NUTSHELL STUDIES EXHIBIT
Murder is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM'S RENWICK GALLERY
WASHINGTON, DC
COMPLETED: 2017
THE NUTSHELL STUDIES
Built in the 1940’s the dioramas were exquisitely detailed miniature crime scenes used for training homicide investigators. Lighting and light sources came from a variety of “homemade” sources including signal lamps and flashlight components. All nineteen dioramas were in dire need of restoration to ensure their survival. After surveying each existing light source, new lamps were painstakingly cut open, one by one, and adapted to fit new LED to the incandescent lamp and socket. Inside each lamp, a micro controller manages the output.