News
Firm To Develop Master Plan for New Tennessee State Museum
By Stephen D. Cox, Director of Exhibits Planning and Fabrication
E. Verner Johnson & Associates, Inc., a long-standing and well-recognized museum planning and architectural firm from Boston , was recently selected to oversee preparation of a detailed planning study for the proposed Tennessee State Museum to be located on the Bicentennial Mall.
An evaluators committee, comprised of six museum senior staff, two architects and planners from the state's Division of Capital Projects, and Steven Weintraub of Art Preservation Services, New York , reviewed detailed proposals from six highly qualified firms. The committee then interviewed four finalists and unanimously selected E. Verner Johnson & Associates.
E. Verner Johnson is considered to be the dean of museum planning, and his company, since 1965, has been involved in more than 200 museum projects. He came highly recommended by the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh , the North Carolina Museum of History, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, and the Texas State History Museum .
During the next 12 months, E. Verner Johnson, through a three-phase process, will develop a comprehensive master plan which will serve as a guide for the architect selected to design a new museum facility. In the first phase, a vision statement for the new museum will be crafted. Interviews with museum staff, museum Foundation members, teachers, Tennessee Arts Commission members, and stakeholders from across the state with a genuine interest in the museum will provide some of the basis for this vision.
Following the vision statement, a preliminary master plan will be developed. It will define core components of programs, exhibit concepts, staffing and operating plans, and spaces needed to accommodate collections and activities in a new museum that can serve the people of Tennessee for decades to come.
In the final five months of the planning process, E. Verner Johnson & Associates will develop a comprehensive master plan which will establish detailed architectural, exhibit concept, and public programming guidelines to be used in designing and constructing the museum. The master plan will also include recommendations for staffing, site and building organizational studies, analysis of parking and grounds development options, studies to ensure functional building flow for public and staff, and a proposed final budget.