In 1999, I was asked to take on the task of project designer for a new Science Fiction Museum in Old Sacramento, Ca. This was a sponsored grass-roots project. This would become a major project with a steep learning curve. But it was a hands-on design project that taught me a lot about museum design, access to displays and every other hard-learned aspect of a museum. It was also a lesson in how people react to ideas and (my) creativity. Ideas are a powerful thing, and I learned the hard way just how powereful they were by the envy and competition that I encountered while doing it. There are places that lack real imagination, and when you bring your creativity to those places, just be prepared. The Museum opened to many enthusiastic fans, and was there for about three years, until 2003. It was documented in a large, center-paged article in the March 2000 Starlog Magazine, crediting my design work for the very first Sci-Fi Museum in the USA.
On the heels of completing the SF Museum, In 2002, I was asked to do an alum exhibition for the Design Gallery at UC Davis. Titled: "Fantasy to Reality: the Evolution of Theme Park Design " it demnstrated the design process of creating a theme park; through the immersive, personal experience of "the blue-sky idea room"; a metaphoric optical hallway illusion, and a faux underwater environment. It brought a great number of visitors; more than twice than previous Design Gallery events. In fact, many visitors made one more visit, just to see it before it left. It even received acclaim on "Designboom", an Italian design website.