Nostalgia can be seen — and smelled — in his new Springfield exhibit dedicated to baby boomers

The Newseum helped develop traveling show.

They helped put the bang into the baby boomers. A new exhibition will have Springfield talking about their generation.

“The Boomer List: Photographs by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders,” which opens this week at the Springfield Museum of Art’s McGregor Gallery, gathers portraits of 19 influential people, one each from 1946-64, each year of the boomer generation, in an interactive exhibit.

An opening reception will be 4-5:30 p.m. Sunday, April 22 at the museum.

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In the traveling exhibit developed by the Newseum in collaboration with AARP, visitors will get a sense of the people who represent the boomers along with how that generation helped shape the culture we know today.

Celebrated photographer Greenfield-Sanders has captured boomers in several fields from performers to activists, industry leaders and other notable figures such as Billy Joel and Samuel L. Jackson, Erin Brockovich and Maria Shriver.

“It’s a different type of show,” museum curator Erin Shapiro said. “It uses portraiture to show how photography can be used in a creative way.”

Multisensory components will give visitors will make the visit an experience and enhance a greater sense of the project and the time.

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A station called “Scents That Defined a Generation” has three fragrant experiences including new baby smell (baby powder), the smell of the suburbs (fresh-cut grass) and hippie hallmark (incense).

A separate visual station will go behind the scenes of the portrait shoots and the project as a whole. Rounding things out is a video program with yet more insights.

Shapiro said technical elements are a different addition for the museum and it may incorporate similar features in future exhibits when possible.

In installing the exhibit, Shapiro found herself more informed on the era.

“It’s interesting to present this view,” she said. “It’s nostalgic for boomers, but younger people can learn more about the period.”

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Admission to the reception is $5 for nonmuseum members and free for members. It will include complimentary refreshments and a cash bar and will be in conjunction with the opening of “Sharri Paula Phillips: Marvelous Journeys.”

“The Boomer List” will be on display through June 17. The exhibit will be available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 12:30-4:30 p.m. Sundays.

For more information, you can visit the Springfield Museum of Art website.

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