Engaging the Visitor: Designing Exhibits That Work

Engaging the Visitor: Designing Exhibits That Work
Author: Stephen Bitgood
Publisher:
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781910144138

Engaging the Visitor addresses some of the most fundamental issues relating to interpretation, exhibition design and the visitor experience, in a format which is attractive, approachable - and above all actionable. Challenging many preconceptions, this book is firmly rooted in the results of museum-based scientific research. Deep and effective engagement with exhibit content is still the exception in very many museums. When most visitors pass an exhibit with only a glance, it will fail to engage. And until the visitor is engaged no informal learning - or any other satisfying experience - will happen... This book will help you answer such questions as: How often do visitors really engage with the content of the exhibitions in our museum? Why do our visitors engage with some of our exhibits and not others? How can we increase our visitors' engagement through better exhibit design?

The Participatory Museum

The Participatory Museum
Author: Nina Simon
Publisher: Museum 2.0
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2010
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0615346502

Visitor participation is a hot topic in the contemporary world of museums, art galleries, science centers, libraries and cultural organizations. How can your institution do it and do it well? The Participatory Museum is a practical guide to working with community members and visitors to make cultural institutions more dynamic, relevant, essential places. Museum consultant and exhibit designer Nina Simon weaves together innovative design techniques and case studies to make a powerful case for participatory practice. "Nina Simon's new book is essential for museum directors interested in experimenting with audience participation on the one hand and cautious about upending the tradition museum model on the other. In concentrating on the practical, this book makes implementation possible in most museums. More importantly, in describing the philosophy and rationale behind participatory activity, it makes clear that action does not always require new technology or machinery. Museums need to change, are changing, and will change further in the future. This book is a helpful and thoughtful road map for speeding such transformation." -Elaine Heumann Gurian, international museum consultant and author of Civilizing the Museum "This book is an extraordinary resource. Nina has assembled the collective wisdom of the field, and has given it her own brilliant spin. She shows us all how to walk the talk. Her book will make you want to go right out and start experimenting with participatory projects." -Kathleen McLean, participatory museum designer and author of Planning for People in Museum Exhibitions "I predict that in the future this book will be a classic work of museology." --Elizabeth Merritt, founding director of the Center for the Future of Museums

Designing for the Museum Visitor Experience

Designing for the Museum Visitor Experience
Author: Tiina Roppola
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2013-03-05
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1135090599

Exhibition environments are enticingly complex spaces: as facilitators of experience; as free-choice learning contexts; as theaters of drama; as encyclopedic warehouses of cultural and natural heritage; as two-, three- and four-dimensional storytellers; as sites for self-actualizing leisure activity. But how much do we really know about the moment-by-moment transactions that comprise the intricate experiences of visitors? To strengthen the disciplinary knowledge base supporting exhibition design, we must understand more about what ‘goes on’ as people engage with the multifaceted communication environments that are contemporary exhibition spaces. The in-depth, visitor-centered research underlying this book offers nuanced understandings of the interface between visitors and exhibition environments. Analysis of visitors’ meaning-making accounts shows that the visitor experience is contingent upon four processes: framing, resonating, channeling, and broadening. These processes are distinct, yet mutually influencing. Together they offer an evidence-based conceptual framework for understanding visitors in exhibition spaces. Museum educators, designers, interpreters, curators, researchers, and evaluators will find this framework of value in both daily practice and future planning. Designing for the Museum Visitor Experience provides museum professionals and academics with a fresh vocabulary for understanding what goes on as visitors wander around exhibitions.

Exhibit Labels

Exhibit Labels
Author: Beverly Serrell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2024-01-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1538160471

Beverly Serrell and Katherine Whitney cover the essentials of the processes of exhibit label planning, writing, design, and production. In this third edition, Serrell’s classic guide to writing interpretive exhibit labels is updated to include new voices, current scholarship and the unique issues the museum field is grappling with in the 21st century. With high quality photographs and new sections, this edition is more accessible and easier to use for all museum professionals, from label writers to museum directors to exhibit designers.

Visitor-Centered Exhibitions and Edu-Curation in Art Museums

Visitor-Centered Exhibitions and Edu-Curation in Art Museums
Author: Pat Villeneuve
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2017-03-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1442279001

Visitor-Centered Exhibitions and Edu-Curation in Art Museums promotes balanced practices that are visitor-centered while honoring the integrity and powerful storytelling of art objects. Book examples present best practices that move beyond the turning point, where curation and education are engaged in full and equal collaboration. With a mix of theory and models for practice, the book: • provides a rationale for visitor-centered exhibitions; • addresses important related issues, such as collaboration and evaluation; and, • presents success stories written by educators, curators, and professors from the United States and Europe. • introduces the edu-curator, a new vision for leadership in museums with visitor-centered exhibition practices. The book is intended for art museum practitioners, including educators, curators, and exhibitions designers, as well as higher education faculty and students in art/museum education, art history, and museum studies.

Creating the Visitor-Centered Museum

Creating the Visitor-Centered Museum
Author: Peter Samis
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2016-12-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1315530996

What does the transformation to a visitor-centered approach do for a museum? How are museums made relevant to a broad range of visitors of varying ages, identities, and social classes? Does appealing to a larger audience force museums to "dumb down" their work? What internal changes are required? Based on a multi-year Kress Foundation-sponsored study of 20 innovative American and European collections-based museums recognized by their peers to be visitor-centered, Peter Samis and Mimi Michaelson answer these key questions for the field. The book describes key institutions that have opened the doors to a wider range of visitors; addresses the internal struggles to reorganize and democratize these institutions; uses case studies, interviews of key personnel, Key Takeaways, and additional resources to help museum professionals implement a visitor-centered approach in collections-based institutions

Museum Exhibition Planning and Design

Museum Exhibition Planning and Design
Author: Elizabeth Bogle
Publisher: AltaMira Press
Total Pages: 419
Release: 2013-09-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0759122318

Great exhibits are never an accident. Planning effective exhibits is a demanding process that requires the designer to consider many different aspects and navigate numerous pitfalls while moving a project from concept to reality. In Museum Exhibition Planning and Design, Elizabeth Bogle offers a comprehensive introduction and reference to exhibition planning and design. This book focuses on both the procedural elements of successful planning, like the phases of exhibit design and all associated tasks and issues, and on the design elements that make up the realized exhibit itself, such as color, light, shape, form, space, and building materials. This helpful guide includes: Breakdown of the design and development project phases used by professional planner/designers Principles of good design as they pertain to: color, light, shape, form, space, line, balance, accent, rhythm, proportion, and scale Criteria to evaluate an exhibit and measure its success Discussion of construction contracts and procedures Discussion of building materials and their advantages and disadvantages Glossary of museum and design terms for easy reference Bogle has translated her years of experience as an exhibition planner into a guide for practitioners of all sizes and levels of experience. For the solo practitioner, perhaps working with limited or no staff in a small institution, Bogle walks through every task that will be faced as the project develops. For the staff member of a larger institution or firm, this book serves as a checklist, reinforcing the instruction that comes from peers and previous experience. Museum Exhibition Planning and Design is a useful tool for anyone interested in or involved in bringing their exhibits to life.

Effective Exhibit Interpretation and Design

Effective Exhibit Interpretation and Design
Author: Tessa Bridal
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2013-10-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0759121125

As the American Alliance of Museums’ (AAM) Standing Professional Committees Council tells us “exhibitions are the public face of museums. The effective presentation of collections and information in exhibitions is an activity unique to museums, and it is through their exhibitions that the vast majority of people know museums.” Effective Exhibit Interpretation and Design examines the impact of an integrated approach to exhibit design and development on the effective creation and support of live interpretation of exhibit messages and institutional mission. Bridal argues that the interpreters who bring these exhibitions, an institution’s mission, collections, and stories to life and the forefront of a visitor’s attention are just as vital a part of an institution’s public face, and that neglecting to give live interpretation an equal seat at the table impoverishes the ultimate visitor experience. Eight institutions collaborated with the author in examining the outcomes of approaching exhibit and live interpretation design and development collaboratively, the challenges of adding interpretation to spaces and exhibits not designed for it, and the guiding practices they have put into place. These institutions were: Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta, Minnesota History Center, The Missouri History Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, National Children’s Museum, The National Museum of American History, The Science Museum of Minnesota and The Science Museum of Virginia. Information was also shared by the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Creating Exhibits That Engage

Creating Exhibits That Engage
Author: John Summers
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2018-03-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1442279370

Winner of the 2018 Ontario Museum Association Award of Excellence Winner of the 2019 Canadian Museum Association Award of Outstanding Achievement in the Research - Cultural Heritage Category Creating Exhibits that Engage: A Manual for Museums and Historical Organizations is a concise, useful guide to developing effective and memorable museum exhibits. The book is full of information, guidelines, tips, and concrete examples drawn from the author’s years of experience as a curator and exhibit developer in the United States and Canada. Is this your first exhibit project? You will find step-by-step instructions, useful advice and plenty of examples. Are you a small museum or local historical society looking to improve your exhibits? This book will take you through how to define your audience, develop a big idea, write the text, manage the budget, design the graphics, arrange the gallery, select artifacts, and fabricate, install and evaluate the exhibit. Are you a museum studies student wanting to learn about the theory and practice of exhibit development? This book combines both and includes references to works by noted authors in the field. Written in a clear and accessible style, Creating Exhibits that Engage offers checklists of key points at the end of each chapter, a glossary of specialized terms, and photographs, drawings and charts illustrating key concepts and techniques.