The Design Center at Philadelphia University (TDC) needed a full communications plan for one of their largest exhibitions to-date, Lace in Translation.  The exhibition featured new commissioned work by European designers Tord Boontje and Demakersvan, and Canadian artist Cal Lane, who used TDC’s historic Quaker Lace Company collection as inspiration for installations in and around the Center’s unique and intimate space.

Canary created and implemented a PR and marketing campaign and developed an exhibition website to highlight images of artists’ work, a short documentary film and to encourage visitor interaction.

Our PR campaign garnered coverage in national and regional media outlets including T Magazine-The New York Times, FiberArts Magazine, Domus Magazine, Museum Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia City Paper, 6ABC, Daily Candy and Elle Canada, among many others.

Our community outreach included targeting lace, fiber arts, sewing, knitting and other handwork groups.  Through emails, mailings, Facebook engagement and event promotion, we reached a niche audience with specific interest in the exhibition and built upon TDC’s existing audiences of contemporary design and art enthusiasts.

For the exhibition website, we created a clean design that didn’t detract from the exhibition and highlighted both the designers’ work and the Center’s lace collection. The museum is housed in a 1950s era, Hollywood-style ranch house, and the clean lines of the architecture were reflected in the site design. In addition to the presentation of the designers and their work, the “Your Translations” feature encouraged members of the handwork and visual arts communities to submit their own lace-inspired work, react to other submissions and form a new online community around the exhibition.