May 4 Visitor Center
The May 4 organization at Kent State asked us to imagine what a visitor center would be like on Kent State’s campus adjacent from the May 4 Memorial which remembers the May 4, 1970 campus shootings.
The May 4 Visitor Center will function as a place for those who wish to find out more about the events leading up to, during and after May 4, 1970 at Kent State University and the effects from it. This will be accomplished through a permanent historical exhibition which chronicles 1960s Vietnam, May 1–4, and the aftermath of the shootings. Visitors will then travel through an art gallery with rotating themes pertinent to the issues and events of today.
The visitor center will also build a short donor wall along the back edge of Taylor Hall illuminating pedetrians’ way towards the memorial.
This project was a collaboration with Josh Levan.
The four vertical pylons of the May 4 Memorial, according the artist: “stand as mute sentinels to the force of violence and the memory of the four students killed.” In addition to other influences, this visual analogy made sense to be represented in the mark for the May 4 Visitor Center.
The historical exhibit walks viewers through the events leading up to and during the May 4 shootings. The walls include photography, infographics, artifacts and short movies that immerse the viewer in the time period.
The historical exhibit exits into an art gallery with rotating exhibitions. These exhibitions will deal with pertinent issues of today, through either documentary, gallery art, or lectures. The changing gallery will provide incentive to return to the visitor center.
