American Textile History Museum
INNOVATION STATION
Lowell, MA
Exhibit Design: Wondercabinet Interpretive Design, Inc.
Exhibit Fabrication: Mystic Scenic Studios, Inc.
Exhibit Graphics: Proun Design, LLC
Area: 500sq. ft.
Opened: 2011
The hands-on Innovation Station at the American Textile History museum guides visitors through the creative process of designing textile-based inventions.
The exhibit explores textile innovation through the key qualities exemplified by three famous textile inventors: Eli Whitney (cotton gin),William Henry Perkin (aniline fabric dye) and Stephanie Kwolek (Kevlar). Visitors are invited to Rise to the Challenge, like Eli Whitney, and invent a solution for a particular challenge. to Keep an Open Mind like William Henry Perkin, visitors are asked to juxtapose their existing idea with new visual prompts, to see if they can come up with even more ideas. At the final station, visitors must Be Persistent and sell their ideas to the world, by recording video pitches of their fantastic inventions.