# GENED 1160: Virtual Gallery Design Workshop

**Date:** March 26 & 27, 2025
**Location:** Learning Lab, 50 Church Street
**Lead Facilitators:** Marlon Kuzmick, Sophie Wilkowske

## **Workshop Goals**
- Introduce students to **different ways of structuring digital galleries** and how those choices shape meaning.
- Explore **a range of tools** for organizing exhibits and refining individual assets.
- Encourage **critical reflection** on design decisions and their impact on historical narratives.

## **Workshop Structure**

### **1. Introduction & Framing (10–15 min)**
- intros--who are we, who are you? where are you in the project?
- **Marlon:** Overview of digital exhibition design & why structure matters.
- **Sophie:** Brief comparison of **timeline-based vs. map-based exhibits** (e.g., Timeline.js vs. StoryMaps).
- **Group Discussion:**
- How does spatial vs. chronological organization impact interpretation?
- How do different platforms shape storytelling?

### **2. Hands-On Tool Exploration (20–25 min)**
Students will rotate through stations for a **fair-style or lightning tour** of different gallery-building tools:

- **Canva (Blue):** Designing structured layouts for digital exhibits.
- **Unity & Unreal Engine & [Spatial](https://www.spatial.io/) (Marlon):** Exploring 3D/interactive exhibition possibilities.
- **StoryMaps & Timeline.js (Sophie):** Prototyping exhibits using temporal and spatial organization.

*Student examples and prototypes will be available for reference.*

### **3. Structured Group Brainstorming (Final 15 min)**
- **Students reflect on their section’s gallery goals.**
- **Quick design-thinking activity:**
- Groups outline potential exhibition structures on index cards.
- Initial voting on preferred approaches.

## **Action Items**
✅ **Sophie:**
* Create 3–5 prototypes using the same objects in Timeline.js & StoryMaps.

✅ **Learning Lab Team:**
* Source additional digital object examples.
* 3d
* https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/jeanne-d-arc-medieval-assets-pack-31056d5edebe4fcd9536bf4a013a8c6f
*
* Parse the XML files for object metadata.
* print things
* etc.

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