Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center
Cincinnati, Ohio
Services:
- Master Planning
- Exhibit Design
- Graphic Design
- Art Direction
- Project Management
"Having the center at Union Terminal provides a genuine example of history related to the Holocaust that is hard to find in America." - Forbes
"Cincinnati Holocaust museum opens...in new home — a spot where many survivors began new lives" - Chicago Tribune
"An inspiration" - The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"It serves as a respectful tribute and memorial to survivors. When they have all passed, they won't be forgotten by future generations. Instead they will be honored at a museum in one of Cincinnati's most cherished buildings." - Cincinnati CityBeat
"The museum encapsulates the history of the Holocaust, doing so with bravery, sensitivity, and respect." - Cincinnati Refined
"Cincinnati Holocaust museum opens...in new home — a spot where many survivors began new lives" - Chicago Tribune
"An inspiration" - The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"It serves as a respectful tribute and memorial to survivors. When they have all passed, they won't be forgotten by future generations. Instead they will be honored at a museum in one of Cincinnati's most cherished buildings." - Cincinnati CityBeat
"The museum encapsulates the history of the Holocaust, doing so with bravery, sensitivity, and respect." - Cincinnati Refined
Project Description:
The Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust and Humanity Center (HHC) uses local survivor stories and a variety of interpretive techniques to ensure that lessons of the Holocaust inspire action today. The 7,500-square-foot Center is the only Holocaust museum in the United States with an authentic connection to its physical location – Union Terminal, where more than 1,000 survivors and refugees arrived by train to rebuild their lives in Cincinnati. In the first year at its new Union Terminal location, HHC saw visitor attendance grow 400%.
The exhibit design, concept, and project management of the museum represented a collective effort of the HHC staff, along with Berenbaum Jacobs Associates and JRA. The result is a multi-layered museum that incorporates innovative storytelling, first-person testimonials, interactive experiences, original artwork, and genuine artifacts to chronicle the courage, strength, and triumph of local survivors during one of the darkest chapters of human history. Throughout the museum, exhibits juxtapose “bystanders,” those who witnessed injustice and did nothing, with “upstanders,” those who risked their lives to save the lives of others.
In addition to its historical exhibits, HHC houses the Humanity Gallery, which showcases local individuals who have made positive changes in their community and beyond. Visitors have the opportunity to explore what they can do to become modern upstanders, taking action at both a local and global level on topics that affect citizens everywhere.
In 2021, JRA worked with the Holocaust & Humanity Center on "Dimensions in Testimony" - a new, permanent exhibit that utilizes artificial-intelligence technology to facilitate “virtual conversations” with Holocaust survivors. Using specialized recording and display technologies and next-generation natural language processing, Dimensions in Testimony allows visitors to ask two-dimensional displays of Holocaust survivors questions and receive responses in real time. The exhibit is an initiative by USC Shoah Foundation to record and display testimony in a way that will preserve the dialogue between Holocaust survivors and learners far into the future.
Photo credit: Janine Spang Photography/Todd Livingston Photography
The exhibit design, concept, and project management of the museum represented a collective effort of the HHC staff, along with Berenbaum Jacobs Associates and JRA. The result is a multi-layered museum that incorporates innovative storytelling, first-person testimonials, interactive experiences, original artwork, and genuine artifacts to chronicle the courage, strength, and triumph of local survivors during one of the darkest chapters of human history. Throughout the museum, exhibits juxtapose “bystanders,” those who witnessed injustice and did nothing, with “upstanders,” those who risked their lives to save the lives of others.
In addition to its historical exhibits, HHC houses the Humanity Gallery, which showcases local individuals who have made positive changes in their community and beyond. Visitors have the opportunity to explore what they can do to become modern upstanders, taking action at both a local and global level on topics that affect citizens everywhere.
In 2021, JRA worked with the Holocaust & Humanity Center on "Dimensions in Testimony" - a new, permanent exhibit that utilizes artificial-intelligence technology to facilitate “virtual conversations” with Holocaust survivors. Using specialized recording and display technologies and next-generation natural language processing, Dimensions in Testimony allows visitors to ask two-dimensional displays of Holocaust survivors questions and receive responses in real time. The exhibit is an initiative by USC Shoah Foundation to record and display testimony in a way that will preserve the dialogue between Holocaust survivors and learners far into the future.
Photo credit: Janine Spang Photography/Todd Livingston Photography
