Museum Exhibits

Alsdorf-Chicago Art Institute-Proto Productions

San-Diego Museum of Art_Proto Productions

Proto Productions-Detroit Institute of Art-2

Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art_Proto Productions

Detroit Institute of Arts_Proto Productions

Proto’s forty years in the museum exhibit fabrication business has allowed us to apply our talent in organization, administration, and value-added engineering to fabricate exhibits of the highest quality and conform to designer’s intent within the scope of financial and scheduling concerns. The sophistication and elegance of these solutions carry through even to the simplest aspects of Proto’s work, while helping to finalize and fabricate exhibitions that meet the exacting requirements of the museum planners and designers.

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Portfolio

We take personal pride in our craft and regard every installed Proto exhibits as a work that bears our signature and identity. Our products are a lasting reflection of our creative and technical capabilities and we are committed to excellence in every detail, from concept to completion. Following are examples of our past projects.

The Art Institute of Chicago
Alsdorf and Modern Galleries

Designers, architects and the curators have been able to “reimagine” the Art Institute’s entire collection. The new Alsdorf Galleries, designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, have created a bridge between the East Asian Art to Western Civilizations’ Art to the Modern Wing. And Proto Productions has brought their concept to reality. Never before have they been able to showcase their 270,000 objects from all their collections concurrently. Proto Productions fabricated over two hundred custom display cases, vitrines, platforms, podiums, dividers, and wall shelves for the Galleries. We were in close coordination with their curators, conservators, and designers to maintain compliance with all conservation guidelines, including relative humidity, color schemes, and security. Many conservation cases were also provided with silica gel (desiccant) chambers. Cases were sealed to maintain relative humidity and prevention of dust and other pollutants.

University of Iowa
Taking Flight the World of Birds

Proto Productions interpreted the design concepts, fabricated and installed this 3,000 square foot exhibit in the William and Eleanor Hageboeck Hall of Birds. Proto engineered modular components to be fabricated and then re-assembled in a limited access gallery. These serpentine cases with a mahogany finish were fabricated to match the existing museum cases. Proto, also, updated the existing cases by introducing label rails. The exhibit was further enhanced by interpretive graphics featuring nearly all aspects of birds and their significance to humans. About 1,000 birds and numerous eggs from their 150 year old collection are housed within these cases. Interactive displays including rotating flips and an electro-mechanical bird wing were fabricated to more fully engage the visitors.

Detroit Institute of Arts
Reinstallation of Art

Proto, as the prime fabricator of the artifact cases and interactives, fabricated more than 500 unique conservation cases for the renovation and expansion project of this 150,000 square foot exhibit space, the largest renovation of an art museum to date. Dimmable fluorescent, halogen and fiber optics were used in the wall and free-standing glass cases. Microclimate cases were fabricated with desiccant chambers to keep the relative humidity at the proper levels. The Proto cases have a universal design developed by the designers, Staples & Charles, but each gallery has its own distinctive elements.

Four and five-sided artifact cases were fabricated ranging from twelve inches by twelve inches up to a forty linear foot case, with six large glass hinged panels that provides a display area for garments and textiles that are rotated every three to four months. Delicate artifacts are pin mounted to the fabric wrapped ethafoam decks. Another set of unique cases were two part clear acrylic cases that created an appearance of floating in front of a muralized wall. In addition to the casework, Proto fabricated and installed interpretive structures which aid in placement of these impressive objects within their original social, historical, and spiritual contexts and also support the interpretive graphics. Innovative labeling solutions include a three-sided rotating indexing label stand with stories of the curators and collections. Interactives engage the visitors to have a better understanding and appreciation of art.

Field Museum of Natural History

Families at Work: Strategies for Rearing Young

Proto Productions fabricated this 2,500 square foot exhibition which included twenty-three conservation and microclimate controlled exhibit cases. Each case contained a silica gel ballast chamber to maintain the relative humidity in the case interior between 45% and 55%. Wood case interiors were sealed to prevent off gassing of compounds harmful to the artifacts. Additionally a large children’s activity area was fabricated, including oak benches which were constructed to withstand heavy use by children.