“Philadelphia Revealed: Unpacking the Attic” An Exhibition of the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel University

• Finalist 2025 

“Philadelphia Revealed: Unpacking the Attic” was a celebration of the joyful experience of re-discovering treasures that have been lost or forgotten. This temporary exhibit housed an eclectic collection of more than 600 objects encompassing 350 years of Philadelphia’s diverse history. The exhibit was designed to highlight the incredible breadth and depth of the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel University—a collection of more than 130,000 objects formerly displayed at the Philadelphia History Museum— and pay homage to the AtwaterKent’s nickname as “Philadelphia’s Attic”. As the steward of the Atwater Kent Collection, Drexel University aimed to broaden access to this historical material by inviting diverse communities to engage with art and artifacts from Philadelphia’s history.

Agency

Metcalfe

Practice Area

• Exhibition 

Client

Drexel University’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships; The Atwater Kent Collection

Industry

• Exhibitions 

Divided into a series of thematic sections with a vibrant, contemporary color palette, “Philadelphia Revealed” showcased objects from national anniversary celebrations, civil rights movements, and Philly’s history as a city of manufacturing and medicine, as well as toys, clothes, and sports memorabilia. Artifacts ranged in age, type, and provenance, from1700s objects dredged from the Delaware River to 1800s abolitionist artifacts, to 1900s scrapbooks rescued from the trash. Many were donated by Philadelphians throughout the decades of the Collection’s history. Each section includes a “vignette” — a platform display with multiple objects and large super-graphic backdrops.

The exhibit was displayed at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in a loaned space filled with large columns. The design used these columns to shape the layout of the Mila-Wall system, creating a constantly twisting and turning visitor flow. The layout encouraged educational and cultural exploration by gently guiding visitors through the space. Pockets of curated content allowed for deeper introspection and invited visitors to consider their connection to the City of Philadelphia.

One of the primary challenges of the design was the use of almost exclusively pre-existing casework and platforms for artifact display. Working under a limited budget for fabrication, and with such a large object quantity, the designers had to get creative with the catalog of pre-used material. The re-use of existing casework and platforms enhanced the exhibit’s themes of rediscovery and “unpacking the attic”.

Along with 600+ artifacts and the corresponding signage, the exhibit included narrative panels and hundreds more historical images as well as multimedia and hands-on elements. Visitors could “tune” a 19th-century radio to hear historic audio, scan a QR code to virtually “try on” hats from different eras, and use an interactive, multimedia display to view details about each of the 749 pin-back buttons displayed on the sports jacket of a local community activist.

Originally planned for a four-month run as one portion of a larger campaign that also incorporated a podcast, public programs, and an interactive game, the exhibition was extended an additional four months. “Philadelphia Revealed” focused on what it means to tell multiple and diverse stories of Philadelphians and provided a platform for people to share their own stories of the city of Brotherly Love.