Where the Arts are Alive

Music and Visual Arts Building at Austin College

Do you remember when you first experienced the arts as a living, breathing thing? I do. I was visiting Austin College in Sherman Texas as a high school student. I had been invited by the chairman of the music department to tour the campus. He took me on a tour through the music and visual arts building. What I saw and heard there …

How much for a hole?

Thousands of shells

One of the true joys of building museum exhibits is the wide range of things we get to design and build. In my 25 years of experience in this business, I have designed and built all kinds of fun and unusual objects and environments. Recently, I was asked to build something that gave even me reason to pause. A local history center …

The world has seams

The world has seams. There I said it. As I look around our design studio now, I am surrounded by them. Wherever two different pieces of something come together, there is a seam. My relationship with seams has evolved significantly over the years. As a much younger man, I felt like seams were something that had to be conquered. I …

Reliable, Trustworthy, and Full of Stories

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] There are objects that when you look at them and touch them, you can feel their history. They have transcended whatever materials they were made of and are now something more than the sum of their parts. They evoke a time now passed. They hold memories of countless experiences. You feel like you can just touch them and …

Lessons from a lemon tree

Lemon Tree

From the Desk of Marilee Not long ago I cut down my lemon tree. Believe it or not, it was a big event. I had been waffling about removing the tree for nearly 18 months. It was obviously not healthy, but I held out hope for a return to its fruitful glory. I watered. I fertilized. I tended. And, I …