Nov
A new joint is coming to Los Angeles in 2019.
Envisioned and created by Weedmaps—a cannabis directory platform notably known for gaining viral fame for its “Weed Facts” campaign on billboards across five states—and creative agency Virtue, The Museum of Weed will educate visitors about cannabis history through art exhibits, historical footage and artifacts. Seven exhibitions will exist in total, with themes including the role cannabis played in 1960s culture, former President Reagan’s War on Drugs and the path towards legalization and medical research.
“What we want to make is something authentic and informative,” said Trent Rohner, group creative director at Virtue. “It’s about coming to a better understanding of marijuana and our relationship to it than taking a cool picture with a five leaf background.”
What Rohner means is this is no Museum of Ice Cream or Color Factory. Instead, the Museum of Weed is going for a vibe more similar to the Natural History Museum.
“If we do our jobs right, people will take pictures and stuff like that, but only because it’s informative,” Rohner said.
The museum will initially open for 60 days, though Rohner is hopeful that the museum can live on in some form for longer. The exhibits, he said, will cover the “overwhelming effect” that the “incessant policing and over-incarceration of cannabis users” has had on people of color. Doug Francis, CEO and co-founder of Weedmaps, said the displays will illustrate how these policies have affected families and culture.
“We hope shedding light on the tie between cannabis prohibition and racially disparate policies will drive more to join in on advocacy and reform efforts,” Francis said.
Virtue, Vice Media’s in-house agency, worked with Weedmaps to create the complete branding of the museum and exhibits from look to feel. The creative agency had wanted to enter the cannabis space for about two years before it came to Virtue to figure out how to put the museum together. Rohner said Virtue will create content about the experience, but it’s unclear whether it will create separate social accounts to disseminate the information around the Museum of Weed.
“We’re good at telling stories, and [Weedmaps] is really knowledgable about it as arbiters of progressing cannabis culture in America,” Rohner said.
He added that the team chose the Los Angeles location since Weedmaps is based in California—and also because of the state’s recent path towards cannabis legalization.
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Sourced from LAcannabisNews.com