Details

Reframing Dioramas reopened a historic gallery closed to the public for more than 30 years, restoring its original habitat dioramas while introducing contemporary artist interventions.

The project reimagined one of natural history museums’ most traditional forms of storytelling, using art to explore how museums represent nature and shape our understanding of the natural world. Saul Becker’s A Peculiar Garden created an apocalyptic yet hauntingly beautiful landscape of glass, crystal, and metal, drawing attention to the ways humans have altered the habitats around us. Special Species: A Delicate Moment in Time, by Yesenia Prieto, Joel Fernando, and Jason Chang, transformed more than 100 endangered California plants and animals into fantastical, handcrafted alebrijes made from recycled materials, brought to life through UV light and projection mapping. Lauren Schoth’s immersive The Ever-Changing Flow used projection mapping, 3D animation, and sound to bring centuries of ecological change along the Los Angeles River to life.

As Associate Director, Special Projects, I coordinated artists, curators, designers, and production teams, guiding the development, fabrication, and installation of the interventions within the historic diorama environments.

Project Stats

• Client: Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHM)

• Size: 16,000 SF | 16 Restored Dioramas | 3 Artist Commissions

• Exhibition Design Partner: NHM

• Completion: 2024