Exhibition Planners Named for Proposed Academy Museum

July 6, 2006 - Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has retained Gallagher & Associates, a national exhibit design and planning consultancy, to assist with exhibition planning and concept development for its proposed museum of the moving picture.

“Before we move too far along on the physical design of our museum, we first must have a firm grip on our concept of the museum, and the kind of exhibitions and activities we need to ensure that visitors will want to visit not just once, but many times,” Academy President Sid Ganis said. “Gallagher & Associates is coming on board to help us do just that.”

The consulting firm will begin work immediately.

“We don’t want to build a beautiful box and then decide what to put in it,” Ganis said, “We’re providing a place where visitors will be exposed to a variety of enjoyable and informative experiences. When Patrick Gallagher and his wizards help us determine just what those experiences will be, then we’ll seek an architect to design the structures around them.

“The Museum Committee was impressed by Gallagher’s past work and his team’s understanding of what we hope to achieve with this enormous project.”

Gallagher & Associates is a professional design services firm with clients around the world. Among its projects have been the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.; the American Cemetery Visitor Center in Normandy, France; and the Jamestown Settlement Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia.

“The evolution of the ‘visitor experience’ in museums today is affected by a variety of factors,” said Gallagher principal Patrick Gallagher. “The Academy’s museum experience must be a distinctive one, and this will require a high degree of integration among stories, artifacts and theater to make the reality fulfilling and enriching.

“Visitors to the museum will arrive with great curiosity and anticipation. It will be important for them to leave with a new understanding of this unique industry and art, an understanding of how movies have affected our culture in the past and how they will continue to influence new generations of filmgoers.”

Land acquisition for the Academy’s museum is underway in Hollywood, next to the Academy’s existing Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study at North Vine Street and Fountain Avenue. Academy Executive Director Bruce Davis said the Academy hopes to break ground on the museum in early 2009.

For information about Gallagher & Associates:

www.gallagherdesign.com

or contact:

Cindy Taylor
Capstone Communications
(703) 757-4724
(703) 757-4726 fax
ctaylor@capstonestrategy.com

Contact Information

Leslie Unger

Press Contact

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Contact via E-mail