As Kathie said, "...at the risk of being obvious, I would suggest the free or low-cost training opportunity of visiting other museums as much as possible"
I agree, visiting other museums (live and in person) is best, but when I need some new inspiration I'll often take "virtual" trips to other museums. Skip the museum websites, I want to see what fin, interesting creative things catch the eye of the average visitor, so I do my "virtual visiting" by way of Flickr. You can either start with a museum you want to visit, or simply start searching for "tags" (museum, fun, interactive, wow!, exhibit, display, etc....) There are also several Flickr Groups devoted to museums, museum exhibits exhibit design, museum labels, and such . . . Here are a few:
Museum Exhibitry and Media Best Practices
http://www.flickr.com/groups/networkmedia/
National Association for Museum Exhibitions (NAME)
http://www.flickr.com/groups/name-aam/
Great Exhibitions
http://www.flickr.com/groups/greatexhibitions/
Museum Labels
http://www.flickr.com/groups/labels/
At the museum
http://www.flickr.com/groups/40181466@N00/
Traveling Museum Exhibitions
http://www.flickr.com/groups/tme/
AAM 19th Annual Excellence in Exhibition Competition
http://www.flickr.com/groups/eec07/
- David -
David Lewis, Curator
Aurora Regional Fire Museum
www.AuroraRegionalFireMuseum.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Kathie Gow <[log in to unmask]>
To: MUSEUM-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Mon, Sep 10, 2012 2:55 pm
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] What methods or training opportunities exist for expanding creative skillsets in the realm of exhibition development?
Christyna, at the risk of being obvious, I would suggest the free or low-cost training opportunity of visiting other museums as much as possible, but not just by yourself. Take friends, family, coworkers, especially if they are people who are not usually wild about museums. My kids (ages 10 + 14) and my husband fill that role for me. I poll everyone at the end of the visit (or while we’re going through if they can handle that.) In this manner, I have learned many specifics and generalities about exhibits that worked, and those that didn’t, and why.
From the Pequot Museum in Conn. and the Sandwich Museum of Glass on Cape Cod, I have learned that well-done audio/visual stories DO make it hugely easier to engage visitors, especially reluctant ones, I have also learned from the Sandwich Glass Museum, The Age of Sail Heritage Museum in Port Greville (Nova Scotia) and the Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, MA, that you don’t have to have the resources of a Pequot Museum to have interesting, attractive, well-lit displays and cases, and make good use of available light. From the Western Gateway Heritage State Park in North Adams, MA, and again the Sandwich Glass Museum and the Age of Sail Heritage Museum, I learned that “surprise” combined with audio narration is almost always a winner (where someone starts talking to you as you walk past or move into a space, and if other things “move” or light up, so much the better). From the Higgins Armory in Worcester, MA, I learned that kids big and small enjoy being able to see what it felt like to step into the shoes, literally (or in this case, armor) of those who lived before us – making it safe, secure and realistic to do so. (I wrote a blog post about this if you’re interested, see link below). When our museum moves into its new space in the next several years, we have a bank of ideas we can try to implement. Our exhibit content and creativity will be our own, but the means of presenting that content will be borrowed from great museums we’ve visited.
Hope that helps.
Best,
--Kathie
Higgins Armory blog post: http://hatfieldhistory.weebly.com/1/category/what%20works/1.html
Kathie Gow
Oral History Producer
http://www.wordspicturesstories.com
Curator, Hatfield Historical Museum
http://hatfieldhistory.weebly.com
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Solhan, Christyna
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2012 2:24 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] What methods or training opportunities exist for expanding creative skillsets in the realm of exhibition development?
Hi everyone,
I’m a young museum professional working in the Office of Exhibits at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in DC. As I look toward my own professional development as an exhibit developer and project manager, I’ve been trying to find ways of improving and expanding my own level of creativity with regard to developing exhibitions. I’ve had a lot of recent conversations with my fellow peers here at NMNH, and it seems that, across the board, finding time and efficient methods for fostering creativity in our different projects definitely continues to be a challenge. If any of you have any thoughts about how you’ve approached and continue to approach skill enhancement in that area, I’d be really interested in your ideas. When you are met with a challenge in a project, whether it’s developing a fresh visitor experience or figuring out a new way of communicating messaging, what methods do you all use to foster your own creative spirit? I know that AAM/NAME has hosted Creativity and Collaboration retreats in past years that were designed to foster these kind of skill sets and idea sharing, but a quick google search seems to show that those retreats no longer seem to be happening. Has anyone come across other similar opportunities recently? Thanks so much in advance for your thoughts!
Christyna Solhan
Exhibit Developer/Project Manager
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
National Museum of Natural History
Public Engagement
Office of Exhibits
MRC 101, Rm 77
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
T 202.633.1137
F 202.633.6740
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