I am resending this message.  I cannot believe that I got only one
     response to the query.  I expected a heated discussion and at least
     two flames.  Don't let me lose my faith in the museum listserv.
                                        Alan Hawk

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     We are negotiating with a third party who is interested in sponsoring
     an exhibit at our museum.  We need imput from other museums about how
     to deal with the issue of control of the content of the exhibit.
     There are two possible models to handle this issue:

        a) The museum assumes total control over the control of the content
           of the exhibit.

        b) The museum and the sponsor share control over content, i.e.. the
             final product is to "the mutual satisfaction" of both parties.

     I ask this question, in part, as a result of the recent controversy
     over the "Science in America" exhibit in which the sponsor was not
     pleased with the final product.

     Have museums ceded some curatorial control over exhibit content as a
     result of the recent controversies?  Have sponsors begun demanding
     some curatorial control over the exhibit content?


                          Alan Hawk
                          National Museum of Health and Medicine, AFIP
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