Museum exhibits class, summer 2004
The development of a museum exhibit is a complicated process. This class explores how an exhibit evolves from an idea to a reality.
Summer 2004
With direction from Gordon Jones, AHC Head of
Exhibits and Collections, and Ann McCleary, UWG Museum Studies Coordinator,
our Museum Exhibits class ventured once again into the exciting but tumultuous
world of exhibit development! This summer, our students embarked in a team project
to develop and design an exhibit focusing on Wilbur Kurtz, whose passion for
Atlanta and the South led to a career as a historian and artist. Our project
teams included two curatorial teams, one focusing on biography and the other
on artifacts; a label-writing team; a registration team; a development and marketing
team; education team; and a design team; and one student acted as the Project
Manager. At the end of the class, students presented their complete exhibit
proposal to the AHC staff. The AHC is anticipating an exhibit on this topic
in the next few years, and we hope that our class project will provide some
early direction. Thanks to all of you who participated in this project! To view
our class power point presentation, please click below:
In addition to our project, class members wrote an exhibit review, conducted a security and conservation audit of the AHC galleries, wrote label copy, visited an exhibit fabrication company in Atlanta, and heard talks by a number of exhibit professionals.
Museum exhibits class, summer 2004
 Instructor Gordon Jones shares his thoughts about exhibits in the Changing Times gallery at the History Center. |
 Mike Gorkey, an exhibits technician at the History Center, offers technical advice on how to hang artwork. |
 Susan Neill shares her secrets of how to properly display textiles and clothing collections on exhibit. |
 Students write exhibit text using some of the artifacts from the Kurtz collection. |
Summer 2002
Students in this class explored, analyzed, and critiqued exhibits at the AHC
and considered the ways in which artifacts in current exhibits could be used
to tell different stories in other exhibits. They wrote label copy and learned
how to create mounts. Various speakers shared their stories about creating exhibits
and the different techniques and strategies that had been most effective for
them. As a culminating project, each student developed a proposal for revising
the existing Metropolitan Frontiers exhibit, creating a concept, concept plan,
outline of topics listing major artifacts to include, and a walk-through description
of the exhibit.Gordon Jones served as lead instructor for the class, assisted
by Pam Meister and Ann McCleary. Don Rooney provided leadership on the Metrpolitan
Frontiers project. Please click here for a Syllabus
for the summer 2002 class.
Our 2002 class photo at the end of a busy summer!
Teresa Beyer presents her exhibit proposal for Metropolitan Frontiers to the
class
For more information on the Museum Studies Certificate Program,
please contact Dr. Ann McCleary, History Department,
University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, 30118,
678-839-6041