Welcome to
Hands-on Heritage!
Hands-on Heritage is a dedicated communication team specializing in comprehensive legacy projects, from concept to completion. Our team of skilled researchers and storytellers collaborates closely with clients to explore innovative ideas and craft engaging narratives that captivate audiences and bring their stories to life.
Our clients come from diverse industries, including government agencies, corporations, associations, educational institutions, and museums. We partner with clients at every stage of project development, offering tailored services to meet their needs. In the early phases, we provide grant development and submission expertise, helping secure essential funding for impactful initiatives. As projects progress, we excel in researching and writing compelling content for various venues, including museums, historical sites, cultural centers, and educational institutions.
We help them create exceptional visitor experiences by fostering meaningful connections between people, ideas, and communities. Our services include developing grants for heritage projects, crafting compelling stories, locating graphics and illustrations, sourcing artifacts for exhibits, conducting research to commemorate milestones, or providing collections support.
HANDS-ON
HERITAGE
Our mission is to find and share stories that bind the past, present, and future, and use these stories to help create connected and resilient communities.
WHAT WE DO
We are storytellers, and we collaborate with other creative people to develop outstanding visitor experiences. We specialize in grant development, research, and writing content for exhibits and books. Our projects connect communities and conserve cultural and environmental legacies, with an emphasis on interpretation and education.
PARTNERS & PROJECTS
It’s our pleasure to work with distinguished partners, both locally and nationally, on legacy projects. Organizations like the Saban Center, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Little League Baseball, NFL Alumni, and ProMedica Health System trust us with their museum research and content development needs.
WHO WE ARE
Hands-on Heritage is the professional communications team of Robin Van Auken, a registered professional archaeologist, and Lance Van Auken, a museum specialist. The team is unique in its ability to embed within communities, develop relationships with citizens, and find unheard voices and unseen images.
Recent Partners
