PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Mutter Museum is marking the five-year anniversary of the pandemic with a new exhibit documenting Philadelphia’s COVID-19 experience.
The exhibit centers around community, confidence, and healthcare. Trusted Messengers is a page marker in the social and academic documentation of the pandemic. It’s a project started in 2022, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to help bolster demand for COVID-19 vaccines by building trust in communities.
Kate Quinn, executive director of the Mütter Museum, explained the exhibit tells a story of Philadelphia’s resilience that began five years ago, while also commenting on community confidence in healthcare, in both the past and present.
“So the exhibition goes into detail about the trusted messages,” said Quinn. “Who did you trust in that time frame when there was so much uncertainty, misinformation happening around the virus and the methods around how to protect yourself?”
Quinn said it was essential to highlight science and research happening in the city, that had global impact, especially now as scientific research is being defunded throughout the nation. The exhibit features the materials used in the development of the MRNA technology used in the COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weissman lab in Philadelphia.
“So we’re highlighting community groups and work that happening at the Weismann Lab and there’s materials from lab itself so you can see one of the greatest breakthroughs in medical history,” she said.
The exhibit examines how hard Philadelphia was hit by the pandemic, which furthered already deep disparities in healthcare, leading education and advocacy groups like Black Doctors Covid-19 consortium and Vax Up Philly to take action.
“So there was a great movement, certainly globally, but definitely right here in Philadelphia to get the message out and help folks become safer,” said Quinn.
The Trusted Messengers exhibition is on display at the Mutter Museum through Feb of 2026.