Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeff Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jeff, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
A few years ago, I had the chance to design and construct the entire exhibit & play space for a new children’s museum, the Otter Cove Children’s Museum in Fergus Falls, MN. Otter Cove is not the only children’s museum my company has built, but it is the most meaningful to me because it’s in my hometown!
I grew up in the country, just a few miles outside of Fergus Falls. My brother and I had a great time riding dirt bikes and making mischief around the house, but our region didn’t have many places where families could go to play and explore new things together, especially when it was too cold to be outside.
When I found out (just a few years after starting my exhibit design firm) that a group of passionate young parents were interested in founding a children’s museum in Fergus, I was excited to come on board for the concept development, design, and fabrication. The project was made even better by the fact that I was working closely with my best friend from college, Peter Olson, a museum consultant who had also grown up in that same county.
What we built with Otter Cove is truly something special because of the opportunity to bring enrichment to the young people and families of my hometown. The museum had a restricted opening season during the pandemic in 2020, but that didn’t diminish the enthusiastic reception from the community. It has been wildly popular ever since, and my team has been brought back twice more to build expansions and enhancements. Individuals from several other nearby towns have also been inspired by Otter Cove and have worked with my team or Peter (or both of us) to begin developing new children’s museums of their own.
Every time I visit Otter Cove, I am gratified to see kids and their caregivers playing and learning together, or to see older and younger siblings creating and solving challenges together. It’s wonderful to know that I’ve been able to make an enduring impact on the place where I grew up and on children who will shape the future.
Jeff, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I grew up with very little exposure to the arts or the idea of having a creative career. After high school in my small Minnesota town, I entered the Army (on a dare), spent a few years as a paratrooper and rigger, and then went to work in a factory. That factory experience made me realize that I wanted something different out of my life, so I decided to go to college.
Two years into college, I still didn’t have a solid direction in mind — until I ended up in a stagecraft class. That class, and the connected experience of helping out with the college’s current theater production, shifted my entire focus. I was excited by the creative people I met, and I was hooked by the thrill of bringing a design to life and sharing it with an audience. I transferred to Minnesota State University Moorhead, which had a rigorous theater production training program that gave me a lot of leadership experience, as well as strong design skills and construction know-how.
After I finished my degree, I spent a decade working in educational theater, serving as a scenic designer, lighting designer, and/or technical director for nearly 150 shows and events around Minnesota and in Arizona. Having trained in all of those varied aspects of theater production was a true benefit that made it possible for me to work full-time in theater.
Eventually I was hired as the Production Manager for the Duluth Playhouse in Duluth, MN. For seven years, I led the Playhouse’s design teams and coordinated all production aspects for another 100+ productions, while also creating freelance designs for other local and regional theater companies. Besides all of the experience in theater technical direction and design, I began to realize that I had developed a broad repertoire of knowledge and strengths, including the ability to bring a creative outlook to project management and to visualize innovative ways to transform a space.
I expanded my experience beyond theater when I spent a year consulting on, designing, and fabricating learning environments and exhibits for the brand new Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota. That opportunity opened new doors to me: it stretched my design and construction knowledge into a new industry and rejuvenated my creativity and passion for discovery – as well as the reward of being involved in projects that leave a true legacy.
With that renewed energy, I formed BrownKnows Design (BKD) in 2015, in order to be my own boss and to be able to keep a hand in both worlds (theater and museums). Since then, I have been involved in more than 150 additional theater productions and 40+ exhibit projects for children’s museums, nature centers, and historical societies. BKD has grown to employ an additional 5 full-time and 2 part-time employees and has left its creative stamp all around Minnesota. We have also created exhibits in Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
There are many exhibit design firms around the country, but I think BrownKnows Design fills a special niche: we work with many start-up and smaller-budget organizations that need innovative solutions to give them the most value for their dollar, and our entire staff comes from a background in theater — such a collaborative art form that breeds a can-do attitude and recognizes the joy of mutual success.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Whether I’m working on a theater production or on any type of exhibit, the kind of product I create is meant to be shared. It is directly for others’ enjoyment or enrichment. Sitting in a dark theater on opening night, listening to murmurs of wonder (or gasps of awe) when the lights come up on the stage, I know that I’ve helped to create an “escape” for that audience – an outlet where they can be surprised, dazzled, or intrigued. An exhibit has the same potential to provide new ways of experiencing the world, with the added benefit of longevity!
Creative work isn’t easy, but I’m proud of the memorable experiences my team and I create and the chance to bring delight and discovery into other people’s lives.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I’m not sure that folks working outside of a creative industry have a full understanding of how much development comes before the final outcome. It’s a process. Every project starts with words on a page (a script or the concept for an exhibit), and then the creative team gets busy figuring out how to bring the words to life. There are many meetings, revisions and new iterations, and sometimes a whole lot of paperwork (especially for lighting design) before the product is ready to be seen. In both the theater and exhibit industries, a whole team (director, designers, carpenters, actors, content experts, developers, mural artists, fabricators, museum staff, etc.) contributes to the brainstorming, feeds off of each other’s energy, inspires and pushes each other to generate amazing results that might, on the surface, appear to be individual or effortless. Not only that, but the ultimate vision often has to be executed in a very short timeline – after all, the public will be showing up for opening night (or a grand opening) whether we feel ready or not!
I have been working in creative industries now for about 30 years, and there still comes a point in every project where I have that nauseous feeling like it’s the first day of school: I’m excited, I’m eager to jump back into something that’s familiar (yet also somewhat new), but I don’t really have any idea where it’s going to end up. Rolling with the creative process can mean taking risks and being comfortable with the fact that I will be uncomfortable at many moments along the way. In the end, though, the paperwork, the long hours, the artistic differences, and any other bumps become part of the final fabric of the creation. What I have made will leave an imprint on someone, and knowing that keeps me coming back for more.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brownknowsdesign.com
