Imagine the Future Gallery

Riggs Ward Design partnered with the Bell Museum to reimagine the Imagine the Future Gallery as a participatory environment that connects Minnesotans to the climate impacts shaping their lives today. Organized around three themes, Observation, Emotion, and Action, the gallery guides visitors from understanding local climate realities to reflecting on personal responses and identifying meaningful pathways forward.

A bright, contemporary visual language establishes an accessible and welcoming atmosphere, encouraging visitors to engage openly with a complex and deeply personal topic. Distinct color environments reinforce the thematic framework and help orient guests as they move through the space. Layered graphics, immersive media, and tactile interactives create an energetic setting where scientific research and lived experience intersect.

Stories from Minnesota scientists, activists, and community members ground the exhibition in local perspectives, highlighting both the challenges of climate change and the resilience present across the state. Community workshops directly informed the gallery’s development, shaping tone, content, and interactive features to ensure authentic representation of diverse voices.

Interactive media stations and a real-time response portal invite visitors to contribute their thoughts and compare perspectives with others. At the heart of the experience, a climate emotions wheel helps guests identify and normalize the range of feelings climate change can evoke. The Climate Action Footprint installation translates reflection into possibility, helping visitors recognize how their skills, values, and everyday choices can contribute to collective action.

The Imagine the Future Gallery demonstrates how design can translate complex science into meaningful public engagement. By centering community voice, emotional literacy, and actionable pathways, the project establishes a compelling framework for climate storytelling that is both locally grounded and broadly replicable.