Behind the Design

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The Wisconsin Historical Society has been engaging communities across the state, seeking counsel from Native Nations in Wisconsin and working alongside an industry-leading design team to deliver an unforgettable history center and cultural attraction.

The five-story building with rich exterior textures and stacked terraces will offer striking views in all directions. It will more than double the exhibition space of the former museum, welcoming 200,000 guests annually and doubling the number of students served.

The dynamic façade — comprised of weathered zinc, embossed steel, granite and bird-safe glass — is inspired by Wisconsin’s shifting landscapes, the movement of the surrounding lakes, and the state’s rich history of craftsmanship, industry and innovation.

Design Drivers

The Wisconsin History Center will be a vibrant, welcoming space that opens the door to one of the most significant historical collections in the country. Visitors will be invited to explore shared histories, engage with present stories and inspired to build a brighter future.

Exhibitions will be a balance of objects, scholarship and lived experiences that will inspire moments of engagement and reflection centered on past, present and future possibilities.

The center will serve as a hub for learning and connection, offering welcoming spaces for public programming, classroom and lunchroom spaces for students and community groups, and advanced technology to connect Society resources to all 72 counties and beyond.

The stories shared will be diverse, powerful and ever changing through a rotating community gallery, a world-class changing gallery for traveling exhibits and innovative systems to infuse new stories into permanent galleries.

Image Gallery

Exterior Render viewed from Carroll St and Mifflin St

Meet the Design Team

The Wisconsin Historical Society is working alongside an industry-leading design team including renowned exhibit designers Ralph Appelbaum Associates, international engineering and planning firm SmithGroup, and the award-winning Continuum Architects + Planners. The Institute for Human Centered Design is also providing oversight to enhance the history center experience for people of all ages, abilities and cultures.

New York-based Ralph Appelbaum Associates is one of the world’s leading exhibition design firms and is responsible for major cultural attractions such as the United States Holocaust Museum and the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian and National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

Scholarly Advisory Committee

The Scholarly Advisory Committee is advising the Wisconsin Historical Society on the History Center Project. The committee is comprised of American Historians and Educators from across the country.

Community Engagement

The Society is seeking robust community engagement to inform and guide history center planning. We have been engaging residents from all regions of Wisconsin for several years in preparation for the design phase of this project.

Dozens of “Share Your Voice” listening sessions were held in communities across the state in 2018 and 2019 to gather feedback from more than 5,000 residents to ensure a wide range of perspectives are included in history center planning.

Included were consultations with Native Nations in Wisconsin and sessions with urban and rural residents, multicultural communities, educators, students, and others.