Museum Exhibits Exam 2

Exhibit Text Writer

Who: The Curator How: be strategic and sparing with words For: the audience

Narrative Exhibition

clusters, documents, and artifacts as elements of a single storyline

Interpretation by Teaching

focused on getting the facts across

Interpretation as Entertaining

focused on presenting a collection of "cool facts" and interesting linkages displayed in a clever way in an effort to teach through pleasure.

Interpretative Encounter

any act of interpretation that happens at the point of communication

3 Primary Outcomes of Interpretation

1) Enhancing experiences 2) Facilitating appreciation 3) Influencing behavior

Building/ Growing new museum audiences

+Identify your target audience and get to know them well. +Revamp your marketing. +Roll out the welcome mat. +Partner with organizations already serving your target audience. +Stay agile.

Visitor's Bill of Rights

1) Comfort 2) Orientation 3) Welcoming 4) Enjoyment 5) Socialization 6) Respect 7) Communication 8) Learning 9) Choice and Control 10) Challenging and Confidence 11) Revitalization

Curator's Core/Good Skills

1) a solid understanding of your Audience 2) a good understanding of the Exhibitions content 3) understand design 4) think like a dramatist of writer

3 Primary approaches to successful interpretation

1) interpretation as provocation: focused on stimulating a person to think personal thoughts so they find their own meanings and connections. 2) interpretation as teaching: focused on getting facts and figures across, make visitors remember it. 3) interpretation as entertaining: focused on presenting a collection of cool facts and interesting linkages displayed in a clever way in order to teach through pleasure.

Value for Participatory Experiences

1) provide a space for the institution to learn more about their audience 2) provide participants a space to express themselves 3) provide non-participants a space to learn about their community and people around them and how their lives connect to the exhibit they've just viewed.

Common Visitor Behavior

1) visitors come for a social occasion 2) gender rations are often not significantly different 3) teenagers are underrepresented across the board 4) more people read short labels rather than long labels 5) if visitors cannot understand or personally connect with part of an exhibit they will skip it 6) visitors of all ages attracted to exhibit elements that are more concrete and less abstract

Captive Audience

Audience consisting of people who feel obligated to pay attention even if it requires a lot of effort or bores them.

Non-captive Audience

Audience consisting of people who voluntarily choose to pay attention because hey find it gratifying to do so.

Participatory Experiences

Create opportunities for visitors to create, share, and connect with each other through the exhibit in a co-produced experience

5 Primary types of participation

Creators Critics Collectors Joiners Spectators

Provocation in Interpretation

Focused on stimulating a person to think personal thoughts bout something being presented so that they find their own meanings and connections

Goal of Budgets

Develop a system that is best for you

Critical Race Theory in Museums

Developed in the 1970's in response to legal reversals of key legislation passed during the Civil Rights Movement. I.e. Has your museum created spaces, opportunities, advisory capacities and more to elevate the presence, power, and voices of historically marginalized communities in your institution in a tangible, visible way that shares authority and ways of knowing?

Visitor Identity Categories

Explorers: Curiosity driven with a generic interest in the content Facilitators: socially motivated Professionals/Hobbyists: feel a close tie between the museum content and their professional or hobbyist passions Experience Seekers: motivated to visit because they perceive the museum as an important destination Rechargers: Primarily Seeking a contemplative, spiritual, and/or restorative experience Respectful Pilgrims: visit museums out of a sense of duty or obligation Affinity Seekers: Motivated to visit a specific museum or exhibit because it speaks to their sense of heritage, identity, or personhood.

Core of Museum Interpretation/ role of Interpreter

Guide visitors down paths to making their own connections for themselves.

Head and Section Text Panels

Head: Orients the viewer into what the exhibition is about Section: Explains objects or sections of particular importance

Non-Interpretative Labels

Identification Label (ID Label) Donor Information Credit Panel Way-finding Signage Regulatory Signage

Traditional exhibits Vs. Participatory Exhibits

Key difference: The way in which information flows from the institution to the viewer. Traditional Information: Information is presented for the viewer in a one way exchange. Participatory Information: Curator creates a space that connects viewers that act as consumers and creators.

Exhibition Entrances

Often use prop wall, need to draw audience in, be visually appealing but still information on what they're about to experience in exhibition.

Value Management

Process to ensure the products deliver the most value and performance at the lowest possible cost. In other words, how to make the most of your money.

Proposed Budgets

Should not take up more time than actually developing your exhibit

Caption Texts

Simple object ID labels that describe the object

Didactic Text Panel

Teaches and instructs

Interpretative Labels

Title Labels Introduction Labels Section Labels Group Labels Caption Labels

Managing Participation

You cannot rely on 'visitors will like it' ideas, it is not relevant value for participation and trivializes the relevance of the experience. For participation to work, you need to have a plausible promise, effective tool(s), and acceptable bargain.

Digital Audience

accesses the museums exhibitions and collections through digital platform such as social media, virtual exhibits, and the museums website.

Interpretation

is a specialized approach to communication that places emphasis on connection making and the audience

Physical Audience

made up of the people who physically visit the museum space and engage with the exhibitions and collections

Interpretative Design

starts with understanding the physical space and its sequences of distinct areas and then figuring out how you fit your story into that space. In short, interpretative design is the process of translating a story into an exhibition.

Label Design Typography

the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed.