Argonne Rebels Drum & Bugle Corps
Exhibit Design for the Hometown Team

Pageantry Inc., is a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote drum and bugle corps and other related activities in the Great Bend and Barton County, Kansas area. It was established by alumni of the Argonne Rebels Drum and Bugle Corps and its Executive Director, Glenn Opie (1926 – 2013). Opie began his association with the corps in 1948. He served as a volunteer member of its board of directors and staff through 1973. Over the course of his twenty-five year association with the corps, Opie amassed an extensive archive of material documenting its history and legacy. In August of 2013, the archive was transferred to Pageantry Inc., and in September of 2013, its board of directors partnered with the Great Bend Public Library for an exhibit site as a part of the Smithsonian Institution’s “Museum on Main Street” program, sponsored by the Kansas Humanities Council.

The exhibit was originally conceived as a twelve-panel display. However, interest in it and financial support for it led to an expansion, and a total of 42 panels, including four display cases for ephemera, audio-visual components, four uniformed mannequins, and 36 championship flags. Produced by Pageantry Inc., and funded by the corps’ alumni and friends in conjunction with the Kansas Humanities Council “Hometown Teams” program, the exhibit, which opened June 1, 2015 was on display through August 31, 2015. At its dedication, the exhibit was presented to the community of Great Bend and Barton County, Kansas by Argonne Rebels Drum and Bugle Corps alumni, in recognition and appreciation of the communities thirty plus years’ support, and its sustaining effort to champion its youth.

By Design Partners’ role in creating the exhibit included extensive research into the archive, rationale and naming, concept development, exhibition design, graphic design, copywriting, social media, and exhibition production and installation supervision.