Beatrice Matkovic Mowry ‘73 Presents on Air & Space Museum

As the Chair of the Museum’s Exhibits Design Department, Beatrice’s work brings the giants of aviation and space exploration to life for nearly eight million visitors each year. The Air and Space Museum has “the premier aviation and space collection,” Beatrice shared, and it has first right of refusal from NASA when it comes to the organization’s space-related artifacts.

Beatrice and her team are in the midst of a multi-year project to transform all of the exhibitions as the Museum’s downtown building undergoes extensive revitalization. The west wing re-opened to the public on October 14, 2022. It is home to eight reimagined exhibitions showcasing the Wright Brothers and early flight, stories of civilian aviators, and space discoveries complete with a “Walking on Other Worlds” exhibit where visitors can experience what it might be like to explore the surface of Mars and other parts of our solar system.

Beatrice shared a behind the scenes look at the renovation and redesign during a virtual alumni talk on October 20. The building renovations meant that Museum staff needed to relocate artifacts during construction. The scale of many artifacts made this challenging. In one instance, contractors used a trapeze to move an F-104 plane across a gallery in the air in order to lower it safely. One striking image during the presentation showed a U-2 fuselage making its way down Independence Avenue on a flatbed truck en route to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA for storage during the renovation.

The nuanced exhibition design process began with a catalog of artifacts and the history and science behind them. Beatrice and the designers then shaped these stories into multimodal experiences for visitors of all ages. The team spent significant time sketching, modeling, and prototyping before exhibitions moved to the fabrication and installation stages.

The National Air and Space Museum’s exhibitions inspire visitors to wonder. The adage “the sky’s the limit” certainly rings true in this case. When asked what advice she has for Calvert alumni just beginning their careers, Beatrice emphasized the importance of internships and shared that she stumbled into one at the Air and Space Museum at the recommendation of her professor at The Washington University. “I strongly recommend trying things out if you can,” she said. “Because you just never know!”

Click here to watch the recording of Beatrice’s virtual alumni talk “Designing Exhibitions for the National Air and Space Museum.”