Manual of Museum Exhibitions

by Barry Lord (Editor), Maria Piacente (Editor)

Overview

All museum activities converge in the public forum of the exhibition – regardless of whether the exhibit is held in the physical museum or is on the Web. Since the first edition of this book in 2002, there has been a world-wide explosion of new galleries and exhibition halls, and new ideas about how exhibitions should look and communicate. The definition of what an exhibition is has changed as exhibitions can now be virtual; non-traditional migratory and pop-up spaces play host to temporary displays; social media has created amazing opportunities for participatory engagement and shifted authority away from experts to the public; and as time-constrained audiences demand more dynamic, interactive, and mobile applications, museum leadership, managers, staff, and designers are rising to these challenges in innovative ways. Drawing on years of experience and top-flight expertise, Barry Lord and Maria Piacente detail the exhibition process in a straightforward way that can be easily adapted by institutions of any size. They explore the exhibition development process in greater detail, providing the technical and practical methodologies museum professionals need today. They’ve added new features and expanded chapters on project management, financial planning and interactive multimedia while retaining the essential content related to interpretive planning, curatorship, and roles and responsibilities. This second edition of the standby Manual of Museum Exhibitions is arranged in four parts: ·Why – Covering the purpose of exhibits, where exhibit ideas come from, and how to measure success ·Where – Covering facilities and spaces, going into details including security, and interactive spaces ·What – A look at both permanent collection displays, and non-collection displays, as well as virtual, participatory, temporary, travelling displays, and retail sales ·How – Who is involved, planning, curatorship, and content development, design, multimedia, fabrication and installation, financial planning, and project management Over 130 figures and photographs illustrate every step of the exhibit process. No museum can be without this critical, detailed guide to an essential function.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759122697
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/09/2014
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 7.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Barry Lord, Co-Founder and Co-President of LORD Cultural Resources, is internationally known as one of the world’s leading museum planners. Based in Toronto but working globally, Barry brings over fifty years of planning experience in the management and planning of museums, galleries, and historic sites. Barry also co-edited The Manual of Museum Planning (1991, 1999, and 2012); wrote The Manual of Museum Management (1997 and 2009); and edited The Manual of Museum Learning (2007). A former curator, art critic, art historian and museum educator, he has organized and curated many exhibitions and has planned exhibition galleries and facilities for hundreds of museums on four continents. Barry graduated in Philosophy from McMaster University and after graduate work at Harvard University took the National Gallery of Canada Museum Training Program. Maria Piacente, Vice President of Exhibitions and Events at Lord Cultural Resources, specializes in interpretive planning, exhibition development and project management for cultural projects of all sizes, ranging in scope from art to science to history. Grounded in current museological theory, Maria’s global experience enables her to incorporate both conceptual and curatorial aspects with leading-edge technological applications, ensuring an exciting and enriching visitor experience within operational realities. Maria holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Archaeology and Near Eastern History and a Master’s degree in Museum Studies, both from the University of Toronto.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: The Exhibition Planning Process By Gail Dexter Lord and Maria Piacente 1.1 The Exhibition Development Process Part I: Why? 2. The Purpose of Museum Exhibitions By Barry Lord 2.1 Exhibitions as a Function of Museums 2.2 Museum Exhibitions as the Communication of Meaning 2.3 Modes of Exhibition Apprehension Case Study: Cleveland Museum of Art, by Nicole Dawkins 3. Where Do Exhibition Ideas Come From? By Barry Lord 3.1 Research-Based and Market-Driven Exhibitions 3.2 Planning for Exhibition Research 4. Measuring Success By Gail Dexter Lord 4.1 Museum Specific Evaluation Criteria 4.2 Who is the Exhibit for—and Why?, by Kate Markert and Gail Dexter Lord 4.3Before, During, and After: Front-End, Formative and Summative Evaluation, by Duncan Grewcock 4.4Qualitative and Quantitative Audience Research, by Babara Soren and Jackie Armstrong Part 2: Where? 5. Exhibition Facilities By Heather Maximea 5.1 Developing Design Criteria for Exhibition Space 5.2 Exhibition Environments for Collections 5.3 Exhibition Space Characteristics 5.4 Exhibition Security 5.5 Accessibility, Adjacency, and Circulation 6. A World of Exhibitions Spaces By Heather Maximea 6.1 Permanent vs.Changing Exhibitions Spaces 6.2 Exhibition Spaces for Art or Archives 6.3 Exhibition Spaces for Artifacts or Specimens 6.4 Interactive Exhibition Spaces 6.5 Study Spaces within the Exhibition 6.6 Temporary Exhibition and Multipurpose Spaces Case Study: The Reach: A Mixed-Use Facility Part 3: What? 7. Permanent Collection Displays By Katherine Molineux 7.1 Planning for Permanent Collection Exhibitions 7.2 Collection Display 7.3 Interpretive Collections 7.4 Modes of Display 8. Exhibitions Not Based on Collections By Katherine Molineux 8.1 Idea Exhibitions 8.2 Children’s Exhibitions 8.3 Living History Exhibitions 8.4 Science Exhibitions Case Study: Weston Innovation Centre, by Lesley Lewis and Kevin von Appen 9. Virtual Experiences By Ngaire Blankenberg 9.1 Web 148 9.2 Mobile Technology 149 9.3 Developing Virtual Web and Mobile Experiences 150 9.4 Options for Web Experiences 153 9.5 Options for Mobile Experiences 159 9.6 Conclusion 10. Participatory Exhibitions By Ngaire Blankenberg 10.1 Participatory Exhibitions: Enhancing the Museum’s Value for New Publics 10.2 The Paradox of Participation 10.3 Why Have Participatory Exhibitions? Goals and Success Indicators 10.4 From Visitors to Participants: The Participant Continuum 10.5 Types of Participatory Exhibits 10.6 Ingredients for Participation 10.7 Conclusion 11. Temporary Exhibitions By Katherine Molineux and Maria Piacente 11.1 Managing a Temporary Exhibition Program 11.2 Making Space for Temporary Exhibitions 11.3 Public and Educational Programming 11.4 Funding a Temporary Exhibition Program 11.5 Generating Revenue 12. Travelling Exhibitions By Maria Piacente 12.1 Staff and Professional Resources 12.2 Loan Agreement 12.3 Preparing an Exhibition for Travel 12.4 Manager the Tour 12.5 Borrowers and Organizers 13. Exhibition Retail By Susan Dunlop 22.1 Key Trends and Principles 22.2 Retail Research 22.3 Merchandise Mix 22.4 Beyond the Museum Shop 22.5 Products Related to Temporary Exhibitions Case Study: Harry PotterTM: The Exhibition Part 4: How? 14. Who Is Involved In the Exhibition Process? By Maria Piacente 13.1 Roles and Responsibilities 13.2 Teams and Committees 13.3 Contracting Expertise 13.4 Decision Making 15. Preparing the Exhibition Brief By John Nicks and Maria Piacente 14.1 Formulating the Exhibition Concept 14.2 Exhibition Brief Case Study: Canada Day 1 16. Interpretive Planning By Maria Piacente 15.1 Addressing Learning Styles in the Interpretive Plan, by Christina Sjoberg 15.2 Interpretive Planning Process Case Study: National Archaeological Museum Aruba 17. Curatorship and Content Development By Lisa Dillon Wright 16.1 Research Planning 16.2 Collections Research and Selection 16.3 Exhibition Text 16.4 Image Research and Procurement 16.5 Researching Hands-On Exhibits, Models, and Dioramas 16.6 Researching Audiovisual and Multimedia Exhibits 18. Design By Yvonne Tang and Yves Mayrand 17.1 The Design Process 17.2 Designing Interactivity 17.3 Lighting design, by Kevin Shaw 17.4 Exhibition Display Cases, by Jim Stewart 17.5 Graphic Design, by Jacqueline Tang 17.6 Universal Design and Diversity, by Craig Thompson and Phillip Thompson 17.7 Green Design, by Yvonne Tang 19. Multimedia By Ken Reddick and Milica Stefancic 19.1 What Is It? 19.2 Where and How Is Multimedia Incorporated into the Exhibition? 19.3 Hardware and Software 19.4 Centralized Control or Not? 19.5 Where Does the Content Live? 19.6 Visitor Technology 19.7 Social Media 19.8 Operations and Maintenance 19.9 From Concept to Delivery and Beyond: Developing a Multimedia Exhibit Case Study: Developing Multimedia Experiences for the Royal Ontario Museum’s “Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana” 20. Fabrication and Installation By Erich Zuern 20.1 Design-Build or Design-Bid - What’s the Difference? 20.2 Getting Started 20.3 Fabrication Process 20.4 Tracking and Scheduling 20.5 Warranty 21. Financial Planning By Erich Zuern 21.1 Creating an Exhibition Budget 21.2 Direct Exhibition Costs 21.3 Related Exhibition Costs 21.4 Managing the Budget 22. Effective Exhibition Project Management By Robert LaMarre 22.1 What is Project Management and Why is it Needed? 22.2 A Team Effort 22.3 Applying Project Management Methodology 22.4 Certifications and Continuous Learning 22.5 Completing the Tasks 23. Conclusion: Making Meaning through Museum Exhibitions By Gail Dexter Lord Glossary Annotated Bibliography List of Contributors Index

Editorial Reviews

This Manual provides clear, concise, well-organized analysis of the museum program, the museum as a constantly evolving building type, and transformative design opportunities. With it, innovative concepts can be developed, precisely focused on the client needs and the evolution of the museum as an institution.

Michael Leckman

As a producer and fabricator of museum exhibitions, I have tremendous appreciation of the numerous and sometimes daunting task and processes necessary in the development, production and installation of any successful exhibition project. This manual provides a wealth of knowledge for anyone in unfamiliar waters in terms of creating planning and producing a major exhibit – an excellent guide sharing proven museum practices.

James Hungerford

Well written, practical suggestions and helpful tools; it is easy to see that Maria has decades of experience in the museum milieu. Her insight and common sense suggestions are born of years of assisting clients the world over develop award-winning exhibits. This is a must-read for every museum professional.

Marie Chapman

A library or archive with special collections may be interested in enhancing the visitor’s experience by applying the guidance in Manual of Museum Exhibitions.

American Libraries

This book provides generously abundant information on many crucial fields of museum practice, aspiring to become a basic usable code of 'grammar and syntax' for the museum exhibition field. From this point of view, it is a major contribution and all those who are involved in museum exhibition practical matters will find a great deal of help in it.

Visitor Studies Today! - Eurydice Retsila

This is a valuable book on a broad subject, with many useful insights into the 'bigger picture' of museum exhibitions. It is good to see a section dedicated to interpretive planning...if you want a single textbook about museum exhibitions, this is it.

Interpret Scotland

The pages of the manual bulge with knowledge and case studies from 45 very experienced museum professionals from the USA, Canada, and Britain...It takes you step by step through all areas of exhibition development, from the germ of an idea to what you could sell in the shop....An alternative could be 'Everything you ever wanted to know about exhibition development but were too frightened to ask'.

Museum National - Vicki Northey