In this article, Mariana Galvani, Commercial Manager at Laboratorio museotecnico Goppion, describes how a defining project for this "Italian-centric" company: construction of the display elements for the British Galleries at London's Victoria and Albert Museum. This job was complex and exposed the firm to a new level of cultural debate about the role of museums and a philosophy of work that it had never experienced before.
In this article, Eugene Dillenburg, Lead Exhibit Designer at the Shedd Aquarium, examines how poetry is a powerful medium for making meaning, and suggests ways to make exhibits more meaningful as well. Dillenburg analyzes the elements of poetry, including words, imagery, theme and countertheme, and abstraction, and how they relate to label and exhibit design.
In this article, John Chiodo, Senior Associate, and Alissa Rupp, architect and exhibit designer, both for the Portico Group, explore six ways museums can enable visitors to extract meaning out of exhibits. The authors contend that exhibits designed specifically to support meaning making can help visitors find order, connections and compassion in their environment, which will allow museums to retain and even grow audiences.
In this exhibition review, Eric Siegel, Director and Chief Content Officer at the New York Hall of Science, critiques the "Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns, and Mermaids" exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. Siegel provides a walkthrough of the exhibit and remarks about the audience and pedagogy.
This article presents some of the basic tools to keep in mind when developing a traveling exhibitions program. Michelle Torres-Carmona, Director of Scheduling & Exhibitor Relations at the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, provides advice on developing a traveling exhibit (concept, collaborators, budgeting, contracts) and Whitney Owens, manager of the traveling exhibitions program at The Field Museum, Chicago, discusses how to best market the exhibition tour.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michelle Torres-CarmonaWhitney Owens
In this article, Richard Faron, independent museum consultant, discusses how the act of musuem building can unite communities and the government. Faron uses Iraq as an "imaginary case study" to investigate how museums can strengthen Iraqi identity and pride.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Richard FaronNational Association of Museum Exhibition
In this article, George Mayer, Vice-President of Museum Services for Art Guild, Inc., guides exhibit developer on how to write successful Request for Proposals (RFPs). Mayer emphasizes the importance of "doing your homework first" to better understand your project, partners/contractors, and shared goals.
In this article, Darcy Fohrman, Principal of Darcie Fohrman Associates, summarizes the conversation at an AAM session, in which three young exhibition professionals (the "Young Bloods") and three experienced exhibition professionals (the "Silverbacks") debated issues related to planning and designing interpretive exhibitions. This article also includes post-session thoughts from the presenters.
In this article, Ian Kerrigan, Assistant Director of Exhibition Development at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, articulates the importance of the 9/11 Memorial Museum being located at the World Trade Center site. Kerrigan goes on to explain how the museum is also serving as a archaeological site, how artifacts will play a pivotal role in the Museum's public spaces, and how the Museum's primary artifact is the site in and of itself. Kerrigan also describes how media is an integral element of the exhibition space that reflect the media age of era and allow visitors to share and
In this article, Ted Ansbacher, museum consultant with Science Services, presents a model for experience-based learning, based on the ideas of John Dewey. Ansbacher also presents an interpretation of "meaning making" and implications for exhibit development based on this model.
In this article, Michael Spock, a Research Fellow at the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago and consultant, presents a collection of stories about museums. These anecdotes shed light on what it takes to create really meaningful exhibits and why efforts so often come up short.
In this article, John Russick, Curator at the Chicago Historical Society, shares his adventurous experience participating in an archeological dig at a remote site in central Turkey. The experience taught Russick four important lessons related to exhibit development and foreign travel.