SNHP
“Saratoga: By Choice or By Chance”
For the Saratoga National Historic Battlefield, Stillwell, N.Y.
Opened June 2007
This small interactive exhibition interprets the lives of five people who were connected to the Revolutionary War battle: a Hessian soldier, a loyalist boy-soldier, a female camp follower, an African-American solider, and an Oneida warrier. TEA worked closely with the staff curator/interpreter to photograph modern reeinactors who posed as the characters in the exhibition. The photos were digitally treated to look like watercolors and were reproduced life-sized as die cut images. Each character had a hands-on component that visitors were invited to explore—a cooking pot with a few vegetables, a musket, a cannonball, a carrying purse, and a trumpline and blanket. The digital background features a reproduction of a modern encampment printed on canvas, evoking materials from the 18th century. This small but powerful exhibition has been very effective in engaging visitors of all ages, particularly children.
