In this article, Alissa Rupp, architect and exhibit designer at The Portico Group, reveals the importance of integrating emotional connections into exhibit designs for children. Rupp explains how exhibits can elicit strong emotional connections as well as the value of these emotional experiences for children and families.
In this article, Nina Simon, an experience design consultant at Museum 2.0, explores the correlation between museum and exhibit design and visitor participation. Simon suggests that increased parameters and more thoughtfully designed exhibits will yield more meaningful visitor participation.
In this article, Wendy Pollock, independent consultant and former manager of the exhibition program at ASTC, reflects on her experience with the science center movement and discusses the unanticipated effects traveling exhibitions can have on host museums and staff. Pollock explains how museums have commoditized exhibitions over time and offers advice on how to improve exhibits and provide visitors with novel experiences.
The article is a summary of the comments and discussions a session at the 2006 AAM conference that addressed what museums in the fields of art, history, and science might learn from each other and how museums might benefit from "cross-pollination." Panel participants were Eric Siegel, Executive Vice President for Programs and Planning at the New York Hall of Science, Benjamin Filene, Director of the Public History Program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Deborah Schwartz, President of the Brooklyn Historical Society, and Jennifer MacGregor, Curator of Visual Arts at Wave Hill.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Eric SiegelBenjamin FileneDeborah SchwartzJennifer MacGregor
In this article, Suzanne Gaskins, Professor of Psychology at Northeastern Illinois University and researcher at the Chicago Children's Museum, discusses how museums should design exhibitions to support and encourage family interaction. Specifically, Gaskins discusses how caregivers' understanding of the exhibition influences their engagement and their use of resources offered by the museum to support their engagement as well as cultural differences in caregivers' understandings of how experiences like those in a "hands-on" museum are related to learning and what their should be, and how they
In this article, Maria Mortati, Founder of the San Francisco Mobile Museum, discusses her experience launching a "pop-up" museum project in 2009. Mortati describes the process of selecting and designing mobile exhibitions, and shares best practices.
In this article, James Volkert, an independent museum consultant and former associate director of the National Museum of the American Indian, uses the return of the "King Tut" exhibit as an opportunity to review the state of exhibitions and the supporting literature. Specifically, Volkert examines three categories: exhibition design as fine art, exhibition design in the service of others and exhibition design as metaphoric expression.
This article describes how science centers and museums can better engage ethnic-specific communities that, overall, historically do not visit these institutions. Cecilia Garibay, principal of the Garibay Group, summarizes her research in this area, specifically focusing on Latino families in the United States and shares several key values that influence Latino parents' leisure choices. Examples of how leading institutions have used these findings are included and highlight ways museums can use research to better engage diverse communities.
In this article, Paul Orselli, president and chief instigator at Paul Orselli Workshop (POW!), discusses the impact of "internal capacity" or a museum's ability to handle core functions like exhibit development, design, and fabrication with its own resources. Orselli explains the value of internal capacity for individual museums and for the broader museum field.
In this article, evaluator Randi Korn details the importance of a museum's mission as "key to an institution's success." Korn recommends museums clarify their intent, before evaluating their impact , and provides three mission-based filters that museums must use to examine all operational activities: clarity of intent, alignment of practice and resources, and reflective inquiry.
In this article, Emily O'Hara, education associate and marking assistant, and Beth Krusi, director of marketing and communications, both at the Montshire Museum of Science (Norwich, Vermont), share their perspective on the importance of repeat visitation. O'Hara and Krusi describe how they use evaluation to refine new and existing exhibits to encourage repeat visitation.
In this article, twelve museum and exhibit directors of leading institutions in the world share their exhibition philosophy. These individuals describe how they develop exhibits to meet content and learning objectives, how they design exhibits thoughtfully to meet these goals and how they evaluate the success of the exhibits. Museums featured include the Finnish Science Centre (Vantaa), The Wild Center (Tupper Lake, NY), Sciencenter (Ithaca, NY), INSPIRIA Science Center (Norway), Explora (Albuquerque, NM), Montshire Museum of Science (Norwich, Vermont), Phaeno (Germany), CuriOdyssey (San Mateo