June 10, 2017
After two years of hard work, audience testing, and refining the designs, Stowe's house has reopened, forming the core of the new visitor experience. The project started with brainstorming sessions guided by Linda Norris. They included a broad range of community stakeholders, content experts, and leaders in many fields, including theater, education, and history. The Stowe Center staff, directed by Katherine Kane, took a big risk, transforming several of the historically furnished rooms into a new, participatory visitor experience. RWD consulted as exhibition designer, conceptualizing how to translate the educational goals into a tour, including multimedia, artifact displays, and graphics. Northern Light Productions did a fantastic job with a film piece that expresses the inner turmoil that drove Stowe to write Uncle Tom's Cabin, as well as several audio productions. The project was run by Shannon Burke, Director of Education and Visitor Services, and Cindy Cormier, Project Curator.