Halls of the Pacific at the Field Museum

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on May 08, 2018 in

Ravenswood Studio fabricated these lighted standalone pillars for each Pacific Island region and culture in one of the older galleries of the Field Museum. This gallery has one of the world’s best collections of Pacific Islands artifacts. Luci Creative used the beautifully crafted artifacts as inspiration for details and designs of the pillars. Besides representing …

Nut Map, John B. Sanfilippo & Sons, Inc. Heritage Exhibit

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Apr 23, 2018 in

The Ravenswood team fabricated and installed this Luci Creative designed Heritage Exhibit for John B. Sanfilippo & Sons, Inc. It is dedicated to exploring the story of this family-run business that is the largest provider of nuts in the United States and is active in over 70 countries throughout the world. Naturally, we used pecan wood …

Oz the Great and Powerful Carriage Fabrication

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Apr 05, 2018 in

For the 2013 release of the prequel movie, Oz the Great and Powerful, Ravenswood Studio built not one but two amazing carriages. One was an ornate open carriage and the other was an enclosed sedan, shown below. This project was very hush hush for more than two years before the release of the movie and …

Giant Dinosaur Egg

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Mar 07, 2018 in

Perched atop a big shipping crate, in front of the Milwaukee Public Museum, was a very large dinosaur egg created in our studio to announce that a touring dinosaur exhibit was coming. When the exhibit opened, we placed a cracked open egg in front of the museum as if the dinosaur had hatched! This was a …

Constellations at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Feb 05, 2018 in

This abstract set for the world premier of the play Constellation at Steppenwolf Theatre looks like a monolithic concrete bowl. It is made out of plywood and hardcoated foam, and is sturdy enough to support multiple actors climbing and sitting on the wall. The amazing thing is that even though it looks monolithic, it comes …

Custom Model T Car for Marriott’s Ragtime

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Jan 26, 2018 in

What a fun project! For Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire’s production of the musical Ragtime, we took a common golf cart and transformed it into a well-proportioned Model T scaled to fit the size restrictions of the Marriott Theatre stage. Fiberglass parts from a Model T hot rod kit were modified to fit on the chopped golf …

Newsies at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Dec 22, 2017 in

For Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire’s production of Newsies, we created several 25’ long I-beams. They had to look like real steel I-beams, but had weigh less than 700 pounds. They also had to be rigid and light so they could pivot on two points above the stage and strong when they dropped down to the stage …

You Are Beautiful Piece

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Dec 10, 2017 in

“You Are Beautiful” is another Matthew Hoffman art piece. We constructed it out of 24 layers of ½ inch MDF, each one painted a different color. We also fabricated the base for this sculpture with an internal structure that could support the 800 pound piece on just two points. We installed this commissioned art piece …

Cafe Bustelo Food Truck Topper

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Dec 04, 2017 in

This is a fun food truck sign we made for Bustelo’s. We direct printed on MDF to create this large 11’ long by 5’ high removeable sign on so it could be mounted on the top of the truck when it is stationary and open for business.

Bentley Carpets NEOCON Showroom

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Nov 20, 2017 in

We worked with Bentley Carpets, a long time client, to create their 2017 NEOCON showroom. We transformed a bare concrete room into their “Outskirts” themed beer garden bar and rustic carpet sample house – all fabricated out of sandblasted wood.

Over And Over Art Panel

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Nov 05, 2017 in

This is an installation by artist Matthew Hoffman called “Over And Over”. Each one of the artist’s hand-written phrases was unique so we had to determine how break them apart to create six individual panels. We then cut each individual phrase on our CNC router out of one-inch milk white acrylic plastic then seamlessly reconnected them …

Chicago Ideas Week 2017 Buildstorming Lab

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Oct 10, 2017 in

For the last few years, we have hosted labs for Chicago Ideas Week. We open our studio to about 40 participants so that they can experience how we turn ideas into reality. This year, each group was tasked with creating an experience from a scene from “Alice In Wonderland.” As in years past, the results …

The Bridges of Madison County at Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Sep 12, 2017 in

We created an automated 30’ long by 8’ high bridge for Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire’s production of Bridges of Madison County. There is a trap door in the center of the bridge that allows a bed to emerge. Also during a choreographed number, eight actors activate sliding scissor hinged trestles on both sides of the bridge.

Giant Tree

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on Sep 04, 2017 in
We create a lot of trees for our opera and theater work, but this one for Matrex Exhibits was one of the biggest ever.

How Van Gogh’s Bedroom Was Rebuilt as a Living Masterpiece

Posted by Ravenswood Studio on May 09, 2017 in
Ever wanted to live in a masterpiece? A Chicago apartment lets you live in Van Gogh's 'Bedroom.'