Design on a Dollar: $5,000–$10,000 Budget

What can be done with a dedicated staff,
some time and a "medium sized" budget?

Background Information
This is the opportunity to think about designing your space; how living and non-living materials will be contained; and developing programming appropriate to the content and location.

Form a team!
During Phase Two, we gathered an exhibit development team comprised of staff from Exhibits, Education, Visitor Services and Graphics. Representatives from a local arboretum, Cornell Cooperative Extension, landscape designers and water engineers provided additional expertise.

Think about themes, goals and programs that might be done in this dedicated space.
In developing and naming our new space, we took care to make it appealing and accessible to those who might not identify themselves as nature lovers. As a development team we felt it important to think of the new outdoor exhibit as a bridge between a suburban garden and the 27 registered nature preserves on Long Island. We decided that the exhibit would focus on the interdependent relationship between living things (plants, birds, animals) and the earth (soil, sand, gravel, water and weather).

The development team opted to use natural materials as much as possible and to build components “in-house” to maintain a rustic texture. We repurposed items and used readily available materials so that the “do-it-yourself” visitor would be able to take away ideas for implementation in their own garden.

The decision was made that the exhibit would be fully bilingual, to address the needs of Long Island’s growing Latino population. This requirement was incorporated into the graphic guidelines developed to address both wayfinding needs and informational content in the exhibit.

Donor Development
This is a good time to invite local funders/potential funders to come and see the space, view what has been accomplished and share your plans for expansion. LICM prepared a capital proposal for an expanded and landscaped exhibit for one of our State Senators. The resulting six-figure grant allowed the dreams for Our Backyard to become a reality.