Interpretive Exhibition
Remembrance Gallery: Immersive Memorial Space & Interactive Exhibit
Client:
Japanese American Citizens League, Puyallup Chapter
Venue/Location:
Washington State Fairgrounds
Browse:
Highlights
The Remembrance Gallery brings awareness to the history of the “Puyallup Assembly Center” (PAC), as the largest temporary American concentration camp in Washington State.
PAC barracks re-creations invite curiosity.
The digital media within the facades help to set the emotional tone for the experiences that await inside.
The backbone of the exhibit is a sculptural installation (titled Monument) which honors over 7,500 incarcerees.
Hidden responsive technology dynamically illuminates inmate "name markers" as visitors approach. The illumination aims to welcome visitors while enhancing the legibility of names.
Names and family numbers were relief-printed on corian panels, presented in a continuous waveform composition.
Visitors can learn about the key events that led up to Executive Order 9060, and also the struggles that continue to this day.
A brief history of Japanese American incarceration sets the stage for deeper storylines.
Many have tried to forget (or cover up) what transpired at the Puyallup Fairgrounds in 1942.
The assemblage of touch displays presents digital stories built from archival photos, footage, documents, and custom-designed maps—providing a lens on how incarceration played out both locally and across the U.S.
In the digital installation Throughline, visitors can interact with rich, layered content—designed to engage and educate a wide audience.
The living conditions at PAC were inhumane.
To immerse visitors, a re-creation titled 8x10, combines sights and sounds into a multi-sensory experience within a horse stall living quarters.
The experience features an immersive soundscape and programmatic lighting, to enhance the authentic re-creation.
Throughout the upper facade of the gallery, we've included the Kintsugi effect, a Japanese art of highlighting imperfections in broken objects instead of hiding them. This metaphor represents finding strength and meaning in life's difficulties.
The exhibit design incorporated practical architectural improvements that aim to protect the Gallery and its important content for years to come.
Client:
Japanese American Citizens League, Puyallup Chapter
Browse:
Highlights
The Remembrance Gallery brings awareness to the history of the “Puyallup Assembly Center” (PAC) as the largest temporary American concentration camp in Washington State. With spaces for reflection, immersion, and interaction, the Gallery highlights the experiences of the Japanese and Japanese Americans incarcerated on this site during World War II.
Nestled in the Washington State Fair’s grandstand, the exterior of the exhibit is clad with PAC barracks re-creations that intrigue passersby. Crude living structures combined with historical digital photography portray the realities of incarcerees who occupied them. These facades help to set the emotional tone for the experiences that await inside.
The backbone of the exhibit is a sculptural installation (titled Monument) which honors over 7,500 incarcerees. Hidden responsive technology dynamically illuminates inmate “name markers” as visitors approach. The illumination aims to connect visitors to those honored in the name panels while also enhancing legibility. Names and family identification numbers were relief-printed on Corian panels, allowing visitors to experience the names by touching them as well as creating a stone rubbing as a keepsake. The 111 panels are arranged in a continuous waveform composition, alluding to the rippling effects of this event across geography and generations.
In the digital installation Throughline, visitors can interact with rich, layered content—designed to engage and educate a wide audience. The assemblage of touch displays presents digital stories built from archival photos, footage, documents, and custom-designed maps—providing a lens on how incarceration played out both locally and across the U.S.
On the opposite end of the Gallery, a multi-sensory experience titled 8×10, combines historical set design, audio, and theatrical light show to transport visitors back in time. The immersive soundscape evokes the sense of despair and distress of those forced to live within the horse stall living quarters that existed in this very same building back in 1942.
The interactive Gallery experience makes unique emotional connections with its visitors that reinforce the cause for social justice. This is particularly important for younger audiences who may be unaware of or unfamiliar with the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II. “Let it not happen again.”
Project Accolades:
Seattle Times “New WA State Fair memorial honors Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII,” 2024
NPR (KUOW) “‘They aren’t forgotten.’ New memorial honors Japanese Americans incarcerated at Washington State Fairgrounds,” 2024
KING 5 News “Washington State Fair’s ‘Remembrance Gallery’ highlights dark past of fairgrounds,” 2024
International Examiner “After a 7-year effort, gallery commemorates Japanese American incarceration on the site of the Washington State Fairgrounds down in Puyallup,” 2024
North American Post “Remembrance Gallery Now Open,” 2024
Belle & Wissell Team Credits
Design Director: Gabe Kean
Creative Technology Director: Matt Arnold
Senior Experience Designer and Motion Designer: Jes Noparat
Architect and Furniture Designer: Okano Picard Studio
Content Developer: Natalie Abeles
Senior Software Developer: Jeremy Rotsztain
CMS Developer: Don Davies
Soundscape Composer: Jonathan Warman
Additional Project Credits
Executive Director, JACL Puyallup: Eileen Lamphere
Project Manager, JACL Puyallup: Sharon Sobie-Seymour
Operations Manager, JACL Puyallup: Liz Dunbar
Exhibit Advisor, JACL Puyallup: Barbara Mizoguchi-Asahara
Exhibit Contributor, JACL Puyallup: Amy Oshiro
Content Dev’t Intern, JACL Puyallup: Paul Sherfey
Exhibit Manager: Jill Randerson
Content Partner: Densho
General Contractor: Mountain Construction
A/V Integrator: Integrity Networks
Fabricator: Blackmouth Design
Oral Histories Filmmaker: John Pai
Documentation Videography and Editing, Strangelife: John Jeffcoat
Belle & Wissell Team Credits
Design Director: Gabe Kean
Creative Technology Director: Matt Arnold
Senior Experience Designer and Motion Designer: Jes Noparat
Architect and Furniture Designer: Okano Picard Studio
Content Developer: Natalie Abeles
Senior Software Developer: Jeremy Rotsztain
CMS Developer: Don Davies
Soundscape Composer: Jonathan Warman
Additional Project Credits
Executive Director, JACL Puyallup: Eileen Lamphere
Project Manager, JACL Puyallup: Sharon Sobie-Seymour
Operations Manager, JACL Puyallup: Liz Dunbar
Exhibit Advisor, JACL Puyallup: Barbara Mizoguchi-Asahara
Exhibit Contributor, JACL Puyallup: Amy Oshiro
Content Dev’t Intern, JACL Puyallup: Paul Sherfey
Exhibit Manager: Jill Randerson
Content Partner: Densho
General Contractor: Mountain Construction
A/V Integrator: Integrity Networks
Fabricator: Blackmouth Design
Oral Histories Filmmaker: John Pai
Documentation Videography and Editing, Strangelife: John Jeffcoat
The Remembrance Gallery brings awareness to the history of the “Puyallup Assembly Center” (PAC) as the largest temporary American concentration camp in Washington State. With spaces for reflection, immersion, and interaction, the Gallery highlights the experiences of the Japanese and Japanese Americans incarcerated on this site during World War II.
Nestled in the Washington State Fair’s grandstand, the exterior of the exhibit is clad with PAC barracks re-creations that intrigue passersby. Crude living structures combined with historical digital photography portray the realities of incarcerees who occupied them. These facades help to set the emotional tone for the experiences that await inside.
The backbone of the exhibit is a sculptural installation (titled Monument) which honors over 7,500 incarcerees. Hidden responsive technology dynamically illuminates inmate “name markers” as visitors approach. The illumination aims to connect visitors to those honored in the name panels while also enhancing legibility. Names and family identification numbers were relief-printed on Corian panels, allowing visitors to experience the names by touching them as well as creating a stone rubbing as a keepsake. The 111 panels are arranged in a continuous waveform composition, alluding to the rippling effects of this event across geography and generations.
In the digital installation Throughline, visitors can interact with rich, layered content—designed to engage and educate a wide audience. The assemblage of touch displays presents digital stories built from archival photos, footage, documents, and custom-designed maps—providing a lens on how incarceration played out both locally and across the U.S.
On the opposite end of the Gallery, a multi-sensory experience titled 8×10, combines historical set design, audio, and theatrical light show to transport visitors back in time. The immersive soundscape evokes the sense of despair and distress of those forced to live within the horse stall living quarters that existed in this very same building back in 1942.
The interactive Gallery experience makes unique emotional connections with its visitors that reinforce the cause for social justice. This is particularly important for younger audiences who may be unaware of or unfamiliar with the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II. “Let it not happen again.”
Project Accolades:
Seattle Times “New WA State Fair memorial honors Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII,” 2024
NPR (KUOW) “‘They aren’t forgotten.’ New memorial honors Japanese Americans incarcerated at Washington State Fairgrounds,” 2024
KING 5 News “Washington State Fair’s ‘Remembrance Gallery’ highlights dark past of fairgrounds,” 2024
International Examiner “After a 7-year effort, gallery commemorates Japanese American incarceration on the site of the Washington State Fairgrounds down in Puyallup,” 2024
North American Post “Remembrance Gallery Now Open,” 2024