Interactive Exhibits and Interior Design
SFMOMA Painting and Sculpture Interpretive Gallery
Client:
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Venue/Location:
Gallery 218, 2nd Floor
Browse:
highlights
Wall Experience
Interactive "posters" offer insight on particular artists in the Wall Experience
Visitors explore highlights of a large painting
Image carousels offer a glimpse inside artists' lives
Eyes-Free Mode is available for visitors with low vision or without sight
Eyes-Free Mode features spoken descriptions of SFMOMA art and artists
Eyes-Free Mode
Visitors with low vision or without sight use headphones to learn about SFMOMA's collection
The SFMOMA Table Experience features image and word tiles to sort stories
Visitors can access in-depth stories on the lives of SFMOMA artists
Relevant quotes and artworks enhance the narratives
Eyes-Free Mode at the Table Experience
Audio and touch allow visitors with low vision or without sight to engage with the Table Experience
Interior design intent—3D rendering of Gallery 218
Interior design intent—3D rendering of Wall and Table Experiences in Gallery 218
Explanatory panels highlight details of large-scale artworks
Artist profiles feature quotations and imagery, giving visitors a glimpse into their lives
SFMOMA visitors can access more detail on specific topics through each story
Users can explore layers of content based on their interests
Eyes-Free Mode utilizes audio cues to engage visitors with low vision or without sight
Wall Experience Eyes-Free Mode
The Table Experience allows visitors to filter stories based on their interests
With each tile added, stories populate below
Visitors can hone in on precise topics by selecting tiles
SFMOMA visitors can learn about the influences various artists had on each other, both interpersonally and stylistically
Table Experience stories offer a playful, detailed view of the artists, artworks, and themes of SFMOMA's collection
Table Experience Eyes-Free Mode
Audio output and touch input allow Eyes-Free visitors to interact with the Table Experience
Spoken descriptions allow visitors with low vision or without sight to learn more about SFMOMA's art collection
Client:
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Browse:
highlights
With their 2016 expansion, SFMOMA reaffirmed its commitment to visitors—to act as the gateway to the art for our time, and to reveal fresh ways of seeing, thinking, and engaging with its collection and the artists who created it. SFMOMA enlisted Belle & Wissell as a collaborator to co-create an interpretive gallery containing two complementary experiences that further these visitor-centric objectives.
The Wall and Table Experiences available in the museum’s second floor galleries are designed to help visitors make meaningful, personal connections to art and artists, in a comfortable, welcoming space that allows them to pause, think, and reflect.
The Wall Experience presents a series of large interactive “posters” exploring thematic connections between collection objects; hidden stories contained in key objects by presenting them at magnified scale; and revealing looks inside artists’ studios, providing insights into their creative processes. The Table Experience allows visitors to dive deeper into narrative stories, and is triggered by selecting pairings of evocative words and images.
A significant component of the project—and a unique challenge for Belle & Wissell—was the innovative Eyes-Free Mode. Eyes-Free Mode preserves the unique content presentation that sighted visitors experience, while delivering responses to touch-based interactions through audio feedback, making this content accessible to visitors with low vision or without sight. This combination of expressive, spoken descriptions, captivating imagery and video, and self-guided interaction help ensure these experiences serve all SFMOMA visitors.
Project Accolades:
Communication Arts “Exhibit,” 2017
Belle & Wissell Team Credits
Principal: Gabe Kean
Studio Producer: Sarah Trueblood
Technology Lead: Edward Tang
Creative Director: Thomas Ryun
Senior Designer: Edrea Lita
Senior Designer: Eric Harvey
Studio Coordinator: Natalie Karbelnig
Senior Developer: Scott Thiessen
Programmer: Nathan Selikoff
Programmer: Nathan Harris
Quality Assurance Engineer: Serge Bokach
Additional Project Credits
Associate Curator, SFMOMA: Peter Samis
Project Coordinator, SFMOMA: Julia Askenase
Art Director, SFMOMA: Bosco Hernández
Chief Content Officer, SFMOMA: Chad Coerver
Head of Web and Digital Platforms, SFMOMA: Keir Winesmith
Head of Interpretive Media, SFMOMA: Erica Gangsei
Senior Content Strategist, Interpretive Media, SFMOMA: Tim Svenonius
Interpretive Media Assistant, SFMOMA: Anastasia Pahules
Eyes-Free Consultant: Sina Bahram
A/V Hardware Integrator: BBI Technologies
Interior Design/Build Partner: BEMA
Furniture Designer and Fabricator: Anthony Lockwood
Furniture Designer and Fabricator: Marcus Crider
Design/Build Project Manager: Ruth Lockwood
Belle & Wissell Team Credits
Principal: Gabe Kean
Studio Producer: Sarah Trueblood
Technology Lead: Edward Tang
Creative Director: Thomas Ryun
Senior Designer: Edrea Lita
Senior Designer: Eric Harvey
Studio Coordinator: Natalie Karbelnig
Senior Developer: Scott Thiessen
Programmer: Nathan Selikoff
Programmer: Nathan Harris
Quality Assurance Engineer: Serge Bokach
Additional Project Credits
Associate Curator, SFMOMA: Peter Samis
Project Coordinator, SFMOMA: Julia Askenase
Art Director, SFMOMA: Bosco Hernández
Chief Content Officer, SFMOMA: Chad Coerver
Head of Web and Digital Platforms, SFMOMA: Keir Winesmith
Head of Interpretive Media, SFMOMA: Erica Gangsei
Senior Content Strategist, Interpretive Media, SFMOMA: Tim Svenonius
Interpretive Media Assistant, SFMOMA: Anastasia Pahules
Eyes-Free Consultant: Sina Bahram
A/V Hardware Integrator: BBI Technologies
Interior Design/Build Partner: BEMA
Furniture Designer and Fabricator: Anthony Lockwood
Furniture Designer and Fabricator: Marcus Crider
Design/Build Project Manager: Ruth Lockwood
With their 2016 expansion, SFMOMA reaffirmed its commitment to visitors—to act as the gateway to the art for our time, and to reveal fresh ways of seeing, thinking, and engaging with its collection and the artists who created it. SFMOMA enlisted Belle & Wissell as a collaborator to co-create an interpretive gallery containing two complementary experiences that further these visitor-centric objectives.
The Wall and Table Experiences available in the museum’s second floor galleries are designed to help visitors make meaningful, personal connections to art and artists, in a comfortable, welcoming space that allows them to pause, think, and reflect.
The Wall Experience presents a series of large interactive “posters” exploring thematic connections between collection objects; hidden stories contained in key objects by presenting them at magnified scale; and revealing looks inside artists’ studios, providing insights into their creative processes. The Table Experience allows visitors to dive deeper into narrative stories, and is triggered by selecting pairings of evocative words and images.
A significant component of the project—and a unique challenge for Belle & Wissell—was the innovative Eyes-Free Mode. Eyes-Free Mode preserves the unique content presentation that sighted visitors experience, while delivering responses to touch-based interactions through audio feedback, making this content accessible to visitors with low vision or without sight. This combination of expressive, spoken descriptions, captivating imagery and video, and self-guided interaction help ensure these experiences serve all SFMOMA visitors.
Project Accolades:
Communication Arts “Exhibit,” 2017