Caps, Gowns, and Grand Openings
It's graduation season. Everywhere you look: folding chairs in gymnasium-sized rooms, proud families squinting at tiny figures crossing a stage, and someone in charge at a podium declaring that this is only the beginning.
Sound familiar?
Think about the last exhibition opening you attended. The speeches. The ribbon cutting. The board members beaming in the front row. The champagne (or, let's be honest, the warm Chardonnay in plastic cups).
Both events share the same fundamental illusion: that the hard work is "done."
It isn't, of course. The grad still has to get a job, pay rent, and figure out what they actually "do" with that degree. And your shiny new exhibition? Visitors are going to touch things they shouldn't, break things they definitely shouldn't, and completely ignore the interpretive panel you agonized over for three months.
Here's the real parallel: graduation and an exhibition opening are both "beginnings," not endings. The diploma is just a ticket to the next set of challenges. The opening night ribbon is just the starting gun.
The best museums know this. They treat "Day Two" -- when the real visitors (not the donors) show up as more important than opening night. They watch, they listen, they fix things. They iterate.
So by all means, enjoy your opening. Pop that (warm) Chardonnay. Take the group photo.
And then get back to work.
Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!
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