Heritage Interpretation Training Center
Exhibit rehab – breathing new life into old, outdated,
and just plain boring exhibits and exhibit galleries
with a limited budget.
Course tuition: $200.00 – 2 CEU unit credits.
I know
it’s hard to admit but sometimes you just have to go to rehab! No, not
you, your exhibits or exhibit room or exhibit gallery may be the ones that need
help. This is the case of the touch table that no one really wants to
touch or a glass display case with dead bugs collecting at the bottom.
Maybe its label copy was done on a “typewriter” that you can’t read, or photos
that are turning red with dog-eared corners. Or exhibits randomly placed that
lost their link to your theme or main messages or exhibits not maintenance
friendly. Yikes! Ready for rehab!
The
problem is usually costs – exhibits are
very expensive so re-doing everything may be cost prohibited for many nature
centers, historical society museums, and other smaller visitor centers.
So, this course is designed to help you do a critical analysis of the value and
contributions of each exhibit and think about simple and creative ways to do a
successful and cost-effective exhibit rehab – often with things you can simply
do in-house.
You can
start the course at any time and complete the course at your own pace.
The course also has the benefit of live discussions (e-mail, phone or SKYPE)
with the course instructor to give you more ideas to breathe new life into your
old exhibits. Here are the course units.
Unit
One – the need for intervention.
This unit is a discussion of why you think you’re ready for exhibit rehabs – a
walk-through observation of what you see as the heart of the problems creating
a lack of effectively communication your story and mission to visitors
interacting with the exhibits or exhibit gallery as a “whole” experience.
What is it you want/expect and exhibition rehab to accomplish?
Unit
Two – Back to basics of themes and objectives. This unit asks you to review your site, park or historic sites
interpretive plan. What is the theme and objectives that your “total site
interpretation”, both for outside exhibits, trails or related experience, and
your exhibit room or gallery, were to accomplish? Are your current
exhibits illustrating your total site theme?
Unit
Three – Let there be themes and objectives that match your story and mission.
So what
if your site doesn’t have an interpretive plan, theme and objectives for your
total interpretive media presentation? Did your theme and objectives are
outdated or changed over time? Unit three asks you to develop or update
your total site interpretive theme and objectives that your exhibits, as part
of your total interpretive media/services mix now need to illustrate.
Unit
Four – individual exhibit interpretive analysis – from top to bottom. Using our Interpretive Center and Exhibit Critique and
Analysis forms, developed for use by the US Army Corps of Engineers Visitor
Centers, this unit is an activity for you/your team to do an analysis of each
exhibit in your exhibit room. The analysis is both for physical issues as
well as interpretive content and presentation issues. This analysis will
get you ready to do Unit Five.
Unit
Five – Some in and Some Out! Based
on your analysis of each exhibit, make a list that identifies:
1.
Exhibits that do illustrate your current theme and accomplishes your objectives.
2.
Exhibits that somewhat illustrates your theme and objectives, but will need
rehab to make
them more effective.
3.
Exhibits that do not have anything to do with illustrating your theme and
objectives.
These exhibits can be planned for
removal or if in cases, re-developed for content.
4.
New exhibits that will be needed to fill in the holes in your storyline
presentation and
better illustrate your current/new
theme and total site objectives.
Unit 6
– Planning for your rehab – Exhibit
planning forms for each exhibit to be rehabbed. Using our Interpretive
Exhibit Planning Forms, complete an analysis of just what you would like to do
to update, edit or re-design each individual exhibit. This will
include:
1.
The sub-theme (from your interpretive plan) the exhibit will illustrate.
2.
The objectives the rehabbed exhibit will be able to accomplish.
3.
What it is you plan to do for the rehab (new photos, new text, create an
interactive
experience, add an audio device, etc.)
keeping in mind what you can do in-house and at
low cost.
Unit
7- Planning and developing your new exhibit room/individual exhibit
Implementation and Phasing Matrix/strategy, with cost estimates. Sample Implementation and Phasing Matrices will be
provided as examples. Which exhibits do you want to work on first or put the
most time, effort and limited budget into?
Unit 8
– The Exhibit Rehab Interpretive Exhibit Plan Document. In this last unit, you combine all of the
information from the previous units into one document that can be shared with
others, used to find exhibit sponsors or used to write for grants to update
your exhibits.
Each unit
works as a college lecture, with instruction and homework assignments. Support
materials for the course include
1.
Interpretive Planning e-Textbook
2.
YouTube Video discussion from the instructor.
3.
Related handout materials sent as PDFs.
4.
Homework assignments to be sent to the instructor.
5.
The opportunity to talk with the course instructor via phone, SKYPE or e-mail
chat.
If you
have any question's please feel free to contact me.
John
Veverka
Director,
HITC
We have
44 different heritage interpretation courses to offer, check out our course
catalog.