In this article, Sean Duran, Director of Exhibits at the Miami Museum of Science, examines how the institution serves a multicultural audience and helps bridge cultural boundaries. As an example, Duran discusses how the "Amazon Voyage: Vicious Fishes and Other Riches" exhibit will serve this international audience.
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, 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.
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 is a summary of the"What's Going on VII: Hot Topics in Exhibit Development" discussion at AAM's pre-conference Roundtable. Participants include Paul Martin, VP of Exhibits, Janet Kamien, President of Janet Kamien Museum Consulting, and Tamara Biggs, Director of Exhibits at the Chicago Historical Society.
In this article, Lisa Eriksen, Executive Director of the California Exhbition Resources Alliance (CERA), describes the structure and success of this traveling exhibition consortium for small institutions. Eriksen discusses why CERA is a model for museum professionals in small institutions on how to collaborate to provide varied and quality exhibitions and programs to their audiences.
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.