Bespoke Bodies: The Design & Craft of Prosthetics at the National WWI Museum and Memorial
Bespoke Bodies: The Design & Craft of Prosthetics explores the past, present, and future of prosthetic design. The exhibition features stories from professional athletes, veterans, children, and other users who collaborated with prosthetists and designers to create prostheses with improved functionality, comfort, adaptability, and aesthetics. Bespoke Bodies combines these experiences with contemporary and historical artifacts showcasing the innovations and impact of prosthetic design.
The exhibition also features objects from the National WWI Museum and Memorial’s collection of artifacts from the Great War – a pivotal time in the field of prosthetics. The artifacts provide a unique historical context to explore urgent contemporary conversations around design and disability.
On view in Kansas City, MO
June 8, 2023 – April 7, 2024
Bespoke Bodies at the National WWI Museum and Memorial
Photos by WWI Museum and Christopher Smith
Bespoke Bodies: The Design and Craft of Prosthetics is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Organizational Partners
PLATINUM
GOLD
SILVER
STA Design
Stantec
Visnick & Caulfield Architecture & Design
BRONZE
Acentech
Hacin + Associates
Umpqua Bank
UNIVERSITY PARTNERS
Boston College
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Northeastern University
Pacific Northwest College of Art & Design
Highlights from the Exhibition
Veterans Affairs Center for Limb Loss and Mobility
With the help of advanced prosthetics, hundreds of service members participate in the annual Warrior Games. Here, U.S.Army retired Sgt.1st Class Andrew McCaffrey, a member of the Army team, trains on receiving the baton during the teams’ relay event for the 2014 Warrior Games at Fort Carson, CO.
Kaylee Dougherty & Boston Ocular Prosthetics
Boston Ocular Prosthetics provides many services to people with physical and visual disabilities. Kaylee Dougherty, BCO, CCA hand-crafts and fits her patients with hand-painted artificial eyes, ears, noses, and facial composites. Incorporating skills from her fine arts background, Kaylee provides users with ocular and facial prostheses that closely resemble their natural features.
Fillauer TRS Prosthetics
Bob Radocy, executive vice president of Fillauer TRS and founder of TRS, uses TRS’s “Hammerhead” Kayak and Water Sports Prosthetic Accessory.
Highlights from WWI Museum’s Collection
Anna Coleman Ladd
Anna Coleman Ladd at work on a facial prosthetic piece in the American Red Cross Studio for Portrait Masks for Mutilated Soldiers.
Workshop
A wounded soldier with two prosthetic arms undergoing instruction in a workshop of the Hindenburg House in Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
Wooden carrying hand
“Openshaw” wooden carrying hand with a tenon thumb. A special feature of the hand is that the ring and little fingers are held rigid, in a slightly flexed position, with steel reinforcement which extends into the palm. This allows bags and other objects to be carried.
Bespoke Bodies Coloring Pages
Design Activity (Ages 5+)
Learners will explore texture and color while decorating the drawings of Derby and Grecia.
Biomimicry: Materials
Design Activity (8-12 Grade)
Learners will create an object using the concepts of biomimicry.
Buy the Book
Bespoke Bodies: The Design and Craft of Prosthetics, by Amanda Hawkins and Sam Aquillano, is a 200-page publication featuring the past, present, and future of prosthetic design and impact, including a 500-year history of prosthetics, stories of design changing the lives of people with limb-loss, and seven guest thought leadership essays spanning global impact, athletic performance, bionics, and more.
Explore Our Process
Want to learn more about this exhibition? Visit our program page for more information about our approach to making Bespoke Bodies!