BOTANICAL GARDENS EXHIBITS
Betty Ford Alpine Gardens & Education Center
Interior Interactive Exhibit Gallery
Xplore Design worked with Wells Resources, to design from the ground-up, the exhibits for this beautiful new state-of-the-art education center in Vail, Colorado. The project took about 18 months to complete, including the initial planning and concept phase. The exhibits showcase the fascinating story of Alpine plants and ecology.
One of the goals of Botanical Gardens is to encourage the exploration of plants and their ecosystems and yet there are few world plants that can compete with the charismatic mega fauna of the animal kingdom (e.g., elephants, whales, tigers, elk). To showcase plants in a ‘big’ way (to showcase them as charismatic mini-flora) we helped counter the notion that plants are unworthy of consideration.
Xplore Design art directed all design, and managed the fabrication over 5 different sub-contractors. Mark Talbot/Xplore and Marcella Wells/Wells Resources) worked closely during all phases from planning to fabrication. Marcella developed a comprehensive interpretive plan including visitor studies, which Mark/Xplore helped to refine for presentation, and used as the means to obtain client buyoff as well as production and fabrication guidelines.
The overarching thematic concept was "Alpine Plants play a major but often unseen role in global ecology, and can be a major '1st indicator' of climate change".