Mississippi Museum of Art
- Location:Jackson, Mississippi
- Designer:Ansel Olson Design
- Completed:2007, ongoing to present
- Sign Types:Front Facade Entrance Sign, Monument Sign, Donor Recognition, Interior and Exterior Wayfinding Signage, Room Signs with Changeable Design Element, Café Signs, Vinyl Wall Graphics, Banner Program
A recent extraordinary architectural makeover for the largest art museum in Mississippi reflects a whole new mission and philosophy. Instead of “protect, preserve and exhibit art,” the new mission is to “engage Mississippians in the visual arts” and to be a symbolic “museum without walls.” The signage-which takes its cue from the new museum architecture and logo-has a youthful, fun color palate and actually incorporates a square open void, reinforcing the transparency and interactivity that the mission prescribes.
Our Challenge: The project had a fast paced schedule, and required intricate fabrication detail and planning. For example, the front façade was an open slat construction, and the decision was made to place the museum name in large dimensional letters on that screen. ASG needed to specify careful custom stud placement to guarantee the security of each letter to be mounted across the openings. The front entrance signage was strengthened by a series of exterior banners on columns. These were fabricated with the open square as well, requiring wind load testing. The tiered donor recognition program incorporated donor walls comprised of hundreds of etched zinc plates and photopolymer plates in complex patterns to be stud mounted directly in the drywall. Templates and measurements needed to be meticulously exact.
Deliverable: Working closely with the designer, ASG produced and installed the entire signage system for the Museum. When fabrication was complete, ASG flew an installer to the project, who managed the installation in partnership with local resources.
Something we think is cool: Design-build works! When the designer saw the budget and schedule for this project, he knew he needed a design-build relationship to make sure the details came together. He says “ASG was open to the design-build partnership idea, and handled it really well. We were able to respond to changes during construction and we were successful getting the signage to relate to the architecture.”
Speaking of relating, an unusual feature of the room signs is the modifiable open square fitted with a magnetic attachment for a mirror, enabling visitors to see themselves within the setting. And the museum staff or individual visitors might interact with the sign in other ways by switching out the mirror and replacing it with a new graphic, artifact, or material relevant to current programming. Very cool!
