CityView Magazine

34 Februar y 2023 were held at Highland Presbyterian Church, which has a predominantly white congregation. During his October visit, Eisterhold talked with CityView at the historic Culbreth House on the Museum of the Cape Fear grounds. He says he was hired for the Fayetteville project because of his work at the Greensboro museum. "ey knew of us," Eisterhold says of his Kansas City company. "I think it was 2010. ey put out requests for a proposal, and that's how it works. We competed for it, submitted a proposal, did the interview, and we were awarded the contract." Transforming an existing regional museum into a statewide history center will require a tremendous amount of planning, he says. e projected cost of the history center is $80 million, with the state legislature providing $60 million in its last budget. Last year, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners reaffirmed its commitment of $7.5 million for the center, and the Fayetteville City Council pledged $6.6 million plus donations of several parcels of land. Discovering 'a larger world' Eisterhold is a native of Rich Fountain, Mississippi, who started college at the University of Missouri as an agronomy student. "I had not seen people with suits and ties and 9-to-5 jobs," he says. "I thought everybody was going to be a farmer. at's why I went to school, and I discovered a larger world." He later switched his field of study to general sciences for a couple of semesters before entering the arts program. He says he thought he should take up a major that was alien to him. "My GPA went down a point, but it's been much more interesting," he says of the switch. He then transferred to Kansas City Art Institute, majoring in graphic design and photography. Eisterhold says he has never had a job in either graphic design or photography. "I had bad guidance counseling that said you never get a job in what you're trained for," he says. "I worked in an animation studio for a couple of years because I thought that would be interesting." en, he says, "this museum thing came up. I've remained in that field and been confused ever since. You're always encountering this new world, and that remains interesting." Over the years, Eisterhold has put his imprint on civil rights-themed museums including the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee; the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh; the African American Museum in Philadelphia; and the Rosa Parks Museum and Children's Annex in Montgomery, Alabama. Other projects include the President's House in Philadelphia, the U.S. president's residence that predates the White House; the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library Eisterhold has put his imprint on civil rights-themed museums including this exhibit at the Rosa Parks Museum and Children's Annex in Montgomer y, Alabama.

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