Gunther’s survey chain. We created an electronic interactive exhibit including commissioned illustrations of local plants based on the journals of Dr. Bertha Van Hoosen.

Flutter & Wow helped make history interactive, fun, and inspiring, and we managed to fit ten thousand years of history exhibits into a small, circular space.