Night Kitchen Wins Rosenbach 21st Century Abe Project
- By Jenny Parker
- May 21, 2008
Philadelphia — Night Kitchen Interactive, an award-winning design firm located in Philadelphia, has won the contract to develop the website, online exhibition, and blog for 21st Century Abe, the Rosenbach’s innovative project that will target a new generation of audiences about the life, work, and words of Abraham Lincoln.
The Heritage Philadelphia Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts awarded the Rosenbach $200,000 as part of the $1 million award package announced last month — the largest in the organization’s history — that recognized nine area organizations for their outstanding work in interpretive programming and historic preservation.
21st Century Abe will draw on the Rosenbach’s collection of rare and significant Lincoln materials and will feature creative interpretations of exhibition materials by artist/illustrator Maira Kalman, Bryce Dessner of the band The National, and multimedia artists Chris Kubick and Anne Walsh.
Targeting an audience of young people, the website will be fully participatory, allowing audiences to design their own interpretations as well as participate in a moderated blog dialogue around important contemporary issues that grow out of the exhibition materials.
”Visitors will not only be invited to experience the expert and artistic commentary, but will be also encouraged to contribute their own creative responses and comments using easy-to-use online tools,” said Night Kitchen Interactive President Matthew Fisher. “The result will be a rich tapestry of viewpoints and voices that will bring the legacy of Abraham Lincoln alive for a whole new generation.”
“We are so grateful that funding for this project gives the Rosenbach an opportunity to experiment with creative new technology in reaching young audiences,” said Bill Adair, the Rosenbach’s Hirsig Family Director of Education. “Night Kitchen Interactive is the perfect organization to help us achieve our ambitious goals for the project — and they are right in our own backyard.”
The contract calls for Night Kitchen Interactive to combine a compelling display of the Lincoln artifacts in the RML collection with provocative expert commentary, the artists’ interpretations, and visitor responses. The site’s design will encourage visitors to engage and interact with the original Lincoln documents by viewing them, commenting on them, and responding to them creatively. Online tools available on the site will then allow visitors to share their responses and respond to all the contributions, generating an on-going dialogue about the themes and issues the program will evoke.
The 21st Century Abe contract marks Night Kitchen Interactive’s third and largest project for the Rosenbach. Past Night Kitchen Interactive projects for the Rosenbach include A Potable Joyce: A Watered-Down Version of Ulysses, and Franklin Remixed an exhibition in which Philadelphia students used blogging, podcasting, and image sharing, to remix exhibition components to create their own online exhibition.
About Night Kitchen Interactive
Night Kitchen Interactive is an award-winning interactive design firm with over 10 years of experience in the arts & cultural heritage. Through close collaboration with curators, marketers, and educators, Night Kitchen creates unique online experiences that inform, engage, and inspire. Clients include The Pew Charitable Trusts, The National Constitution Center, and The Smithsonian Institution. Night Kitchen Interactive was founded in 1997 and is located in historic Society Hill in Center City Philadelphia. For more information, visit www.whatscookin.com.
About the Rosenbach
The Rosenbach Museum & Library seeks to inspire curiosity, inquiry, and creativity by engaging broad audiences in exhibitions, programs, and research based on its remarkable and expanding collections. The museum was founded by legendary book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach and his brother and business partner Philip. With an outstanding collection of rare books, manuscripts, furniture, and art, the Rosenbach is a museum and world-renowned research library, set within two historic 1865 townhouses, that reflects an age when great collectors lived among their treasures. The Rosenbach Museum & Library is located at 2008-2010 Delancey Place and is open Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and groups of 10 or more, $5 for students and children ages 5-18, and free for children under 5. For more information, please call (215) 732-1600 or visit www.rosenbach.org .
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