3 Museum Projects To Support

After my recent cross-country, back-to-back, museum conference trips, I thought I would highlight three museum projects that can benefit from your support: Exhibition Journal, ExhibitFiles, and the Museum People's Tattoos blog.


Exhibition Journal

NAME (The National Association for Museum Exhibition) has recently renamed and redesigned its journal, now called Exhibition.

The latest issue is entitled "Designing Emotion" and contains some fascinating articles that detail unique approaches toward exhibition development practice. NAME makes available two articles from the current issue of Exhibition online, as well as complete digital access to past issues via the Exhibition Journal's online archive. Check out the current free articles by clicking these links: "Designing for Outrage" and "Core Emotion and Engagement in Informal Science Learning"

Of course, the very best way to access Exhibition is by becoming a subscriber.  You can find out how to become a subscriber by clicking this link (and you do not need to be an AAM member to become an Exhibition subsciber.)

Last, but not least, if you've recently seen an exhibition that you'd like to share with colleagues via my "Exhibits Newsline" column, just send me an email for details, so we can get your contributions into a future issue of Exhibition!


ExhibitFiles

Recently, one of my Twitter followers sent me a message lamenting the fact that the ExhibitFiles site seems to be languishing a bit.

What is ExhibitFiles you ask?  ExhibitFiles is a website (originally funded by the National Science Foundation) for museum professionals (and aspiring museum professionals) from around the world to post Reviews of exhibitions they've seen, or to post Case Studies of exhibition projects they have been involved with.  (There's even a category called "Bits" that lets you quickly post bite-sized observations about a particular exhibit element or feature you may have seen.)

ExhibitFiles is a great resource, but it needs active participation to grow. And the more ExhibitFiles grows, the more valuable it becomes to the entire museum field. So I'm asking every ExhibiTricks reader to choose a noteworthy exhibition you see this summer, and add an ExhibitFiles entry this summer. C'mon! Think of it as your "summer resolution"  (it's easier to keep than a New Year's resolution!)

So what are you waiting for?  Click on over to the ExhibitFiles website now!



Museum People's Tattoos

As if running the ExhibiTricks blog wasn't filling a very specialized niche, I also co-run a blog in an even more rarefied niche, called "Museum People's Tattoos."

It really is a funny small museum world.  When I saw my friend Beth Redmond-Jones' awesome Manta Ray tattoo on Facebook, I jokingly suggested that we start a blog called "Museum People's Tattoos."

As the blog intro states: "Many museum folks have a love for tattoos—their cultural significance, their artistic quality, their documentation of the natural world, and some, just for their own personal meaning. For years, we have talked about tattoos, the ones we want, the design, the stories behind them, and the artists who create them ... "

I really love reading about the tattoos and the stories behind them on the blog.  And isn't that what museums are about --- stories and stuff?

So if you'd like to contribute your own tattoo images and stories to the Museum People's Tattoos blog, feel free to send me an email. (You need to be a person who works with or in museums, but your tattoo does not need to necessarily be museum-related.)  C'mon and help Beth and I out! A museum people's tattoos blog doesn't run itself!



BONUS CONTEST!

If you've read this far, you are eligible to win one of two physical copies of the latest Exhibition journal on "Designing Emotion." All you need to do is subscribe to the ExhibiTricks blog by clicking on the link at the top right side of the blog page by May 30th.  (If you are already a subscriber, just send me an email with the subject "Journal Contest" by May 30th for your chance.) At the end of the month, I'll randomly choose one new subscriber and one email entrant to each receive a copy of the latest Exhibition journal. Good luck!

UPDATE: Congratulations to our two contest winners, Alicia V. and Margaret T.  Your copies of Exhibition are in the mail and making their way to you!


Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

600 Posts!

Woohoo! ExhibiTricks just passed 600 posts!

I can honestly say that when I started this blog back in 2007, I had no idea where it would lead.

But now having settled into a comfortable once-a-week (or thereabouts) publishing schedule, ExhibiTricks has become a positive habit for me --- one blog post at a time!

And as I reflect back on 600 posts, I think the two things that keep me developing weekly blog posts are the same two things that drive all my work:

1) The enjoyment of learning and exploring new things.

To that end, here are links to some of the all-time most popular ExhibiTricks posts over the past 9 years:

Many Ways To Say Thanks:  A collection of ideas and images for thanking donors or other contributors to cultural institutions.

Hayao Miyazaki's Museum Manifesto:  The world-renowned animator's thoughts during the planning of the Studio Ghibli Museum in Japan.

What's The Big Idea?  Getting to the crux of museum and exhibition design.

2) The pleasure in sharing those ideas with other folks.

I will be at both the AASLH (in my hometown of Detroit) and ASTC (in sunny Tampa) Conferences happening this month.  I'd love any ExhibiTricks readers to say hello, either at one of my sessions or just in the hallways between sessions!  It's great for me to connect real people to the anonymous numbers of ExhibiTricks subscribers in my analytics windows.

I really, really appreciate the now thousands and thousands(!) of readers and subscribers who check out ExhibiTricks every week, so I'd like to ask:

What motivates you to continue your own work?

Let us know in the "Comments" section below.

(And as always, feel free to email me to let me know if you have ideas for new posts or topics to include on ExhibiTricks.)

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Scratching A Niche: Museum People's Tattoos

As if running a museum/exhibit/design blog wasn't filling a very specialized niche, I also co-run a blog in an even more rarefied niche, called "Museum People's Tattoos."

It really is a funny small museum world.  When I saw my friend Beth Redmond-Jones' awesome Manta Ray tattoo (pictured above) on Facebook, I jokingly suggested that we start a blog called "Museum People's Tattoos."

We did it!  You can now check out the new Museum People's Tattoos blog for yourself. 

As the blog intro states: "Many museum folks have a love for tattoos—their cultural significance, their artistic quality, their documentation of the natural world, and some, just for their own personal meaning. For years, we have talked about tattoos, the ones we want, the design, the stories behind them, and the artists who create them ... "

I really love reading about the tattoos and the stories behind them on the blog.  And isn't that what museums are about --- stories and stuff?

So if you'd like to contribute your own tattoo images and stories to the Museum People's Tattoos blog, feel free to send me an email.  C'mon! A museum people's tattoos blog doesn't run itself!


Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

500 POSTS! (What Keeps You Going?)

This is the 500th post for ExhibiTricks!

I can honestly say that when I started this blog back in 2007, I had no idea where it would lead.

But now having settled into a comfortable once-a-week (or thereabouts) publishing schedule, ExhibiTricks has become a positive habit for me --- one blog post at a time!

And as I reflect back on 500 posts, I think the two things that keep me developing weekly blog posts are the same two things that drive all my work:

1) The enjoyment of learning and exploring new things.

2) The pleasure in sharing those ideas with other folks.

I really, really appreciate the now thousands and thousands(!) of readers and subscribers who check out ExhibiTricks every week, so I'd like to ask:

What motivates you to continue your own work?

Let us know in the "Comments" section below.

(And as always, feel free to email me to let me know if you have ideas for new posts or topics to include on ExhibiTricks.)
 

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Museum People's Tattoos

Funny small museum world.  When I saw my friend Beth Redmond-Jones' awesome Manta Ray tattoo (pictured above) on Facebook, I jokingly suggested that we start a blog called "Museum People's Tattoos."

We did it!  You can now check out the new Museum People's Tattoos blog for yourself.

As the blog intro states: "Many museum folks have a love for tattoos—their cultural significance, their artistic quality, their documentation of the natural world, and some, just for their own personal meaning. For years, we have talked about tattoos, the ones we want, the design, the stories behind them, and the artists who create them ... "

I really love reading about the tattoos and the stories behind them on the blog.  And isn't that what museums are about --- stories and stuff?

If you'd like to contribute your own tattoo images and stories to the Museum People's Tattoos blog, feel free to send me an email.


Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Rocket Scientist: An Interview With Wayne LaBar

 

Wayne LaBar is the founder and principal of ALCHEMY studio, an experience and institutional development, design and consulting services studio located in Maplewood, NJ.  Alchemy Studio works with museums, science centers, boards, civic leaders, governments, NGO’s, filmmakers and others involved in the informal learning field.  

With over 26 years of museum experience and numerous papers and presentations, Wayne’s former roles include: Vice President of Exhibitions and Featured Experiences at Liberty Science Center (Jersey City, NJ), Director of Exhibits at The Tech Museum (San Jose, CA), Project Manager at Krent/Paffett Associates, Inc. (Boston, MA) and Project Manager at the Carnegie Science Center (Pittsburgh, PA). Wayne is currently the Vice President on the Board of the National Association for Museum Exhibition (NAME.)

We're happy that Wayne was able to share some time (in between jetting around the world!) to share some thoughts with ExhibiTricks readers.

What’s your educational background?   Rocket Scientist. Really. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. I also worked at NASA. After that, I began a doctorate in Planetary Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh… until I ran away with the circus, which is my euphemism for joining the museum/science center field.


What got you interested in Museums?   Well, on one hand, personally I’ve always loved going to museums. Some of my earliest memories are of visiting the American Museum of Natural History, and visits to places such as the Franklin Institute. These probably set the stage for what I think is your real question. How did I get into this business? Like most good stories, this involves a woman. In fact, one morning my girlfriend at the time in Pittsburgh mentioned that there was an ad in the paper for somebody with a biology degree  and for someone with an engineering degree  to join the Buhl Science Center and help develop the exhibits for a new science center (to be the Carnegie Science Center). We both applied as she was a biologist and I for the engineer position. I got a job and she didn’t. If you’re wondering, yes we broke up.

How does working with teams to create exhibits inform your design process?  (Or does it?)   All of my exhibit and design experience is one of a team process and approach. I think this is one of my favorite parts of the work I do. Learning, interacting, being inspired by others - all come from this process. While I believe that certainly there is usually a vision (for an exhibition down to a single experience) that must drive the process, it always takes the talents and abilities of team members to make an exhibition or exhibit sing.


Tell us a little bit about how your engineering background informs your exhibit design work.   I was once asked what I learned in college. After thinking for a bit, I said “I learned not to be intimidated by problems but to solve them.” It is that skill that I see most in my work. To earn that degree and solve those problems required thinking logically,  being imaginative, working with teams, doing research, being creative, being thorough and focusing on detail.  I use all of those every day.

What are some of your favorite online (or offline!) resources for people interested in finding out more about exhibition development?  Well first, a plug: visit my blog to see some of my personal insights and inspirations about exhibition development. Also, check in to ExhibitFiles, the NAME website and books such as Kathy McLean’s Planning for People in Museum Exhibitions.

Another great resource is the NAME journal: “Exhibitionist.” I would recommend that anyone interested in the museum exhibit business should subscribe.” Link: https://aam-us.org/ProductCatalog/Product?ID=11

I also go to several sites for inspiration which are not directly related to exhibit development. I suggest Fast Company, Wired, Gizmodo, and io9.

What advice would you have for fellow museum professionals, especially those from smaller museums, in developing their exhibitions?   I would examine what differences a smaller institution has over a larger institution and then leverage those to do something different, something that stands out. I would imagine that, at a smaller museum, there can be less bureaucracy, thus maybe allowing teams to be more nimble and experimental, trying things out more, open to more partnerships, probably more community-centered. Identify and use these attributes.

What do you think is the “next frontier” for museums?   Well, I think that museums, at their heart, focus on passion. What I mean is that whether it’s art, science, history, different collections, music or even memorial museums, they are a celebration of human passion for a subject - passions to study a subject, to collect, to understand the world, to create artistic expression, to connect across cultures, to inspire shared vision. The next frontier is for museums to embody the passion they are about. Too often museum organizations’ structures stymie passion in visitors and staff. Museums need to let go.

What are some of your favorite museums or exhibitions? 

The most recent can be seen on my blog.  Other places that are my favorites: House of Terror in Budapest, Science Museum of London, Melbourne Museum, American VisionaryArt Museum in Baltimore, the City Museum in Saint Louis and, of course, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Can you talk a little about some of your current projects?   Yes, the studio is working on several projects right now.   We are deeply involved in bringing science centers to Saudi Arabia, and there are several science center or informal science learning projects that we are part of. In addition, we are helping an emerging children’s science center in Northern Virginia. Additionally, we are working with the Australian National Maritime Museum to help them think through and reimage their exhibit experience. 

We are also working on a giant screen/IMAX scale film about large-scale engineering projects. ALCHEMY studio has projects in several different mediums from the museum field – permanent exhibits, traveling exhibits, programming & curriculum, media, organizational strategy, master planning, operations, and pretty much anything and everything else related to dreaming about, launching, or running a museum.

If money were no object, what would your “dream” exhibit project be?

Well, certainly, if I could, I would love to do an incredible science/culture/art of cooking exhibition. Having a lot of design, research and ideas from previous work, it would be wonderful to do that project. For something completely different, I would love to an exhibition on the space station. One for astronauts!

Finally, it would be a joy to do a project about and for my two Labrador Retrievers – Reposado and Anejo. Yes, they are named after tequila which would also be a great project to do! Get me started and I’ll keep coming up with new projects!

 
Thanks again to Wayne for sharing his thoughts! You can find out more about Wayne and his work via the ALCHEMY studio website.




Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)