Jewish Museum Milwaukee
The Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare exhibit highlights one example of the larger Red Scare during the Cold War period where an untold number of people suspected of being Communists, lost their livelihoods. The Hollywood Blacklist generally denied employment to screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and American entertainment professionals. This exhibit gives an overview of the impact the Red Scare had on the entertainment industry and those that were directly affected as a result.
Crux was engaged to conceptualize and design the museum exhibit and its contents with 3D design, graphic design and graphic production for the museum exhibit located at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee (JMM) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Crux worked with JMM to tell the chilling history of The Blacklist and Bluewater Studio to fabricate and install this impactful exhibit that shares many parallels to today.
The exhibit begins with large introductory graphic panels to explain the time period, an overview of the Red Scare as a whole and general Blacklist terms. A mock marquee movie with movie theater seating plays a short film that helps define the mood of The Blacklist movement and its impact on the entertainment industry. The story of the Red Scare and the effects it had on the entertainment industry is told using large bold graphics and murals with minimum color contrasted with large areas of red. The large graphics set the stage for the overall event being presented while smaller dimensional graphics provide more specific information regarding specific people and events. Interactive video, sound and artifacts add extra depth to the experience. A small crowd of silhouettes with the names of all the people that were affected, gives the history of the exhibit content a personal and relatable feel to current events in our country.
After the initial exhibit is complete at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, The Blacklist exhibit will be traveling to various museums across the country.
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