Full service creative agency Luci Creative has collaborated with Chicago Children’s Museum (CCM) to help break gender stereotypes with the new experiential exhibition, Once Upon a Castle.
The exhibit offers young children the opportunity to imagine scenarios, create adventures and let their own narratives bring the environment to life, without being limited to the traditional roles of the “beautiful princess locked in a tower,” or the “knight in shining armor who rescues her.” By moving beyond gender binary assumptions and rules, this new exhibit removes gender-specific play for children, and is educating parents and caregivers how to be more aware of the stereotypes around them.
“Luci Creative’s core purpose is to create compelling experiential designs that ignite, embrace, and bring stories to life,” said Luci Creative’s AJ Goehle, Director of Strategy and Design. “Once Upon a Castle was a unique opportunity to put our team’s theater experience into practice by creating a play-based environment that ditches stereotypes and inspires children’s imaginations to shine.”
“The narrative for castles is usually packaged with kings, queens and singing princesses,” said CCM President and CEO Jennifer Farrington. “Our take on castle play removes the predictable script and allows children the freedom to build their own narrative.”
This unique exhibit includes an experiential, modern and interpretive castle design complete with secret tunnels, a rope bridge, tower, dungeon, throne, kitchen, dress-up opportunities and more.
The experience was designed to promote three distinct types of play:
1) Active play to promote motor skills and large muscle development.
2) Dramatic play to allow children to dress up with gender neutral costumes and props and act out various roles with their own narratives.
3) Imaginative play so that children can create their own fairy tales and narratives while developing their own limitless fantasies.
The design approach, brought to Once Upon a Castle by thought-partner Luci Creative, is fresh, modern, abstract, sophisticated, and artful, making it a unique fit for Chicago Children’s Museum.
The mindful and socially relevant experience was developed by CCM. Luci Creative designed the colorful and thought-provoking exhibit, and Ravenswood Studio was responsible for fabrication and installation.
Once Upon a Castle will be open through May 14, 2017 and is included in museum admission.