Experiential design and religious publicity at D.C.’s Museum of the Bible

ABSTRACT

This article examines the sensory dimension of religious publicity, focused on the case of an evangelical museum in the United States. Washington D.C.’s Museum of the Bible (MOTB) was envisioned and funded primarily by conservative Protestants, and is a revealing case of religion in public life because most of the creative labor of design was conceived and executed by secular firms who do not typically work for faith-based clients. The professional expertise of these firms, “experiential design,” informs a sea change in contemporary museology and the expansion of the experience economy in late modernity. Ultimately, I argue that MOTB’s engagement with experiential design indexes the power of entertainment in late modern life, as the sensory repertoire at play operates with largely unquestioned legitimacy and presumed efficacy. By mobilizing the cultural capital of design, an evangelical museum makes a claim for diverse audiences in a deeply public setting.

KEYWORDS:

• Religious publicity
• experience economy
• museums
• Christianity
• United States

Acknowledgments

This article benefited from contributions by numerous people. In particular, I want to thank Matt Solari and Alin Tocmacov for commenting on an initial manuscript draft. Omri Elisha, Jason Bruner, Christina Pasqua, and Rob Kashow also provided insightful comments on earlier drafts that informed my conception of the manuscript’s argument and potential contribution. Two anonymous peer reviewers also provided insightful readings of the manuscript, which were most helpful in clarifying the argument and contribution.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This article is informed by data collected between November 2017 and March 2019. (1) On three visits, I spent five days touring the Museum of the Bible. Along with documenting the space, I participated in guided tours by MOTB personnel and project managers from two of the primary design firms. (2) I conducted semi-structured interviews with nine individuals involved with MOTB exhibit design and maintenance, including key personnel from the four primary design firms. (3) I transcribed public presentations and interviews by BRC, C&G, and JMC designers about their MOTB work. (4) I read primary texts produced by MOTB and MOTB personnel. (5) I coded 60 news and opinion articles reviewing MOTB, dating to one month before, and two months after, its opening. (6) I listened to and/or viewed 30+ hours of media discourse about MOTB, featuring 18 different MOTB representatives. This included 55 texts from 30+ sources produced between August 2015 and December 2018.

2. Source: segd.org/what-we-do (accessed: September 8 2019).

3. This segment is a recontextualization of two excerpts from Whitefield’s sermon, “Marks of Having Received the Holy Ghost.”

4. Source: Interview with Lauren McAfee Green and Michael McAfee (Christian Thinkers Society, March 28 2016).

5. Source: Interview with Matt Solari, “Telling an Authentic Story” (Confessions of a Marketer, October 2018).

6. See “Past Exhibits”: museumofthebible.org/exhibits/past (accessed: September 8 2019).

7. See: compedia.net/biblical-education/(accessed: September 8 2019). This partnership emerged after a failed attempt to introduce a previous version of the curriculum to an Oklahoma City public school district in 2013.

8. Source: https://www.museumofthebible.org/education/curriculum (accessed: September 8 2019).

9. See: passagesisrael.org/ (accessed: September 8 2019).

10. Source: Interview with Cary Summers on Lighthouse Faith podcast (hosted by Fox News Radio, November 24 2017).

11. See: inspirationcruises.com/frdc (accessed: September 8 2019).

12. Source: “A Walk Through the Museum of the Bible with Scott Redd” (Gospel Coalition podcast, April 18 2018).

13. Source: “Is the Museum of the Bible too squishy or just right?” (Wretched Radio, November 28 2017).

14. Source: smithgroup.com/projects/museum-of-the-bible (accessed: September 8 2019).

15. This portrait is a composite based on three data sources: a 75-minute interview with the author in October 2018; a 17-minute podcast interview, “Telling an Authentic Story” (Confessions of a Marketer, October 2018); and, a 17-minute presentation, “Creating the Inclusive Museum through Storytelling” at the MuseumNext conference (Indianapolis, Indiana, September 2016).

16. This portrait is a composite based on three data sources: a 70-minute interview with the author in November 2018; a three-hour tour of C&G’s MOTB exhibit in August 2018; a 20-minute presentation at the 2018 SEGD conference followed by a Q&A session with the moderator and audience.

17. Source: Interview with Steve Green (The Steve Noble Show, March 17 2017).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James S. Bielo

James S. Bielo is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio, USA). He is the author of four books, most recently Ark Encounter: The Making of a Creationist Theme Park (NYU, 2018). He is also the founder and director of Materializing the Bible, an open-access digital scholarship project that explores biblical tourism and pilgrimage globally.