When I visited the Great River Road Museum in Dubuque, Iowa this summer the two “expensive” (I am certain well more than double my annual salary each) interactive tables were not working and there was no sign stating such. Visitors messed with the tables for a few minutes, gave up, and moved on.
When I visited the Pearl Button Museum in Muscatine, Iowa a couple days later, the “cheap” 6 foot square table with the historic city map and keyed and laminated legend books to the side worked fine. During my brief visit, two older women reminisced of their lives about growing up in the city in the 1930s, the location of their school, etc. etc. As well, another older woman used the map to show her grandson where she grew up, where his parents went to school, the church she was married in, etc. etc. - all now gone. Another couple sat at a desk by the memory station to write their “story” of the pearl button industry to post on chicken-wire framed wall.
Which exhibit do you think made a more lasting impression on the visitors?
Expensive things are great if you can afford them. But if you can’t, there are lots of alternatives. And even if you can afford them, they don’t guarantee a successful exhibit.
If you are ever in Memphis, come visit our hands-on archaeology lab at the C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa that we completely assembled for under 1000.00 and a whole lot of student labor!!
Robert Connolly
Robert P. Connolly, PhD
Director, C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa
1987 Indian Village Drive, Memphis, Tennessee 38109
901-785-3160, ext. 15
Associate Professor, Anthropology
The University of Memphis 38152
901-678-3331
http://www.memphis.edu/chucalissa/
http://rcnnolly.wordpress.com/
The mission of the C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa, a division of the University of Memphis, is to protect and interpret the Chucalissa archaeological site’s cultural and natural environments, and to provide the University Community and the public with exceptional educational, participatory, and research opportunities on the landscape’s past and present Native American and traditional cultures.
On 10/8/10 2:54 PM, "unknown" <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]> wrote:
On subject #1 : “There’s never enough money to do it right the first time, and always enough money to do it twice because it got screwed up the first time.”
“cheap” encoder $26.50 “expensive” encoder $450
Life expectancy of cheap encoder : 24 hours after opening day, fudging and daily maintenance to keep it going thereafter
Life expectancy of expensive encoder : 10 years absolute minimum if applied correctly (which costs more money)
Difference in gallery: “Out of order again” sign
“cheap” resistive touchscreen $350 “expensive” capacitive touchscreen $800
Life expectancy of resistive touchscreen: until someone decides to rub it with a nail or a coin
Life expectancy of capacitive touchscreen: years
Difference in gallery: “Out of order again” sign
“cheap” signage $100 “expensive” equivalent $250
Difference in gallery: edges peeling on sign
It is truly better spend money on quality and have a few very good things than it is to spend a little money everywhere and have something that doesn’t work and looks shabby inside of a few weeks….
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cass Karl
Sent: Friday, October 08, 2010 12:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Exhibit (displays) on the Cheap
Laurie,
When exactly is your conference? Where is it to be held? I live in SE Texas, but have friends in the Atlanta area who I have been trying to visit for a while now. I co-led a workshop for the Wisconsin Federation of Museums on cost-effective exhibit design, so I believe I'd be qualified. Please send me more information to the email below. Good luck!
-Cass Karl
[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 12:38 PM, las <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hello:
I am a curator at a small museum in West Georgia. I am tired of looking at my own exhibits and thinking "surely this could look better!", feeling like some of my text looks one step above an elementary school bulletin board! Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who doesn't know the secret of quality displays with little expense and all of you are experts at it, because I am often very impressed at the brilliant suggestions that come across this email in regards to text, lebels, production, furniture, etc. Well, because I have just about had it with my own limitations in these areas, I am potentially planning to moderate a conference session at January’s Georgia Asso of Museums and Galleries on the topic of cost-conscious exhibit design/fabrication and are currently looking for people who would like to be on our panel. The three topics areas are:
1. Interactives (mechanical, hands on, audio, video, intro films, interactive kiosks, etc),
2. Furniture and supports (platforms, pedestals, acrylic bonnets, cases (all-in-one), artifact supports and artifact mounts, etc),
3. Graphics (large background photographs, smaller images, titles, text, i.d. labels, graphic panels, etc)
Now, I am guessing that not many of you are here in the south, but if you are or would like to attend our conference, or just, by chance, are passing through (yea, right!) and could potentially be on my panel, and you are one of those brilliant people out there who knows the secret of fabricating these types of things (mostly in house, especially for #2 and #3) at very little cost but WITHOUT sacrificing/compromising quality, please respond to this email and I will contact you to discuss further off list.
Best Regards,
Laurie Sedicino, Curator
Legacy Museum on Main
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