Exhibits at
Museums and Historic Sites
History 6304
University of West Georgia and Atlanta
History Center
Summer 2002
Lead
instructors:
Ann McCleary Gordon Jones
State University
of West Georgia Atlanta History Center
770-838-3031 404-814-4000
amcclear@westga.edu Gjones@AtlantaHistoryCenter.com
AHC Museum
Studies Coordinator
Pam Meister
Director of
Education and Interpretation
404-814-4071
Pmeister@AtlantaHistoryCenter.com
Meeting
time/place: Session II, Wednesdays 12:30-5:30
Atlanta
History Center, 130 Paces Ferry Rd NW
Instructor
office hours: Before class and by appointment. Please contact us.
This
course examines the process by which museums create exhibits, from planning and
research through exhibit design, display techniques, script-writing, and
installation. We will begin with the
most basic question: what is an
exhibit? From exhibit theory to
maintenance and evaluation, we hope to provide you with the knowledge and
training that you will need to successfully manage a museum exhibition
program.
In
developing the course curriculum, we asked ourselves what we
would have liked to learn before we began working in the museum field, and we
incorporated these topics into our syllabus.
As you can see, it will be an ambitious but we hope rewarding agenda. Throughout the class, we have included
activities that will offer plenty of hands-on experiences in a practicum
setting.
Ann
McCleary of UWG and Gordon Jones at the AHC will coordinate this course. However, you will have the benefit of
hearing from and working with a variety of staff members at the AHC throughout
the course. They will share their
experiences and expertise in the field of exhibits work.
This
class fulfills one of the requirements for the Museum Studies Certificate
offered by the State University of West Georgia and the Atlanta History Center. It also satisfies a seminar requirement for
public history concentrators in the M.A. program.
1.
Students
will explore the principles, theory, and process of museum exhibit development.
2.
Students
will learn basic techniques of exhibit design, fabrication, installation,
object display, security, and maintenance.
3.
Students
will become familiar with key ethical and legal issues surrounding museum
exhibits.
4.
Students
will become familiar with the range of career opportunities available in museum
exhibit work.
Readings
Lord, Barry and Gail Dexter. The Manual of Museum Exhibits. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press (A Division of Rowman and Littlefield Publishers,
Inc), 2002.
Ames, Kenneth L., Barbara Franco, and L.
Thomas Frye. Ideas and Images: Developing Interpretive History Exhibits. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press in association with the American Association of
State and Local History, 1997.
Serrell, Beverly. Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach.
Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira
Press, 1996.
Assignments and Grading
Students are expected to complete
five weekly assignments as noted on the course schedule. These assignments will involve a practical
application of the topic under discussion for those weeks. These assignments will include (1) a written
exhibit critique from the first day of class, (2) label copy, (3) a floor plan
of Metropolitan Frontiers, (3) a security and conservation audit, and
(5) a revision of the first exhibit critique at the end of the class, hopefully
with new insights! Each assignment will
be worth 5 points. Please word-process
these assignments and turn in two copies:
one for Gordon Jones and one for Ann McCleary.
Class
project (20 points)
In keeping with the practicum nature of
our course, each student will complete a class assignment which will involve
developing a concept and plan to re-do the last section of Metropolitan
Frontiers. The AHC has been
considering how to redesign the ending of this exhibit on Atlanta History, and
the staff welcomes your new ideas and fresh perspectives. Students will present their final ideas to
AHC staff and the course instructors on the last day of class.
Portfolio
(20 points)
A portfolio is a valuable tool to
use in demonstrating the skills and knowledge that you have to potential
employers. Students will assemble all
of their class assignments and the class projects into a portfolio notebook to
be submitted on the last day of class.
In preparing the portfolio, think about how you could best demonstrate
what you have learned in this class.
You should incorporate some narrative along with your written
assignments to show us that you understand the various stages of exhibit
development. We encourage you to be
creative in making your portfolio, including items such as photographs of you
undertaking some of this work at the AHC.
If you so desire, you may change any of your class assignments based on
comments you may have received from the instructors.
Portfolio grading will include 10
points for overall design and creativity and 10 points for your demonstration
of knowledge about exhibit development.
We encourage those of you planning
careers in museum work or in another aspect of public history to develop a full
portfolio of all your public history
work, both in classes and for internships, and to incorporate the
materials that you prepared for this class.
Class
participation and reading discussions (35 points)
Students are expected to attend
class weekly and participate in class activities and discussions. This is an intensive practicum class that
will involve hands-on exercises each week.
The more effort you put into these exercises and activities, the more
you will learn. 20 points will be
allocated for participation in class activities and exercises.
We will spend some time each week
discussing the readings. Please read in
advance and come prepared to talk about the assignments. If you miss class, please submit your comments
on the readings to the instructors by email within a few days of class or, at
the latest, in writing at the next class.
We will not test you on the readings; however, we encourage you to
incorporate what you have learned from the readings into your portfolio. You
will receive a total of 15 points in this area.
Grades will be based on the
following scale: 90-100 is an A, 80-89
is a B, and 70-79 a C.
Tentative Course Schedule
Exhbits at Museums and Historic Sites
Summer 2002
Topics: What is an exhibit? What are the goals of an exhibit? What makes a good exhibit? What are the various types of exhibits?
Read:
Lords, 1-25; Ames, 1-8.
In-class
exercise: exhibit exploration, written exhibit
critique.
Topics: Where do you get ideas for exhibits? How do you develop an exhibit concept?
Read:
Lord, 27-38, 345-356; Ames,
137-185 and 9-30.
In-class
exercise: Find an object in one of the galleries and
come up with five other contexts in which you could use it.
Assignment
due: written exhibit critique (4-5 pages,
covering questions we provide to you)
Topics: “Team” concept of exhibit development,
18-step process for creating exhibits, budgeting for an exhibit, writing
exhibit labels for an exhibit.
Read:
Lord, 317-324 and 393-402; Ames,
187-209 ; and Serrell, focusing on parts 1, 2, and 4.
In-class
exercise and assignment due: writing label copy for a specific object
(this will be done in class).
Topics: Design elements (light, color, sequencing,
graphics, audio-visual, floor plan), accessibility, considerations,
fabrication).
Read:
Lord, read 405-420, skim 143-166, and read 165-17 ; Ames, 31-103.
In-class
exercise: make a floor plan for re-do of last
section of Metro Frontiers and field trip to exhibit design company.
Topics: Exhibit installation process, instruction on
specific installation techniques, class assists with installation of Roots
of Racism art quilts, temporary and traveling exhibitions.
Read:
Lord, skim 207-226 and 425-432 and read 276-287, 290-292.
In-class
exercise: assist with installation of Roots of
Racism art quilts.
Assignment
due: floor plan for
Metro Frontiers.
Topics: Object
display (mount making) and handling, potential hazards to objects on exhibit,
object security, visitor safety and security.
Demonstrations of mount-making and object change-out.
Read:
Lord, 198-214; Ames, 103-136 and
211-232.
In-class
exercise and due on this day: Security audit and conservation audit of AHC
exhibits.
Topics: Who does it? How is it scheduled?
Types of maintenance: cleaning,
A/V maintenance, mechanical issues, object rotation.
Read: Lord, 190-191 and skim 192-196; Ames, 233-282.
In-class
exercise: Particpate in selected exhibit maintenance
tasks.
Topics:
Evaluating exhibits, culminating discussions on museum exhibit
challenges.
Read:
Ames, 283-324; Lord, 39-53.
In-class
exercise: student presentations of Metropolitan
Frontiers exhibit proposals.
Assignment
due: (1) Exhibit design project for Metropolitan
Frontiers, (2) revised exhibit critique from first class, and (3) class
portfolio.