In this article, Rick Wurzer, lead interpreter, presents the challenges of creating exhibits at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, a small institution with limited staff. Wurzer shares eight valuable lessons he learned during the center's exhibit renovation project.
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, Nancy Schnitzerling, Human Resources Director at the Liberty Science Center, recommends steps human resource managers need to take in order to assist employees that travel for exhibit work throughout the world. Schnitzerling provides tips related to passports and visas, insurance, vaccines, disaster preparedness, and other issues related to foreign travel.
In this article, Linda Pearcey, museology consultant, explores a recent shift in the Syrian economy, which has led to a reform in the education system with a greater emphasis on cultivating self-motivated, educated youth. As an example of these efforts, Pearcey highlights Massar, a national learning and development project for Syrian youth. Pearcey discusses the overall project as well as the specific physical components of the Massar Discovery Center.
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Linda PearceyNational Association of Museum Exhibition
In this article, Steven Lubar, professor of American civilization and director of the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage at Brown University, describes the final project--producing an exhibition--he gives the students in his Methods in Public Humanities course. Lubar explores the process, successes, and learning opportunities associated with student-curated exhibition, "Remember the Old Times: Cape Verdean Community in Fox Point."
In this article, Claire Pillsbury, an independent exhibit developer, examines Singapore's Asian Civilisations Museum. Pillsbury analyzes how the museum successfully engages visitors of all backgrounds in the study of Singapore's past and present.
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Claire PillsburyNational Association of Museum Exhibition
This article provides commentary about the early closing of "Imaginary Coordinates," an exhibition at the Spertus Institute in Chicago, inspired by the antique maps of the Holy Land. The exhibition reportedly closed early because some groups found it "anti-Israel." Featured voices include exhibition curator Rhoda Rosen, Marc Fischer, of the Chicago-based design firm Temporary Services, and artist Michael Rakowitz. The materials gathered for this article present a microcosm of the museum community's struggle with "the unexhibitable" among other challenging museum issues.
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National Association of Museum Exhibition
In this article, Douglas Simpson, Associate at Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc., describes the unique design process the Newton History Museum employed to create a new exhibition on immigration. The Museum recruited seven local high school students from immigrant families to curate an exhibition about themselves. The exhibition became known as "Hyphenated-Origins: Going Beyond the Labels." Simpson explores this unique exhibit design process and its successes.
In this article, Janice Klein, Director of the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, describes how she and her staff reevaluated the museum collection and audience needs during a reinstallation process in 1999. The methods they used helped the team complete the renovation and opening on time as well as made it possible to pursue an active exhibits program for minimum cost.
This article explores the particular challenges and opportunities for science centers in working on a relationship between the Western science paradigm and traditional knowledge systems. Included are key principles to keep in mind when promoting science, while still respecting traditional cultural values and individuals' cultural identities.
Does the public trust science? Scientists? Scientific organizations? What roles do trust and the lack of trust play in public debates about how science can be used to address such societal concerns as childhood vaccination, cancer screening, and a warming planet? What could happen if social trust in science or scientists faded? These types of questions led the Roundtable on Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a 2-day workshop on May 5-6, 2015 on public trust in science. This report explores empirical evidence on
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Helaine ResnickKeegan SawyerNancy Huddleston
Global Climate Change as Seen by Zoo and Aquarium Visitors reports on the findings of a summer 2011 survey conducted at 15 zoos and aquariums. The study was designed to characterize the readiness of U.S. zoo and aquarium visitors to engage with the issue of global climate change. This included describing visitors' cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral predispositions toward climate change in addition to describing their attitudes and beliefs regarding wildlife, nature, and conservation actions. Results indicate that zoo and aquarium visitors are receptive audiences for climate change