Frequently Asked Museum Questions

Every day, I get a couple of emails asking questions about museums.  Thought I would put together a blog post of “Frequently Asked MuseumPlanner Questions”.

1. “How do you start a museum?”
Since 1992, I have been part of opening and expanding more than thirty-five museums.   Most of my work has been with science centers, children’s museums and natural history museums.
Link: “How to start a museum”

2. “How do you raise money for a museum?”
Link: “Museum Fundraising” blog post

3. “How do you get a museum job ?”
Link: “Getting a Museum Job”
Link: “Getting Started in Museums”

4. “How much do museum exhibitions cost?”
Link: “2011 Museum Exhibition Cost Survey”
Link: “How Much do Museum Exhibitions cost?”

5. “How do you create a museum exhibition?”
Link: “Exhibition Design Part I – Planning”
Link: “Exhibition Design Part II – Design Phases”
Link: “Exhibition Design Part III – Fabrication”
Link: “Exhibition Design Part IV – Installation”
Link: “Exhibition Design Part V – Maintenance”
Link: “Exhibition Design Part VI – Evaluation”
Link: “Creating a Traveling Exhibition”

6. “How do you Start a Science Center ?”
Link: “How to Start a Science Center”

7. “What do you do (Mark Walhimer) ?”
Link to “What do you do?” 

8. “How do you increase museum attendance ?”
Link: “How to Increase Museum Attendance”

9.  ”What is a museum?”
Link “What is a Museum?” 

10. “What is Museum Strategic Planning?”
Link: “What is Museum Strategic Planning – Part I“
Link: “What is Museum Strategic Planning – Part II Feasibility Studies”

Did I miss any Frequently Asked Questions?, if I did please add them in the comment section below, thanks! -Mark

Museum Exhibition Design Photos
I have always taken photos and notes when I visit a museum, now I use Pinterest to document the visits.  You can visit my Pinterest Boards on Pinterest.  Below are my Pinterest boards by cateogory.  All photos copyright Mark Walhimer.

Art Museums

“Ron Mueck” at Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso

Museo Rufino Tamayo

MUAC

Museum of Modern Art

“Ernesto Neto” at Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso

Museo Modo

Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar

San Jose Airport

Museo Dolores Olmedo

Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History

Newark Museum

Hong Kong Museum of Art 

M+ Mobile

Ghibli Museum

Museo de Arte Moderno

Richard Serra at Toronto Airport

Art Galleries

“Rafael Lozano-Hemmer” at OMR

Chelsea, NYC, July 2012

Le Meridien Chambers Minneapolis 

Zona Maco 2012

Science Centers

Science Museum of Minnesota

Universum

“Sexualidad” at Universum

Hong Kong Science Museum

Hong Kong Space Museum 

Children’s Museums

Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum

Minnesota Children’s Museum

History Museums

Museo Nacional de Antropologia e Historia

Minnesota History Center

Hong Kong Museum of History

“Alcatraz: Life on the Rock”

“Alcatraz Landing”

Centro Cultural Espana

Museo Franz Mayer

Museo Culturas Populares

Lands End Lookout

Thomas Edison National Historic Park

Morris Museum

In 2012 I visited a total of sixty-three museums, often visiting a city for work, then taking a day to visit the local museums.  My favorite exhibitions were in New York City, Mexico City, Minneapolis, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C..  When I am visiting a museum exhibition, I am looking for layers of information, starting from an exhibition statement.   I am a strong believer in Pre-Visit, Visit and Post-Visit, does the exhibition support an online pre-visit orientation ?, does the exhibition have an exhibition statement with supporting layers? Is there information for resources post-visit?  Does the entire exhibition hold together with one voice? Does it present the information in a constant manner?  Is the exhibition attractive, inclusive and welcoming?

The best exhibitions are the result of a curatorial vision. Kudos to the curators, exhibition developers and exhibition designers and fabricators of these exhibitions. Below are my selections for the “Best Exhibitions of 2012″

Best Exhibition of the 2012

Science Center: Universum, “Sexualidad” (Click on photo above for my exhibition photos)
I believe exhibitions have the ability to change people’s lives and Sexualidad is structured to communicate and encourage  conversation, with the goal of giving visitors the tools to make personal decisions.   Most of all, I was impressed by the courage of Universum to present such a difficult topic as sexuality in as “flat” and helpful a manner.     The exhibition includes difficult topics such as incest, abuse by clergy, sexual attraction, contraception and reproduction.  The information was factual, flat and helpful.  I visited the exhibition twice and each time I was impressed by teenagers and couples paying attention and learning. The exhibition includes varying levels of privacy, from the personal viewers for topics such as incest to small theater areas for biology topics.  The exhibition had a clean and minimal aesthetic, incorporating glass, white frosted acrylic and many back light panels with interaction when appropriate.  Kudos to Universum!

History Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

(Click on photo for link to “Museum Exhibitions Change Lives”)

Towards the end of my tour of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, I stood at the back of the exhibition theater and cried, I know of no better response to an exhibition.  I was touched on an emotional, intellectual and spiritual level.  See my blog post, “Exhibition Change Lives”

Children’s Museum – Minnesota Children’s Museum

(Click on photo above for my exhibition photos)

I have not been to the Children’s Museum of Minnesota since it opened in 1995 and wasn’t sure what to expect.  After touring the galleries, I asked to speak with the Director of Exhibition, only to congratulate them on the continued excellence.  The galleries are fun, lively, but never childlike.  Children’s museums have an opportunity to address children as developing people, with interests and desires of their own.  When given the opportunity they can make their own decisions and explorations with the guidance of adults.  The Children’s Museum of Minnesota is such a place, being welcoming, fun, exciting while never talking down to children. Instead it gives children an opportunity to explore and reach.  The building architecture is incorporated into the experience, offering graphics for both adults and children.  My only criticism is the lack of a museum collection as an introduction to a museum experience.

Art Museum - Museo Rufino Tamayo

(Click on photo above for my exhibition photos)

The exhibitions coincided with the building renovation and the museum re-opening.  I loved the entry Art piece of the exhibition “Primer Acto” by Douglas Gordon ”Off Screen” 1998, placing the visitor at center stage.  ”Primer Acto” played with the boundaries between artist, museum and visitor.   “Tomorrow was already here” is an artist’s look at previous visions of the future. The museum reopening included  excellent programming to accompany each exhibition.  There are programming areas in each exhibition areas which include selections of books and videos to support the exhibitions.

Corporate Installation - Le Meridien Chambers Minneapolis

(Click on photo above for my exhibition photos)
You will notice that two of the exhibitions are from Mexico City and two from Minnesota, I do not find this a coincidence.  The best exhibitions are the result of a community and the art installations at the Le Meridien Chambers Minneapolis Hotel are brilliant.  When I first checked into the hotel, I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place, thinking I must be in the lobby of the restaurant and seeing the restaurant’s art collection.  I asked and was told “yes, the art is part of the hotel” and was given an art guide.  When I  arrived at my room, I found the same level of Art installed in my room.  Hotel guests can find more information about the art in their room (including prices) and a guide to the Art in the public areas.

Notable Exhibitions of 2012 (Links to each):
Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso - Ernesto Neto
OMR - Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
MUAC
Centro Cultual Espana- I loved the basement exhibition, seeing the layers of history of the development of DF
Science Museum of Minnesota

I do not believe in crowd sourcing of exhibitions and don’t see how any of the exhibition above could have been created through the methods of crowd sourcing.

In the interest of full disclosure, none of the museums above are clients.

Museums are communication.

As I am writing this blog post,  I am watching a blinking LED.  I have always been interested in electronics, computer programming and Art.  As a kid I took computer programming then on a punch card, took Art classes and worked in the basement on electronic projects.  In the past I have toyed with Basic Stamps, now I am starting to learn about Arduino and learning Arduino code.  All just for fun.

As I stare into the blinking LED I am empowered and encouraged, I want to learn more, I want to “do”.  This is the kernel at the center of all museums, the sense of wonder and the pursuit of knowledge.  I learned how to program the Arduino and make the LED turn on and off, I now own that knowledge it is mine forever.   As I watch the blinking LED, here sits an important lesson, the ownership of knowledge and the transfer from provider to user.  It doesn’t matter the topic or discipline, Art, Science or History, it is the same communicating with the public and ownership of knowledge.  I talk about constructivist learning and that blinking LED is a great reminder.   Theoretically I understood how to make the LED blink, but not until I deconstructed how I thought it worked and relearned how to make it work did I own the knowledge.  It is mine and can’t be taken away.  That transfer is a delicate dance between content provider and receiver of information.  In this case I learned in my own way, trying different approaches, reading, making changes.

Museums are an informal form of communication and the relationship between museum and visitor is tantamount, in the relationship, Museum to visitor, Museum (as Peer) to visitor, visitor to visitor, museum to other museums, creating a matrix of communicators.

Work benches are gone.  Most kids don’t grow up with a work bench in the basement any longer, museums are the new “workbench”, luckily a communal workbench for sharing ideas and communicating.

None of the rest really matters, technique for communication, place of communication, the voice does matter, the rest is just icing.

Thanks for listening, now I need to get back to the Arduino and see if I can make a button turn the LED on and off.

Science Center Exhibition Design – Part I

I have been enjoying writing in series.  So far, I have worked on Museum Exhibition Design, Museum Strategic Planning and Museum Trends (which has become it’s own website museumtrends.org) and now I would like to start a series about Science Center Exhibition Design.  In part, I was inspired by an article by By Edward Rothstein “The Thrill of Science, Tamed by Agendas” in the New York Times.  An excerpt from the article:

“A science museum is a kind of experiment. It demands the most elaborate equipment: Imax theaters, NASA space vehicles, collections of living creatures, digital planetarium projectors, fossilized bones. Into this mix are thrust tens of thousands of living human beings: children on holiday, weary or eager parents, devoted teachers, passionate aficionados and casual passers-by. And the experimenters watch, test, change, hoping….”

It is exactly this active visitor participation that got me first so excited about science centers in 1992 (when I started work at Liberty Science Center).  In the article Mr. Rothstein discusses several recent (the article was written in 2010) incarnations of new science centers.  What strikes me about the article and the examples is the sense of “experimentation” in Science Centers, each example is different in character and approach.  It is this sense of “experimentation” that is leading the museum field.   The blog series will explore how I see science centers leading the museum field.

Future posts in the “Science Center Exhibition Design” series will include; “A Definition of the Spectrum of Science Centers”, “A History of Science Centers”,”How Science Center Exhibition Design is Different”, “The Future of Science Centers” and the “The Future of Science Center Exhibition Design and Fabrication”.

Links to my previous exhibition design posts:
Part I, Museum Exhibition Design – Planning
Part II, Museum Exhibition Design – Design Phases
Part III Museum Exhibition Design – Fabrication
Part IV Museum Exhibition Design – Installation
Part V Museum Exhibition Design – Exhibition Maintenance
Traveling Exhibition Design
Science Center Exhibition Design

Link to the Largest Science Centers:
World’s Most Visited Science Centers

A listing of some of my favorite Science Centers (needs updating)

* Image by Museum Planning, LLC rendering of Trans Studio Science Center

I have started work on a book tentatively called “Starting a Museum”.   More than “How to Start a Museum”, the book will explore the question “How could a museum be started?”.  I will need lots of help and hope that I can call on the readers of this blog as active participants in the creation of the book.  My big questions for the book, “what will the museum of 2050 be like?”, “What is the business of museums?” and “what are new business models for museums”.  Most people who start a museum have never started a museum before, the book will serve as a resource for the fundamentals of museums as well as future thinking about museums.  I will be looking to add specific editors and contributors in the areas of Fund Raising, Grant Writing, Art Handling, Registration, Board Management, Conservation and Finances and hoping that each book editor can than serve a similar role in an online forum.

My thought is to create an outline on Google Docs from previous blog posts, then work with a content editor (job description link) to refine the objectives of the book.  Once the first draft is in reviewable form invite people to comment on the book.  Then release as an ebook.  Simultaneously I would like to create an online forum for each of the areas of the book.  The forum be a place for discussion and more detailed analysis of the topics covered in the book.  Once the book has been thoroughly commented on and reviewed as an ebook, publish the book as a softcover.

If you are interested in being the content editor or an editor of a specific area (Fund Raising, Grant Writing, Art Handling, Registration, Board Management, Conservation and Finances) please contact me

This posts is one of many for the book, future posts:

Spectrum of Museums

Book Introduction

How to Start a Museum

Starting a Museum

Curation

Web 3.0 / Museum 4.0

The Future of Museum Exhibition Design

I am currently working on projects in Hong Kong, Mexico City, San Francisco & New York. Each of the projects is a different type of museum, with various scopes of work from very small to big.

In the “old” days exhibition designers had a studio, within the studio you would have an Exhibition Designer, Exhibit Developer, Graphic Designer, Project Manager and maybe a Content Developer, Book Keeper and a Principal. The Principal was the owner of the firm and was responsible for getting new projects and keeping the staff busy. Those days are gone.

It was a very pleasant atmosphere, people could gather in a conference room and discuss project objectives or a desired “Look and Feel” of a project. With globalization, the project maybe in one country with a project team spread over the world. What is happening is a specialization within the field. Of the projects we are working on, we have two Art Museums, a Children’s Museum and a traveling history exhibition. In the past museums were not as specialized, Science Centers sprang up in the 80′s and 90′s, traveling exhibitions went through a boom and now we have museum types that did not exist twenty years ago. It is difficult or impossible to find a small group of people that can handle the new entire spectrum of museum projects.

The new spectrum of museum projects includes; Art Museums, Contemporary Art Museums, Moving Image Museums, Interactive Science Centers, History Museums, Natural History Museums, Corporate Museums, etc.. The process of exhibition is similar for different types of museums, but for each type of museum project there are nuances that are very important , such as; the playfulness of a children’s museum is difficult to work on along side a war museum. The project team needs to be different for each type of museum project.

So…I no longer have a studio per se.  I assemble a project team for each project, when possible using talent near the location of the museum. I have been trying to get my head around the new working system. In the past I have been the Vice President of Exhibits at several museums, now I think of myself as a free lance VP of Exhibits, Create a project team to, expand, energize and create new exhibition or museum. This approach has worked very well. We become part of the project team, always thinking of the benefit to the overall project.

“In the future, people will work “stints” rather than “jobs”, writes Glen Hiemstra

In the real future you will be working at a stint rather than a job. To work at a stint is to become part of a project team for 18 months, followed by joining three friends doing a start-up business that folds after two years, after which you sign on with a multinational which disappears in a merger…and the beat goes on. This requires a reinvention of the social contract around security and benefits.

Since you have become a stint worker, you will have shifted from being an employee to being a free agent. This will not be new, as increasing numbers of us are already free agents in 2011, but for most of us it requires a change in perspective. The biggest change involves learning how to think of your self as a company of one.

The most profound shift may be the disappearance of employers as we have known them, as they are replaced by amoeba-like networks that come together to complete certain projects and tasks. Consider a feature film production. The project is conceived, some key people flesh out a proposal, funding is arranged, a global network of talent is hired, they work together for weeks or months, and then disband, never to work in that exact combination again.

Obviously there will remain many exceptions to this enterprise model. The corner grocer, the local coffee house, the dry-cleaning store down the street will likely continue to be small and stable, with fixed employees, though even these employees will likely be free agents working on a stint.

The places that we work will change, especially for knowledge workers – those of us who commute to offices today mostly to sit and type words on machines, look at computer screens, and talk to other people in person and by phone. Tomorrow’s machines will make today’s computing and communication look primitive, as they enable full 3-D, immersive and visual interaction with others in real time wherever you are. Data and information will be in the Cloud – available everywhere, all the time. Thus, we will come to the office only when it is really desirable to get together. The offices themselves will consist of inviting meeting and collaboration spaces, and “hotel” stations for free agents to plug in. The typical company may use half the office footprint it uses today for the same number of people.”

With a combination of Google Docs, Dropbox, Basecamp and Skype I can work from anywhere with multiple project teams. So far it seems to be working.

Challenges:

• Can be difficult understanding each team member’s motivation
• Potentially never meeting client or team members face to face
• Tougher to manage team members in different time zones
• More important to have a strong consistent vision throughout project
• Forces more conversations amongst team members

Advantages:

• Doesn’t allow the making of “mini architecture”
• Lower overhead lower costs for client
• Greater flexibility, more fluidity
• Can “try” out new people and ideas with less risk
• Don’t have to fit staff to the project, but find best people for the project
• Forces more conversations amongst team members

My sense is this new “Hive Project Approach” (people coming together for a project) will create new museum models. The new system is very similar to independent film production, a group of people coming together for a project. You learn a lot about each other during the process and some members will work together in the future.  I see the greatest advantage to the new process, in  the need for a strong concept from beginning to end.  Often when working with the same people over and over, you can “force”  a concept because of the existing relationships.  With the new model, each team member needs to understand and incorporate the concept into their work, often requiring more upfront work, resulting in a clearer vision on the project.  I often call in “making mini architecture”, you can design the space without understanding how people will use or absorb the content.   Exhibitions are different than architecture, because of the need for conveying content.  The new approach requires all team members to understand the overall vision to move forward, creating greater consistency.

Quote for the From The Futurist: http://www.futurist.com/2011/06/03/the-future-of-jobs/

*Ray & Charles Eames, exhibition designers of many projects including Mathematica

As a follow up to our 2011 Museum Exhibition Costs Survey we have created the 2012 survey. The survey consists of nine (9) questions. We plan on having the survey run for six weeks posting the results here on museumplanner in early November.

Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey !

-Mark

PausePlayPlayPrev|Next

ah… Mexico Exhibition Design

“De ninguna manera volveré a México. No soporto estar en un país más surrealista que mis pinturas.”
(By no means will I return to Mexico. I cannot stand being in a country more surrealistic than my paintings.) – Salvador Dali

Last month, I married a woman born in Mexico and we have been going to Mexico City for events with her family. In the past I had a wonderful experience working on the opening of  Museo Interactivo de Economía (MIDE) in Mexico City.

Each time we visit Mexico I try to go see a museum. On this last trip we went and visited Universum on the campus of UNAM the University of Mexico. The museum visit got me thinking about the differences between exhibition design in Mexico City and the USA.

The campus of Universum is south of the center of Mexico City.  Arriving at the Science Center is less than impressive, peeling paint, cracked sidewalk and uncut grass.

The entrance and ticketing experience is also less than impressive one ticket window open and a line to get into the Center.  We went to the top floor and started working our way through the Science Center. At first I was nonplused, a feeling of “I have seen this before”.  Then I rounded the corner and found two white sculptures of male and female genitalia, “wait a minute, I have never seen this before”. I Kept walking to find an interactive kiosk with a young couple discussing sexuality asking the visitor questions.  I was struck, this is an exhibit about sexuality.  I visit at least one museum a week for fun and work and I have never seen as straight forward an exhibit as this on sexuality.  The exhibition was flat, actual and answered questions.  The topics included how to put on a condom, how to deal with incest, rape, sexual violence, bullying and sexual excitement to name a few of the topics covered.  The exhibition and the museum impressed me by their flat, factual “museum voice” at every exhibit the museum “spoke” in a direct flat manner delivering very difficult content.

Overall I was struck by the stance of a Science Center taking on such difficult topics in an unapologetic manner.  No matter the topic, using the bathroom, taking antibiotics, using contraception the museum was straight forward, direct and light hearted.  By the time I reached the first floor of the museum I was blown away, every large city in the world should have such a Science Center.  Often us museum professionals get caught up in the “new” and here I was a Science Center handling topics such as proper hygiene, kudos !

I have had similar experiences visiting Art museums in Mexico City, museums taking chances that I seldom see in the USA including group interaction, group discussion areas, Art programming and use of emerging technology.  On the whole I see museums in Mexico taking chances that I seldom see in the USA.  I am impressed by how many museums and galleries have a friendly factual “museum voice”, that draws the visitor into the experience.  Over and over I find myself emotionally involved with museum’s content, there is no higher praise for a museum.

Links to Pinterest Boards:

Universum

Ron Mueck at Antiguo Colegio de San Idefonoso Antiguo

Gallery OMR

Ernesto Neto at Antiguo Colegio de San Idefonso Antiguo

MUAC

Zona MACO

Museo de Arte Moderno

Museo Culturas Populares

Museum Exhibition Design, Part VI, Exhibition Evaluation

Museum exhibition evaluation is a balancing act.  On one side you have visitor comprehension and on the other side you have museum mission & museum revenue.

Museum exhibition evaluation is a process to answer the question, “what is the visitor gaining from an exhibition?”.  Museum exhibitions are a form of communication and museum evaluation is a method to analyze the communication of an exhibition or answer “What is the exhibition communicating to visitors?”.   Exhibition evaluation can be divided into four phases, front-end evaluation, formative evaluation, remedial and summative evaluation.

Front-end evaluation – Provides background about the visitors’ prior knowledge and experience and gather  their expectations regarding a proposed exhibition.  The primary goal of front-end evaluation is to learn about the audience before an exhibition has been designed to better understand how visitors will respond to an exhibition. This information can help assure that the final product will meet visitor needs and project goals.

The aims are to:

• Define the exhibition objectives for use in the Project Charter
• Gain an understanding of the visitors prior knowledge and interests related to the exhibition concept
• Test theories about visitor behavior and learning
• Identify visitor needs and how can these be met
• Collect relevant information about audiences and any proposed ideas to help decision making

The methods used include:

• Focus groups
• Interviews and surveys, face-to-face, phone, mail, partial self-administered
• Large and small scale sample surveys/questionnaires
• Unstructured and semi-structured interviews
• Informal conversations and feedback
• Computer surveys, online surveys
• Community days/workshops
• Review of similar exhibition evaluations
• Review of Market Research

Formative Evaluation - Provides information about how well a proposed exhibition communicates its intended messages. Formative evaluation occurs while a project is under development. The evaluator measures visitor responses to models, plans, or prototypes of the program or exhibit. A prototype is a working version of an interactive exhibit, label and it should closely resemble the final product, although it may be more roughly constructed.  The more developed the model or prototype, the more likely visitor reactions in the formative stage will anticipate their reactions to the final product.

The aims are to:

• Seek feedback related to how well the proposed exhibition communicates the messages
• Produce the optimum exhibition program within the limits of what’s possible
• Provide insight into learning and the communication processes

The methods used include:

• Prototypes
• Semi – structured interviews
• Cued and non-cued observations
• ‘Workshopping’ with staff and/or special interest groups
• Consultants and peer feedback

The formative evaluation process is repeated until the exhibition developers are satisfied with the items being tested.  Information from formative evaluation is used to make changes to improve the design of a program or exhibit before it is implemented.

Remedial Evaluation – Takes place once an exhibition is open to the public. It is useful in troubleshooting problems and informs museum staff and designers about improvements that can be made to maximize the visitor experience.  Remedial evaluation is useful for addressing problems that could not be foreseen during the development a program or exhibit, such as lighting, crowd flow and signage issues.

The aims are to:

• Check that the program ‘works’ in a practical sense
• Determine what maintenance/resources are needed
• Improve the short or long term effectiveness of the program for visitors
• Provide some early insights into how visitors use the program.

The methods used include:

• Observations
• Informal feedback from visitors
• Feedback sheets
• Surveys and interviews
• Comments books
• Staff feedback, especially “Front-of-house” and floor staff

Summative Evaluation – tells about the impact of a project after it has completed. lt is conducted after the exhibit has opened to the public or after a program has been presented. Summative evaluation can be as simple as documenting who visits an exhibit or participates in a program, or it can be as complex as a study of what visitors learned. Generally, the results of summative evaluation will be used to improve future activities through an understanding of existing programs.  Summative evaluation uses a variety of methods at the conclusion of an exhibition or program to check whether it delivered the messages that were intended and what learning occurred; how satisfied people were with the program; as well as the performance of the marketing strategy. It is conducted on the finished exhibit or program and its components, using a combination of internal sources (Project Team, other staff) and external feedback (visitors, special interest groups, others).

The aims are to:

• Give feedback about achievement of objectives
• Provide information on how a program is working overall, how people use it, what they learn from it, or how they are changed
• Provide reports, plan for future projects, suggest research, identify problems with visitor usage, interest and learning, identify successful strategies, layouts, etc
• Identify the relationship between the program costs and outcomes through a cost/benefit analysis.

Museum evaluation is part science part Art, a good evaluator uses scientific method, through interviews, observation and testing creates a hypothesis and then tests the hypothesis.  There is necessary level of trust with an evaluator, having worked with several great evaluators, they can gently “see” from the visitor perspective and can hypothesize solutions to test.

Sadly the museum field is not very good about publishing evaluation studies at the bottom of the blog post is a listing of resources with a few samples of museum exhibition evaluations.  Each evaluation study is designed to meet the specific needs of the institution, exhibit, or program.  Exhibition evaluation is a process that starts before exhibition design and continues throughout the life of an exhibition.

..and now the other side

What if you evaluation report comes back with glowing feedback and the exhibition is perfectly meeting it’s objectives, but the museum is empty?

I often think of exhibition development as a funnel, you feed lots of exhibition ideas into the top of the funnel and see what is comes out the bottom.  Museums need to review potential exhibitions for:

1. Mission:  Does the exhibition meet the museum’s mission and advance the field of museums and the exhibition topic?

2. Revenue: Will the exhibition be a draw for visitors?  Will the exhibition increase museum attendance?

3. Visitor Needs: Does the exhibition fulfill a community need?  Is the museum’s audience interested in the proposed content?

In the past I have proposed a matrix approach, create a matrix  of the museum schedule identifying each gallery over a period of three years then look at the proposed exhibitions at any period of time and see how each exhibition meets the museum’s Mission, Revenue and Visitor Needs.  Then you can start feeding the top of the funnel with new exhibition ideas and have the exhibition evaluator, CFO, community advocate and visitor advocate weigh in.  Often, it is good to assign a small amount of money to exhibition development to each new exhibition idea, then make decions once the evaluation team has gathered enough data to make decisions.

I have been watching with great interest the recent changes at MOCA.  Museums need to balance the academic with the popular.  With the recent changes at MOCA, it is clear that MOCA has slide too far to the “self interested” popular side of the spectrum.  I am sure that the Disco exhibition will be popular and I am confident that such an exhibition could have a positive exhibition evaluation.  But, is the exhibition meeting MOCA’s mission?, I would say “No”.  If the Disco show was to coincide with exhibitions that meet the museum’s mission it would be less upsetting.

Resources:

Exploratorium Visitor Research and Evaluation
American Association of Museums, Committee On Audience Research and Evaluation (CARE)
Practical Evaluation Guide: Tools for Museums and Other Informal Educational Settings (American Association for State and Local History) by Judy Diamond, Jessica J. Luke and David H. Uttal
Australian Museum Association

Links for exhibition design phases:
Part I, Museum Exhibition Design – Planning
Part II, Museum Exhibition Design – Design Phases
Part III Museum Exhibition Design – Fabrication
Part IV Museum Exhibition Design – Installation
Part V Museum Exhibition Design – Exhibition Maintenance
Traveling exhibition design
Science Center exhibition design

Examples of each phase see “Museum Exhibition Design”

The steps of the exhibition evaluation is similar for Art Museums, Natural History Museums, Science Centers and Children’s Museums.  The differences are in the content development, the evaluation process is the same.

I have been part of evaluating exhibitions for Alcatraz Island, Muzeo, Mobius, Discovery Science Center, Chabot Science Center and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  Contact me if you are interested in help evaluating your museum’s exhibitions.

* Photo, Copyright Shutterstock Images LLC