The Manual of Museum Exhibitions

by Lord, Barry; Lord, Gail Dexter; Appelbaum, Ralph; Black, Martha; Blandin, Patrick; Bloomfield, Robert; Broun, Elizabeth; Brown, Kathleen; Cox, Stephen L.; Crean, Barry; Dawes, Colin; Dunlop, Susan; Erskine, David; Gosling, Kevin; Grewcock, Duncan; Hahn, T

• ISBN13: 9780759102347
• ISBN10: 0759102341
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-11-15
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

The Manual of Museum Exhibitions is a practical, hands-on, comprehensive guide to the entire process of planning, designing, producing, and evaluating exhibitions for museums of all kinds. Conceived, organized, and edited by Gail and Barry Lord, this invaluable book includes contributions by masters of each step in the complex art of museum exhibition-making. Subjects range from traditional displays of art, artifacts, and specimens from the permanent collection to the latest developments in virtual reality, online exhibitions, simulators, and big-screen reality. An exciting array of stimulating case studies featuring outstanding museum exhibitions from both sides of the Atlantic makes this manual all the more valuable to practitioners and students of the museum profession, architects, designers and the many specialized contractors involved in 21st-century exhibitions. The book is also useful and interesting reading for museum Trustees and Board members, volunteers, and all others who understand and enjoy the educational value of today's museum exhibitions. The Manual of Museum Exhibitions is particularly remarkable for its comprehensive scope, including evaluation processes, exhibition gallery requirements, and practical methods for each step in the planning, design, production, and project management of exhibitions. The final chapter surveys contemporary developments and presents a particularly impressive group of case studies that suggest possible directions for museum exhibition development in the new millennium. The Manual of Museum Exhibitions is a practical, hands-on, comprehensive guide to the entire process of planning, designing, producing, and evaluating exhibitions for museums of all kinds. Conceived, organized, and edited by Gail and Barry Lord, this invaluable book includes contributions by masters of each step in the complex art of museum exhibition-making. Subjects range from traditional displays of art, artifacts, and specimens from the permanent collection to the latest developments in virtual reality, online exhibitions, simulators, and big-screen reality. Visit the authors' web page

Table of Contents

List of figures	xi
List of tables	xiii
List of contributors	xvi
Foreword, with acknowledgements	xxiv
Barry Lord
Gail Dexter Lord
Introduction: The Exhibition Planning Process	1	(8)
Gail Dexter Lord
PART I WHY?	9	(458)
The Purpose of Museum Exhibitions	11	(16)
Barry Lord
Exhibitions as a Function of Museums	12	(3)
Museum Exhibitions as the Communication of Meaning	15	(4)
Modes of Exhibition Apprehension	19	(8)
Case Study 2.1: Exhibitions at the Corning Museum of Glass: Combining Modes of Visitor Apprehension	23	(4)
David Whitehouse
Where Do Exhibition Ideas Come From?	27	(12)
Research-based and Market-driven Exhibitions	27	(2)
Barry Lord
Planning for Exhibition Research	29	(3)
Barry Lord
Exhibition Ideas: Integrating the Voices of Communities and Audiences	32	(7)
Margaret May
Case Study 3.1: HuupuKwanum•Tupaat: Out of the Mist Treasures of the Nuu-chah-nulth Chiefs Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria	35	(4)
Martha Black
How Will We Know When We Get There? Exhibition Evaluation	39	(30)
The Role of Market Analysis	39	(5)
Kate Sellers
Before, During and After: Front-end, Formative and Summative Evaluation	44	(14)
Duncan Grewcock
Case Study 4.1: Evaluation for a permanent exhibition about the work of conservators Caught in Time at National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside	54	(4)
Anne Penningion
Qualitative and Quantitative Audience Research	58	(9)
Barbara Soren
PART II WHERE?
Space and Facilities for Exhibitions	67	(2)
Planning and Designing Exhibition Facilities	69	(74)
Developing Design Criteria for Exhibition Space	73	(3)
Heather Maximea
Case Study 5.1: Design Criteria: The International Glass Museum,Tacoma,Washington	74	(2)
Heather Maximea
Projecting Display Space Requirements	76	(14)
Heather Maximea
Case Study 5.2: Visible Storage at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA), University of British Columbia, Vancouver Canada	86	(4)
Heather Maximea
Behind the Scenes: Support Activities and Facilities	90	(8)
Heather Maximea
Access, Adjacency and Circulation	98	(12)
Heather Maximea
Preserving Collections in Exhibitions	110	(14)
Murray Frost
Security and Public Safety in Exhibitions	124	(10)
Peter Osborne
Exhibition Accessibility	134	(9)
Kristin Johnson
Exhibition Galleries	143	(54)
Heather Maximea
Galleries for Art or Archives	144	(4)
Galleries for Artefacts or Specimens	148	(5)
Children's Museum and Science Centre Galleries	153	(5)
Study Spaces	158	(1)
Multi-purpose Public Spaces	159	(7)
Case Study 6.1: One New Kind of Gallery: Discovery Libraries at the Denver Art Museum	160	(4)
Patterson B Williams
Case Study 6.2: Alaska Native Heritage Center: `A Gathering of Traditions', Anchorage, Alaska	164	(2)
Heather Maximea
Light and Colour in the Galleries	166	(6)
Gallery Structure	172	(13)
Materials and Finishes	185	(12)
Gallery Facilities and Equipment	197	(64)
Display Cases	198	(9)
Till Hahn
Lighting	207	(7)
Kevan Shaw
Audio-Visual Hardware	214	(8)
Barry Crean
Multimedia: Enhancing the Experience	222	(12)
Maria Piacente
Advanced Media in Museum Exhibitions	234	(25)
Hugh A D Spencer
Case Study 7.1: Multimedia Investment Strategies at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts: Preparing for the Inevitable 'Tomorrows'	236	(11)
Scott Sayre
Case Study 7.2: The Feast of a Thousand Years at the Ename Provincial Museum, Belgium	247	(12)
Marie-Claire Van der Donckt
Dirk Callebaut
PART III HOW?
The Exhibition Development Process	259	(2)
Planning and Managing an Exhibition Programme	261	(56)
Permanent Collection Display	262	(14)
Barry Lord
Case Study 8.1: Odyssey: A Journey into World Art at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts	268	(8)
William Phippen
Planning and Managing Temporary Exhibitions	276	(14)
Barry Lord
Case Study 8.2: African Zion: From Temporary to Permanent at the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore	288	(2)
Gory Vikan
Travelling Exhibitions	290	(7)
Barry Lord
Case Study 8.3: The Treasures to Go Travelling Exhibitions Tour Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC	293	(4)
Elizabeth Brown
Educational and Other Public Programmes for Exhibitions	297	(20)
Kathleen Brown
Financial Planning and Management of Exhibitions	317	(28)
Developing an Exhibition Budget Template	318	(20)
Martha Morris
Financial Planning and Management of a Temporary Exhibition Programme	338	(7)
Robert Scott
Curatorship in the Exhibition Planning Process	345	(28)
John Nicks
Formulating the Exhibition Concept	346	(1)
Curatorial Research	346	(7)
Case Study 10.1: Making and Meaning: Turner's The Fighting Temeraire at the National Gallery, London	348	(5)
Michael Wilson
Collection Evaluation, Selection and Development	353	(1)
Documentation	354	(1)
Conservation	355	(1)
Preparation of the Exhibition Brief	356	(17)
Interpretative Planning	373	(20)
Hugh A D Spencer
The Communication Process	373	(3)
The Logistical Process	376	(1)
The Interpretative Planning Process	377	(16)
Case Study 11.1: Making the Earth Move for You: the Earth Galleries at the Natural History Museum, London	387	(6)
Robert M Bloomfield
Exhibition Text	393	(12)
Balancing Perspectives in Exhibition Text	394	(4)
Hugh A D Spencer
Exhibition Text Guidelines	398	(2)
Hugh A D Spencer
Including Text in the Exhibition Process	400	(2)
Hugh A D Spencer
The Language of Multimedia	402	(3)
Maria Piacente
The Role of the Exhibition Designer	405	(20)
Yves Mayrand
Criteria for Effective Museum Exhibition Design	405	(4)
Designing the Space for a Museum Exhibition	409	(2)
Designing Exhibitions for the Whole Sensorium	411	(1)
The Exhibition Design Process	412	(13)
Case Study 13.1: A Walk Past Time: Architecture, Evolution and the Tree of Life: the renovation and re-interpretation of the American Museum of Natural History Fossil Halls	421	(4)
Ralph Appelbaum
Construction and Installation	425	(12)
Chuck Sutyla
Organising the Museum for Exhibition Construction and Installation	426	(1)
Contracting the Construction and Installation	426	(11)
Case Study 14.1: Testing Exhibits During Construction for the Kirby Science Discovery Center Sioux Falls, South Dakota	433	(4)
Erich Zuern
Lighting the Show	437	(6)
Kevan Shaw
Case Study 15.1: Lighting the Scotland in History Exhibition at the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh	440	(3)
Kevan Shaw
The Role of the Project Manager	443	(12)
Chuck Sutyla
Project Management Tools	444	(1)
Documentation	445	(2)
Attributes of a Successful Exhibition Project Manager	447	(1)
Commissioning and Completing the Exhibition Project	447	(1)
Warranty Period: Operation and Maintenance	448	(7)
Case Study 16.1: The Roald Dahl Children's Gallery: Project Management at Buckinghamshire County Museum	450	(5)
Colin Dawes
David Erskine
Exhibition Retail	455	(12)
Susan Dunlop
Retail Research	455	(2)
Merchandise Mix	457	(2)
Beyond the Museum Shop	459	(2)
Products Related to Temporary Exhibitions	461	(6)
Case Study 17.1: Van Gogh: Face to Face at the Detroit Institute of Art: Planning the Exhibition Shop	465	(2)
Susan Dunlop
PART IV WHAT NOW?	467	(30)
Museum Exhibitions in the 21st Century	469	(28)
Kevin Gosling
Case Study 18.1: Questioning Scientific Authority: A Question of Truth at the Ontario Science Centre, Toronto, Canada	475	(4)
Hooley McLaughlin
Case Study 18.2: The Grande Galerie de l'Evolution Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris	479	(4)
Patrick Blandin
Case Study 18.3: Follow the North Star at Conner Prairie, Indiana: A Case Study in Controversial Programming	483	(4)
Stephen L Cox
Case Study 18.4: Enchanted Worlds: A Presentation at the museum of Ethnology, Rotterdam for Children on Multicultural Society	487	(4)
Fred Wartna
Case Study 18.5: Art on Tyneside at the Laing Art Gallery, Tyne and Wear Museums, Newcastle Upon Tyne	491	(6)
John Millard
Glossary	497	(14)
Annotated Bibliography	511	(12)
Brad King
Index	523