In 2006 I worked with the Chicago Art Foundation to craft plans for a traveling museum built from recycled shipping containers.
The Background
When an influential local Chicago artist passed away in 2006 a coalition of Chicago art patrons, dealers, and collaborators embarked on a mission to establish a museum that would capture, house, and share Chicago's artistic talent with the world.
Rather than seek a permanent location, I established consensus for a first-of-its-kind, recycled, prefabricated, reusable and mobile museum. The Container Museum was influenced by container architecture that turned readily available industrial refuse into building blocks for cutting-edge, highly flexible, architectural spaces.
For the Chicago Art Foundation a mobile museum sought to provide three key benefits: First, it was a low cost venue for curators to begin to experiment with the institution’s programming. Second, it was a PR buzz machine and physical introduction to the brand, critical for effective fund- raising. Finally, it would enable CAF to export Chicago art to regional, national and international communities at a low cost.
Rather than seek a permanent location, I established consensus for a first-of-its-kind, recycled, prefabricated, reusable and mobile museum. The Container Museum was influenced by container architecture that turned readily available industrial refuse into building blocks for cutting-edge, highly flexible, architectural spaces.
For the Chicago Art Foundation a mobile museum sought to provide three key benefits: First, it was a low cost venue for curators to begin to experiment with the institution’s programming. Second, it was a PR buzz machine and physical introduction to the brand, critical for effective fund- raising. Finally, it would enable CAF to export Chicago art to regional, national and international communities at a low cost.
