Ralph Appelbaum Associates

RAA has been selected as the exhibition designer for the Wisconsin Historical Society’s new flagship Wisconsin History Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The Society, which was founded in 1846, is among the nation’s oldest, largest, and most active state historical societies and stewards one of the largest collections of North American historical assets.

The new Wisconsin History Center will nearly double the square footage of the former state historical museum, and the five-story, 116,000-square-foot building will feature rich exterior textures and stacked terraces that offer striking views in all directions. The goal of the project is to bring stories of Wisconsin and American history to life through captivating exhibits and programs that draw from the nearly 290 million items in the Society’s world-renowned collection. It will invite the public to engage with history in a way that inspires curiosity about the past, gives context to the present, and helps to build a better future.

The Wisconsin Historical Society is stewarding the future history center under the guidance and expertise of some of the nation’s leading experience designers, curators, scholars and historians, while infusing insights from a wide range of community voices and perspectives, and in close consultation with Native Nations. The Wisconsin History Center experience will be anchored by three core galleries that share regional stories in the context of American history, inviting guests to explore themes of civic engagement, human innovation and relationships with the land, and Wisconsin’s identity in American culture. Additional features include a rotating community gallery, a large changing gallery, communal spaces for public programming and PK-12 education, as well as retail, food service, and rooftop event spaces.