By Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Waukesha - In the works for more than eight years, a permanent exhibit about the life and career of music legend Les Paul at the Waukesha County Museum is getting a little closer to becoming reality.
The museum announced that it has hired BRC Imagination Arts of Burbank, Calif., to design the exhibit to commemorate Paul, known as the Wizard of Waukesha.
Paul, a Waukesha native who died in August 2009 at the age of 94, was lauded as a pioneer for his creation of the solid-body electric guitar and for inventing overdubbing and multitrack recording techniques.
A 1988 inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Paul was a star of television and radio in the early 1950s with his wife, Mary Ford, with hits such as "Tennessee Waltz," "How High the Moon" and "Vaya Con Dios."
BRC Imagination has an extensive background in museum design and exhibits. Among its clients are the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the Texas State History Museum, Louisiana's Old State Capitol political history museum, The Museum of Liverpool, the Arizona Science Center and NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
The Waukesha County Museum also announced that it has hired the architectural firm of Engberg Anderson, which has offices in Milwaukee, Madison and Tucson, Ariz., to work with BRC to develop a comprehensive master plan for the entire museum in conjunction with the planned Les Paul exhibit.
Paul was laid to rest in a Waukesha cemetery.