Sites of Controversy: From Cornwall’s Memorials to the 9/11 Museum with Jake Barton.

The Cornwall Library is excited to present Sites of Controversy, a talk by Jake Barton, whose credits include the highly acclaimed 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York. His groundbreaking work focuses on storytelling and engaging visitors through emotion and technology such as hands-on interaction.

In America it can seem as if the past never settles, and is regularly revisited as a battleground for current disputes. For example, monuments to Civil War heroes are a flashpoint in our culture wars, with monuments toppled or even remade to tell radically different stories.

Barton’s work represents a new approach to museums and monuments. He says, “Museums are not about the stuff, they’re about the effect that museums have on people.” He argues that the controversy that museums and memorials elicit are not peripheral: “The conflict is a form of service, creating a civic space to tell and retell our American stories for each new generation.”

Barton’s firm is working on the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library (with fellow Cornwall resident Charlie Melcher), a Museum for the United Nations, the Motown Museum, and the Courage Museum in San Francisco, all set to open in 2026.

Jake Barton is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Local Projects, an experience and exhibit design firm for museums, brands, and public spaces. In addition to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, his credits include landmark projects such as the media for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Planet World in Washington DC, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. He lives in New York City and Cornwall with his partner, Jenny Raymond, and two children.

Registration is required at cornwalllibrary.org.