A truly collaborative creative process
Ship of Stories
San Diego, United States
The USS Midway Museum is located in San Diego, California aboard the decommissioned USS Midway (CV-41), one of the longest-serving aircraft carriers in U.S. Navy history. It’s a premier historical destination, attracting over one million visitors annually. Art Processors partnered with this celebrated institution on two major exhibitions, Midway’s Engineers: Service, Sacrifice and Everyday Life and Top Secret: Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence.
Art Processors designed the exhibitions with the USS Midway itself as the primary storyteller; our work intensifies its rich history and the stories embedded within its steel. By embracing its exposed pipes, low ceilings, and compressed spaces as an architectural canvas, the ship's structural constraints are transformed into a vivid backdrop that brings naval history to life for visitors. Galleries are choreographed to encourage free exploration, spark curiosity, and leave visitors with an emotional understanding of the people who lived and worked in these unique spaces. Sensory engagement is key, with sound and tactile experiences that create experiences that are both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant.
The exhibitions serve as a powerful testament to the resilience and ingenuity that thrived aboard one of America's most storied vessels, capturing the magic of the Midway and honouring the spirit of those who served on it.
The hearing sense can be forgotten inside exhibition spaces but here, sound enhances the visual experience. This is especially true in personalised and shared moments.
– Nic Whyte, Founding Principal, Art Processors
We were very pleased with Art Processors’ work in creating a one-of-a-kind experience that utilises original ship spaces as the storytelling backdrop. The most enjoyable aspect of working with them was that it was a truly collaborative creative process. They were skilled at working with us to impart complicated information in a simple understandable manner while infusing the personal human elements throughout the exhibit.
– Mark Berlin, Director of Operations, USS Midway Museum
