{"id":2970402,"date":"2026-06-18T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2970402"},"modified":"2026-06-18T06:40:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:40:00","slug":"discover-smithsonians-from-these-lands-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-storymaps\/constituent-engagement\/discover-smithsonians-from-these-lands-exhibit","title":{"rendered":"Discover Smithsonian\u2019s From These Lands Exhibit"},"author":8672,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[37131],"tags":[398132,781051,762612,27881],"industry":[],"product":[380802],"class_list":["post-2970402","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-constituent-engagement","tag-arcgis-storymaps","tag-geospatial-storytelling","tag-museum","tag-storytelling","product-arcgis-storymaps"],"acf":{"short_description":"The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Esri created a digital companion to the From these Lands exhibit featuring maps specimens.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

The <\/span><\/span>From These Lands <\/span><\/span><\/em>exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., <\/span><\/span>celebrates the natural resources and cultural heritage of the United States. <\/strong><\/h3>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

It features over 600 items from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. This collection represents just a few of the museum\u2019s 148 million objects. It is one of several exhibits in the Smithsonian’s “<\/span>Our Shared Future: 250<\/span><\/a>” initiative, celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Esri and the Smithsonian Institution collaborated to create a digital companion<\/a> that makes this exhibit accessible to people around the world.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Smithsonian exhibit curators crafted the text and assets, including specimen photography, natural and cultural stories, and high-quality videos. My team had the honor of designing and assembling the digital story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"blockquote","content":"

\"This exhibit gives people a chance to experience the full breadth of American\u2019s natural and cultural heritage in one place and consider how interconnected they are. This StoryMap enables us to foster that sense of connection to our land and to one another well beyond the museum\u2019s walls.\"<\/p>\n

- Kirk Johnson, Sant Director, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Translating an in-person experience to a digital experience<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The greatest challenge in developing a story like this is adapting content designed for a physical exhibit to\u00a0an\u00a0online\u00a0format. What specimens should be included? How could the museum exhibit’s vivid design be translated into a digital experience?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, we weren\u2019t starting from scratch; the curators used the exhibit’s main messages to form the three sections of the story: how the museum\u2019s collections are connected, wondrous, and expanding. They carefully selected specimens from the exhibit to engage a digital audience and reinforce these key messages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some of the specimens highlighted in the story:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n