The Huntington: Edmund de waal exhibition

Project Type: Cultural Exhibition · Experience Architecture & Evaluation Framework

Role: Experience Strategist & Evaluation Planning Lead (Early Phase)

The Ask

Support early planning for a major, site-specific exhibition by Edmund de Waal at The Huntington, ensuring that themes of migration, belonging, and material culture translated into meaningful visitor experiences across three distinct sites: the Art Gallery, Chinese Garden, and Japanese Garden. The work required aligning artistic intent with visitor experience goals and institutional priorities before design and installation decisions were finalized.

The Idea

Define a scalable experience framework upstream, aligning artistic intent, visitor outcomes, and institutional strategy before design decisions were finalized. Rather than treating evaluation as a post-opening activity, the goal was to use it as a planning tool to shape conditions for reflection, pacing, and meaning across multiple environments.

Experience Architecture

• Experience North Star: Contemplative reflection across three distinct environments
• Visitor Outcomes: Emotional resonance, slow looking, cross-cultural connection
• Institutional Alignment: Audience diversification, educational impact, measurable engagement
• Measurement System: Mixed-method framework tracking movement, dwell, reflection, and demographic reach

The Solution

Upstream visitor strategy: Operationalized visitor goals focused on emotional on emotional resonance, slow looking, and personal reflection around migration and belonging. These goals informed early conversations about pacing, spatial transitions, and interpretive tone, supporting contemplative engagement rather than didactic instruction.

Institutional alignment: Translated conceptual ambitions into a shared strategic framework to The Huntington’s strategic priorities, including audience diversification, educational outreach, and cross-cultural dialogue. This created a shared framework that curatorial, art, education, and leadership teams could reference throughout planning.

Evaluation framework design: Developed a mixed-methods evaluation plan combining qualitative insight (interviews, focus groups, open-ended feedback) with quantitative measures (dwell time, attendance patterns, demographics). The framework was tailored to long-running, multi-site experiences and focused on understanding how visitors moved, lingered, and reflected across spaces.

Interpretive guidance: Advised on how learning, accessibility, and reflection could be supported through programming, language, and spatial pacing—prioritizing openness and interpretation over instruction.

The Impact

• Operationalized a shared definition of success across curatorial, art, education, and leadership teams
• Delivered a scalable evaluation and governance framework for a multi-site installation
• Embedded measurement and audience insight into early-stage exhibition planning
• Positioned the exhibition as both a contemplative cultural experience and a strategically measurable initiative
  

This project demonstrated how evaluation can function as experience infrastructure, not post-launch reporting.

(The exhibition later opened as The Eight Directions of the Wind: Edmund de Waal at The Huntington, spanning the Art Gallery, Chinese Garden, and Japanese Garden.)

Services
Experience Strategy | Visitor Goals & Metrics | Evaluation Planning | Cultural Institutions

Images shown are from the realized exhibition and are included for contextual reference. Courtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.