MDOCS FEATURED EVENT:

Experiential Storytelling and Science Exhibits

John Beckman '94, director of exhibit design and development, Museum of Science and Industry

Comments/discussion leading by Mary Crone Odekon (physics) and Ray Giguere (chemistry)

Documentary exhibitions often draw on the talents of both designers and content providers. Nowhere is that collaboration more evident that in science exhibitions, which translate and bring alive the questions that animate mathematical and scientific research and issues to a broader public with informative, visually stimulating storytelling.

John Beckman will highlight the art of designing for a science exhibit, including a case study.

Science faculty and Tang Teaching Museum exhibits co-curators Mary Crone Odekon (physics, A Very Liquid Heaven) and Ray Giguere (chemistry, Molecules that Matter) will respond and lead the discussion.

Co-sponsored by Arts Administration Program and the Department of Art History, with support from the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum.

 

About the curator
John Beckman (B.A., 1994, theatrical design and art history) also trained at the Motley Theatre Design Course in London, England, as well as the Studio School of Stage Design in Jersey City. Since joining the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago, Illinois) in 2002, Beckman has conceived and executed several blockbuster exhibitions, including Action! An Adventure in Moviemaking (2004), which included the first-ever public display of all 50 Academy Awards prior to the ceremony broadcast and won an AAM MUSE award for excellence in the use of media and technology, as well as a Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) THEA award.

In 2006, Beckman led the creation of the exhibit-event Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius, which received national news attention and contained an original Leonardo drawing displayed for the first time in the U.S., groundbreaking interactive software that made its world premiere and the scholarly work of the world's three most respected da Vindi experts. Subsequent projects include Numbers in Nature and Robot Revolution.

Prior to joining the museum, Beckman served as a project manager for Chicago Scenic Studios, a Chicago-based entertainment construction company. He was a founder, resident designer and managing director of the award-winning Visions & Voices Theatre Company, a troupe devoted to producing new plays in Chicago's Off-Loop theatre scene.

In addition to work at MSI, Beckman serves on the Eastern Board of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), is the chair of television production for the nationally televised McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade and the chair of admissions for Skidmore's Alumni Board of Directors. He and his girlfriend also own Flavour Cooking School in suburban Chicago. He has recently spoken at IATSE, ASTC and AAM conferences.