Nantucket Historical Association
The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) preserves and interprets the history of Nantucket through programs, collections, and properties, in order to promote the island’s significance and foster an appreciation of it among all audiences. Michael Graves College Design Studio Practicum has launched a multidisciplinary initiative to research, learn, and create new material for the NHA.
The project has seen itself manifested in print, digital, and experiential creations for visitors to the island. The Time Traveler’s Passport encourages younger visitors to learn about key historical locations and experience them first-hand. A companion coloring book likewise prompts the younger crowd to see these sites for themselves, gaining fascinating information about the many structures on Nantucket, while adding their own artistic flair to the illustrations. A writing journal inspires visitors to articulate their experience in their own words.
This all comes together at the NHA Museum and Discovery Center, where design students of all disciplines are working to bring even more experiences to life. The museum will feature an interactive touchscreen exhibit that will take younger visitors through the lives of multiple whale species, and their historical and cultural significance to the island. The Discovery Center features a recreation of a mercantile shop, complete with goods and custom packaging based on the wares of the time, designed by DSP interns. This shop— and all of the projects that Design Studio Practicum students have worked on— has seen another life as part of an exhibit at the Patricia Graleski Gallery in the Green Lane Academic Building at Kean, sharing with the entire Kean community the fruits of their creativity.
Mercantile Shop and Products
