>> GEORGIA COLLEGE
Georgia College & State University’s Director of Museums Matt Davis gave updates on projects currently ongoing at Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion and Andalusia Farm.
At Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion, the education building, originally built in 2005, is undergoing renovations. The building is typically where tours would start and attendees would learn a timeline of the mansion and a bit more about its significance before going inside.
“The education building supports our educational programming, exhibition spaces, and public programming. This renovation includes new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, state-of-the-art, energy-efficient lighting upgrades to furniture and pieces, and we are working right now to install a new permanent exhibit into the space,” said Davis.
According to Davis, they have contracted with HW Exhibitions to do the work for the exhibit. HW Exhibits is an exhibit design division of Brockington and Associates that is based in Atlanta. The company specializes in “delivering quality, customized interpretive exhibits” that have a connection to the natural and cultural heritage of an area.
“This historic exhibit will have new interpretive panels and a combo of a timeline, artifacts, archival images, and more. Matt Davis will select the artifacts and we will create the display and architecture of the exhibit,” said Jordan Sandin, senior project manager for HW Exhibitions. “We are taking inspiration from the mansion itself to design the exhibit.
For example, the colors we have looked at so far have been inspired by the window shades inside one of the rooms in the mansion and some of our architectural details were inspired by a medallion that is on display.”
Part of the goal of working with HW Exhibitions is to increase the technological capabilities of exhibit spaces. According to Davis, the exhibit inside the education building has not been significantly updated in about 10 years and is in need of a “refresh.” Currently, plans are for the building and the new exhibit to be finished by the end of the fall semester.
“The exhibit is still currently in the design phase but it will be essentially a comprehensive orientation and timeline exhibition that will cover the history of the mansion,” said Davis. “It will cover construction to the present day. It will cover multiple stories including periods of the governors, enslaved at the site, social engagement, and more.”
At Andalusia Farm, exhibits are also undergoing updates to allow for an augmented reality tour that will help when touring the buildings and surrounding areas of the main house.
“One of the things we are working to do is improve visitor experience, give as much factual information as possible, and interpret the variety of acreage on site,” said Davis. “So, we are working with ARtGlass, based out of Richland, Va., to create a phone-based tour of certain key points of our exterior spaces and the supporting outbuildings of the grounds.”
According to ARtGlass Chief Commercial Officer Lauren Jensen, augmented reality takes the location one is already in and adds digital context on top of it. It is a place-based interpretive tool that the company plans to use to add more story and historical information about the grounds of Andalusia Farm, including telling the story of other families besides the O’Connors.
“They have a huge property with fascinating historic buildings that each have their own story,” said Jensen. “But many of these buildings are in different stages of preservation or cannot be entered so, using AR, we will be able to deliver stories to visitors while they are standing on the grounds. It will allow stories of each building’s use and the people who may have lived or worked in them to be told and ensure the safety of visitors as they explore.”
The tour will be a mix of historic imagery, immersive sound experiences, and interactive panels featured through an app.
“We are still in the concept and design phase of the AR but I believe the best way to explain how it can be used is to say that visitors can download the content or scan a QR code at buildings they are present at to learn more,” said Jensen. “This content will add a human element to the interactivity of the self-guided tour and will provide a more broad and inclusive story of all the families and jobs on the farm.”
Davis stated an example of a potential interactive panel may be scanning the main house and having the app color code the house to show the different eras of how the house evolved.
“We have a QR code guided tour that was developed by us so we are trying to take this step as the next evolution of that tour,” said Davis. “Our goal is for it to be more immersive, user-friendly, and engaging.”
According to Davis, there will still be options available for anyone who tours the grounds and does not have the technology to access the app. Tour guides will also continue to be available to answer questions after the normal guided tour.
“These are the two biggest projects we have ongoing at Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion and Andalusia Farm. We hope both will be completed by the end of GCSU’s fall semester, which is the end of the calendar year,” said Davis.