The Harley-Davidson Museum will debut its new “Designing a Celebration” during the Historic Third Ward Association’s Gallery Night this Friday. The exhibit explores the company’s anniversary celebrations throughout its 110 years of motorcycle production.
“The visual treatments created for our anniversary celebrations evoke excitement in our customers as they join us in commemorating these great milestones,” said Bill Davidson, vice president of the Harley-Davidson Museum. “The ‘Designing a Celebration’ exhibit gives visitors a glimpse into the attention to detail our styling team takes to create the images and logos that appear on our motorcycles and special apparel, including the designs for our upcoming 110th anniversary.”
With at least 125 artifacts and photos on display along with four bikes, the exhibit showcases memorabilia extending back to 1913. While Harley-Davidson’s first special anniversary logo was designed in commemoration of its 85th anniversary, the exhibit features materials highlighting previous anniversary acknowledgements.
“Just having been down and installing some of it, I think there’s a real good chance that anyone who takes a little time and looks at this stuff will look at the motorcycles in a different way,” said Jim Fricke, the museum’s curatorial director. “When you have an opportunity to see the kind of incredible depth of effort that goes into the smallest part of the design and then see kind of the incredible processes and just the craftsmanship that goes into making some of the anniversary tank medallions, I think people will learn something about the creative process and about a variety of manufacturing processes.”
Fricke hopes the exhibit helps people develop a sense of appreciation for the artistry reflected in the vehicles.
The exhibit will be on display in the museum’s design lab space through Labor Day weekend. For more information about the exhibit and upcoming events in commemoration of the company’s 110th anniversary, visit http://www.harley-davidson.com.
