>Barbara Narendra wrote :
 
>As I understand it, the problem was that the previously successful team
>approach--curator+educator+designer--was abandoned and the scientific
>content of the exhibit (Does outrigger canoe ring any bells?) was put under
>the control of an exhibit developer.  See John Terrell [the curator],
>"Disneyland and the Future of Museum Anthropology," American
>Anthropologist, vol. 93, no. 1, March 1991, p. 149-153.
 
Thank you Barbara. As I said, it was a remembrance rather than legal
testimony. My discussions with other curators at the time and the
implications of the labels sent to me indicated this lack of satisfaction
with the scholarly thesis. It is interesting that you note the "team
approach" of the curator-educator-designer as being that which was
disregarded. I remember the discussion with curators from LA and San Fran
at the time focusing on the situation as resulting from the lack of
curatorial guidance and that is why I remember it as not being an
affirmation of the team theory. As museum budgets diminish, the idea of
educators working with directors and board committees on exhibits, with
curators only hired as part time consultants, has been discussed in my
presence a number of times. I guess the "team approach" can have different
implications to different people. Thanks for your citation.
 
Paul Apodaca
Bowers Museum
Santa Ana, CA
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