Colorado’s History on Display
At a time when Colorado’s growth shows no sign of slowing, the recently opened “Zoom In: The Centennial State in 100 Objects” exhibit at History Colorado Center allows us to at least take a step back in time. The show is a well-edited curation–hand selected from a collection of 15 million objects–representing Colorado’s homeland from as far back as 12,000 years ago. Exhibit visitors travel through the vast history by way of items like an Ancestral Puebloan cooking jar, an iconic hand-crafted guitar used by John Denver in the 1970’s, Aspen’s first ski lift chair and a Columbine High School sympathy card.
Museum Exhibit Built on Integrity
In keeping with the Colorado theme, History Colorado reached out to Condit in January 2017 to discuss how we could help execute the museum’s transformation into this exhibition which will run for the next six years. Jason Hanson, Chief Creative Officer and Director of Interpretation & Research at History Colorado describes, “we were looking to hire a fabricator for the exhibit and knew that [Condit was] local and [had] a good reputation. When we asked around, we got a really strong recommendation of Condit’s work from the Denver Art Museum.”
Honored to win the job, Condit was contracted for the fabrication of two large case tables, one smaller object table, two flag display cases, display podiums and vitrines for each covered object. Our install crew worked among other trade contractors in a tight two-week turnaround to get the exhibition perfect before the opening gala. Jason notes, “the craftsmanship is impressive, and the installation crew…were determined to get the job done right and a pleasure to work with even in a challenging and stressful installation environment.
With Jason and his team at History Colorado, we couldn’t have asked for a better client that respected our approach; Jason put full trust in our expertise. Like with all our installation and museum projects, our approach is to listen and meet the goals and objectives of our client and their future visitors. Applying our years of experience, we ask the tough questions to maintain the integrity of the project. We know that creativity must be coupled with workable, practical results. The intention of our thorough planning process with the client is to leave little room for surprises.
Instating our process with History Colorado was seamless, we worked collaboratively to get the project right from the beginning and on time to meet the hard deadline. Jason affirms, “Condit’s full service approach – taking the exhibit from design drawings to a very clever fabrication plan to a finished exhibit installation – and the competence the team showed at every step along the way provided great peace of mind during the build. The team was also flexible and accommodating in every instance and did what it took to ensure that the job got done and done right. I’m very grateful to the whole Condit crew!”
Preserving History Through Exhibit
We hope you get the chance to visit the magnificent exhibit here in Denver. Its impact is realized through an imaginative journey by way of our state’s most precious, extraordinary and ordinary objects. At Condit we are privileged to have been a part of this significant project.
If you’re looking to coordinate a museum exhibit, we invite you to learn more about our installation and museum capabilities or view our portfolio for a list of specific museum exhibits.