The New Orleans
Storyville Museum
EXPLORE THE FASCINATING HISTORY OF AMERICA'S ORIGINAL SIN CITY
& NOTORIOUS RED-LIGHT DISTRICT KNOWN AS STORYVILLE.
LOCATION: 1010 Conti Street, French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
Museum Exhibition Graphics Designed by Midnight Boheme
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Introducing the recently opened New Orleans Storyville Museum where guests are invited to step back in time to turn-of-the-century New Orleans to learn of the captivating history of Storyville, the neighborhood once dedicated to all things vice. This intriguing and contemporary museum hired Midnight Boheme as the inhouse graphic designer to create the exhibition displays and storied panels along with branding, promotional materials, and merchandise.
DESIGNING A BRAND NEW MUSEUM
In the summer of 2023, Midnight Boheme began working with the museum owner and curator, Claus Sadlier, designing the museum's brand and graphics for the interior displays and exhibition wall art. In less than one year, the designer and other artists working on the venue built an entire museum filled with over 7,000 square feet of interactive exhibits including full scale theatrical sets and floor-to-ceiling wall graphics.
BRANDING & PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
Promotional pieces were designed by Midnight Boheme to showcase the New Orleans Storyville Museum's incredible exhibitions. With photography by 2nd Story Creative, collateral was created including signage, brochures, rack cards, and print advertisements. In addition to designing a chic an modern website to sell museum tickets online plus an social media campaign for online promotion, interstate billboards and digital video ads began running at MSY at the baggage claim to alert travelers about the new museum upon their arrival to the city.
DESIGNING THE MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
Fortunately for both client and designer, Laura has been obsessed with the history of Storyville since her first visit to New Orleans over twenty years ago. As she built the museum's displays and graphics, her wee bit of knowledge on the subject was vastly expanded by Claus' incredible, in-depth research on the topic. From the recreation of historic city maps to the photo doctoring of vintage postcards, Blue Books, and old paintings, the designer enjoyed every aspect of the job!
OVER 7,000 SQ FT OF IMMERSIVE EXHIBITS
Inventor and entrepreneur Claus Sadlier hired Midnight Boheme in 2023 after meeting the designer, Laura Kuhn, during a holiday home tour of each other's French Quarter houses. Discovering that they were literally neighbors, the two paired up for Claus' latest business venture, a brand new history museum. Working on the branding, website, exhibition displays, and marketing pieces over the course of the next year, this dynamic duo of client and designer officially unveiled The New Orleans Storyville Museum in September 2024 at 1010 Conti Street.
The client spent years collecting an incredible array of artifacts and information for the museum's exhibitions, and as he and the designer worked together to create each panel, each wall display, each promotional piece, the New Orleans Storyville Museum blossomed from a brilliant concept into a full scale reality which tells the incredible history of America's original Sin City and New Orleans' Red-Light District known as Storyville where jazz was born, prostitution reigned, and the early days of cocktailing began.
Visit the New Orleans Storyville Museum from 10am to 6pm Wednesday through Monday at 1010 Conti Street.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES
The New Orleans Storyville Museum at 1010 Conti Street was formally the Carl Mack's Mardi Gras Costume Museum. Its beautifully winding maze of rooms were solid black walls when sold to entrepreneur Claus Sadlier like a giant blank canvas for the curator to build his vision of a Storyville-dedicated history museum. After hiring local designer Laura Kuhn, the graphics were digitally enhanced by Midnight Boheme and then printed by OPA Graphics.
Installation of the digitally-mastered photos, illustrations, articles, maps and text panels began in the Spring of 2024, and the grand opening of the New Orleans Storyville Museum took place in mid-September. It was a quick turnaround, but the team of local designers, contractors, and technicians worked diligently through the summer to meet the owner's timeline. Guest feedback has been positive and visitors have expressed how the visual storytelling is impressive.