Cherl Smits

Cherl Smits >

Senior Project Designer

With her diverse background as an industrial designer and graphic designer, Cherl Smits brings 16 years of valuable experience to Jack Rouse Associates.She has designed and coordinated projects from early concept through detail design, including exhibit and graphic design as well as on-site installation.These skills have shown Cherl to be a dependable team leader, a talented designer, and a valuable team member.

Currently Cherl is team leader of the new Educational Center for the Sanibel Island Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW).Her job includes overseeing the project's master plan and concept designs.

Cherl was also the team leader for the new 40-acre theme park being built in Ningbo, China.Her major responsibilities included coordinating the design efforts pertaining to, but not limited to, master planning, story lines, attractions and graphics.She was the acting liaison ensuring prompt and comprehensive communications between JRA and the Ningbo Economic and Technical Development Zone (NETD).

Another of Cherl's key projects was the award-winning Texas Wild! attraction, an 8-acre expansion to the Fort Worth Zoo.Cherl's responsibilities included coordinating design efforts in conjunction with designing the exhibits, interpretive graphics, environmental signage, media production and on-site project installation of all attractions and graphics.She also acted as liaison between JRA and the Fort Worth Zoo.Texas Wild! won the TEA's Outstanding Achievement Award for representing the highest standards of excellence and achievement in the arts and sciences associated with the creation of themed entertainment.

Other projects include: the Guangdong Science Center, designing for various Paramount Parks attractions; The Arab American National Museum; Reds Museum and Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, Ohio; the McKenna Children's Museum; lead design for the Cirque du Soleil attraction; lead design for the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's African Rift Valley exhibit in Colorado Springs; the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame at Lambeau Field; the Kinder Kanal zone for the ZDF Studios Medienpark in Mainz, Germany; the Frederick C. Crawford Museum of Transportation and Industry in Cleveland, Ohio; Volkswagen's Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany; various interactives for the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena; and Thunder Road - Georgia's Racing Hall of Fame.

Cherl came to JRA from a senior designer position with Hasbro Toys.She graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.