In 2023, the Split Rock Lighthouse visitor center exhibit was overhauled, replacing the previous exhibit that had been at the site for over 30 years. The new exhibit features several simple yet effective multimedia components.

A life-size replica of the lighthouse lens immediately captures visitors’ attention as they enter the exhibit gallery. Behind it sits the ship wheel from the Madeira – one of the ships that went down in the great storm of 1905 and prompted the building of the lighthouse – with a large-scale projection of divers investigating the wreck.

For the first time, the Native perspective on Lake Superior plays a prominent role in the exhibit space with a three-segment video projected in the Power of the Lake section. The interviewees in the videos reflect on what Lake Superior means to them personally and as Anishinaabe people.

On the other side of the gallery, film footage of the lighthouse tramway is projected near artifacts from the site’s early days. A touchscreen kiosk allows visitors to play excerpts from oral histories of family members of the lighthouse keepers, with an emphasis on women’s stories.

Role:
Producing, Creative and Technical Direction, Scripting, Editing, Media and System Design, Installation

Power of the Lake Personnel:

Interviewer: Rita Walaszek Arndt, Anishinaabe, White Earth Nation
Videography and production coordination: Ned Hurley
Additional videography and drone: Nunaka Pictures

Exhibit documentation video courtesy Minnesota Historical Society.