It’s hard to believe that there is just only a month left to see our Peter Pan exhibit, but this year--like so many others--seems to be flying by at a fast clip.
Last winter, it was announced that Peter Pan 360 was coming to the Ferry Building here in San Francisco. Working with the producers of the show, Museum Executive Director, Richard Benefield, and Collections Director, Michael Labrie, came up with the idea of having an exhibition at the Museum to complement the show.
Using pieces from the Museum’s collection, as well as artifacts on loan from the Walt Disney Animation Research Library (ARL) and from the personal collection of Joanna Miller Runeare, Richard and Michael chose a number of colorful and dramatic sketches to show the evolution of the Peter Pan story from script to renderings to the finished film.
The Collections staff quickly went to work to turn the idea into a reality. Ben Peters put together a preliminary sketch layout of the exhibition, and working with Richard, they finalized the design layout of the exhibition.
Michael worked closely with the staff of the ARL and Ms. Runeare on choosing the pieces that would best compliment the artifacts coming from the Museum. Issey Honton put together the graphic design of the exhibit. He then mounted and framed each of the artifacts on display. While that was underway, Richard wrote the text for the exhibit.
Condition reports had to be done for each artifact and Conservator Martin Salazar handled the job with his usual care and style. After taking down the previous long-running exhibit, Ben and Issey painted the Theater Lobby.
With Registrar Anel Muller keeping watch over the artifacts, the exhibition was hung. Ben created all the mounts used in the case so that visitors could read pages of the script. A hydraulic lift was utilized (and had to be repaired just prior to the opening) in the display case to allow access to the inside of the case.
The exhibit has been a big hit with Museum visitors. If you haven’t had a chance to see it in person, now’s the time. The exhibit will only be up through September 6th. After that, it will come down to make room for a new exhibit.
So, take a trip to Neverland via our exhibit. It’s never too late to be a kid again.
