One From The Vaults: Smaller STILL Is Better

Though I wrote the original version of this post back in 2009, it still rings painfully true today.  We, as an industry,  still seem to be preferentially creating institutions that are lumbering behemoths instead of small and nimble innovators.  As I mention at the end of this encore post, I'd really like to know about smaller, better cultural institutions doing great work to shine a light on them.  So call out great examples in the comments or contact me directly.   Thanks, and enjoy this post from the ExhibiTricks vaults!

So here's my two-part solution to solve the ever continuing museum money/funding crisis:

1) Stop building gigantic new museums.

2) Fund small "risky" projects instead of "safe" big projects.

Most big museums were unsustainable before the current "financial crisis" and even more so now. Not to mention that many gigundo museums are filled with pockets of mediocrity or just plain lousiness that gets ignored or excused or even overlooked because there are other flashier, newer segments of the rest of their elephantine museum building complex.

So why do people keep building giant museums? Sheer ego and "edifice complex" as far as I can tell. It's a lot sexier to say you're building the "world's biggest and best museum" than to actually set up the infrastructure to ensure a continually growing and evolving institution that makes best use of both staff and community resources.

If you really want to see Museum 2.0/3.0/whatever happen, then museum workers and museum organizations should advocate for more, but smaller, museums spread throughout communities like public libraries --- heck why not have every museum (that's not already doing so) partner with a local library or community center to work on exhibits and programs together?

Now, funding.

Here's a modest proposal for NSF, IMLS, NEH and the rest of the governmental alphabet soup of funding agencies: alternate every year between funding "big" projects and "little" projects.

This would have the benefit of breaking the cycle of perpetually funding "The Usual Suspects" of the same batch of museums/designers/evaluators who get funded every grant cycle.

Which would be fine, if the "The Usual Suspects" were turning out wonderful field-changing exhibitions. But mostly the funding process has turned into a gravy train for folks doing the same sort of mediocre exhibitions over and over again.

Why couldn't NSF, for example, deliberately fund 15-20 large exhibition projects one cycle, then 50-60 small exhibition projects the next?

I think part of this big vs. small dichotomy is also an issue of exposure. There are many amazing, innovative museums and museum workers doing their thing in remote or smaller outposts, so they don't get recognized in the traditional incestuous museum conference/funding world.

So, I'm going to do my part to help change that exposure thing, and I need your help. Do you know of some cool projects happening at smaller "non-famous" museums, or do you know an up-and-coming whiz kid who hasn't been able to find a real full-time with benefits job in the museum business yet?

Send me an email at info@orselli.net so I can start giving these small places and some NOT the usual suspects some publicity and the attention they deserve.

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What Can Museums Learn From The DIA?

Hooray for the Detroit Institute of Arts! ---  one of the bright spots in the sometimes grim reality of modern-day Detroit.  Since I was born and raised in Detroit (yes --- actually inside the city limits) I've followed the recent activities of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), one of the first museums from my childhood with great interest.

Two particular aspects of the recent history of the DIA could well provide valuable lessons for museums of all types, stripes, and sizes:

1) Look Inside First
The Detroit Institute of Arts re-opened in 2007 after being closed for several years to reinvent and reinterpret (my words) itself.  As part of this process, the DIA building(s) and the collections were re-arranged and re-installed in ways to deliberately make the world-class collections more accessible to the widest range of the visiting public. 

New labels and graphics provide information for multiple ages and interests, while interactive opportunities (both low-tech and high-tech) directly related to the art/collections in each gallery foster understanding for different learning styles.  For example, a "virtual dining" experience set amidst a gallery of centuries old French silver, glass, and porcelain, gives what could be a "what's with all these old dishes?" experience much more context.

Perhaps more importantly, the DIA weaned itself (for the most part) away from big traveling "blockbuster" shows, and chose to exhibit, display, and reinterpret the wealth of its own collections.  The museum looked inside first, with much success.

Every museum has internal and community resources that it can use to its benefit, if each institution chooses to look "inside" first instead of reflexively always looking "outside."  To me that's the first lesson of building up "internal capacity" and part of what makes a museum shift from being merely good to truly great.

Unfortunately, reopening right before the world-wide economy crashed in 2008 really rocked the Detroit Institute of Arts.  Like many other museums, the DIA faced layoffs and budget cuts --- especially painful following the excitement of the "new" DIA opening.   The DIA was forced to face the "dirty little secret" that most museums try to avoid, which leads to lesson Number Two:


2) Where's The Money?
Even though the Detroit Institute of Arts has an endowment, the museum was still woefully underfunded (over time funding from the State of Michigan shrank from $16 million a year in the 1990s to zero in recent years.)  Despite being a world-class museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts might have been forced to close its doors. 

Instead the DIA successfully risked touching the political "third rail" (especially these days) of TAXES.  Fortunately, a tax millage was successfully passed in the three counties containing, or nearest to, Detroit.  In exchange for homeowners ponying up approximately twenty dollars per household per year for the next 10 years, the DIA will get around $23 million per year and provide free admission to anyone who lives in any of the three counties in question.

Several cities in the U.S. (St. Louis for example) provide ongoing governmental support to ensure the financial health of their cultural institutions.  Because that's the "dirty little secret" of museums --- most institutions, despite their optimistic projections, simply cannot sustain themselves over the long haul without the continuous, ongoing support of some private or governmental benefactors (or both!)

So what about the arguments of citizens around Detroit who opposed the tax millage?  Namely, if your museum can't be "run like a business" you shouldn't be in business in the first place?  (A view often shared by some museum trustees around the U.S.)  Should any government and/or society provide funding to sustain its cultural institutions in some way?   Even if I didn't work in museums, I'm sure my answer would be "yes." 

But what do you think? Should museums be more forthright with the public about the limitations and inherent differences of running a cultural institution "like a business"?  How might being more honest about the "dirty little secret" of museum budgets and budgeting change public funding streams?  

Let us know your thoughts in the "Comments" Section below.



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6 Keys To Greener Exhibit Design

OMSI (The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) in Portland, Oregon has long been concerned about "green design" and the choices and approaches that museums can take to create truly sustainable exhibit environments.

I'm an advisor on OMSI's NSF-funded project on Sustainability,  part of which will involve creating a set of models and guidelines for the museum field in order to promote more reflective practice about "green" exhibit design.  (You can download a PDF article about OMSI's progress, as well as the "working model" of the OMSI Green Exhibit Certification assessment tool via the NAME website.)

During my recent trip to Portland to discuss the OMSI Sustainability project, I got the chance to tour OMSI's exhibit workshop, which, besides being big fun, gave me 6 takeaways regarding green exhibit design to share with ExhibiTricks readers through a mini photographic tour. Enjoy!


1) Internal Capacity IS Local Design

You don't necessarily need a huge shop like OMSI's at your museum, but if you don't have some minimal "internal capacity" to fix, prototype, and build at least some of your own exhibit elements and program props, how can you foster local design (which is often the greenest design) at your museum?


2) Sharing Models of Green Design Helps Everyone

Ben Fleskes, the Production Director at OMSI, shared the model of the simple math exhibit shown above.  From the locally-produced metal framing materials, levelers produced in house, powder coating for durability, an exhibit idea adapted from the ASTC Exhibit Cheapbooks, a recycled (from the OMSI Shop Racks) plyboo top, and the whole thing assembled by a community volunteer, the component above has lots of nice green design approaches embedded in it.

I will certainly be encouraging the OMSI folks to include models and examples of green exhibit design from the museum field into the final sustainable exhibit design project materials.



3) Materials DO Matter 

Some designers crab about sustainable design discussions (or any design discussions) degenerating into a drool-fest over the latest, coolest materials.  While this is often the case, it is still important to be aware of the materials available, their use, and most importantly, their re-use.

It was clear from the shop tour, that not only are the OMSI staff extremely careful about materials (PVC is just a non-starter) they are just as thoughtful about how to reutilize or repurpose materials from old exhibits into new exhibits.



4) Involving the Community is an Integral Part of Sustainable Design

Here Ben shows off work on a ball machine prototype being developed by community volunteers using lots of creatively "scavenged" materials from the OMSI Exhibits Shop.  It was clear throughout my visit to Portland how much OMSI included the community in their exhibit building efforts.




5) Green Design Includes Extensive Prototyping

Here Todd Kehoe shows us some cool nanotechnology prototypes involving reused materials that were mechanically fastened (not glued) together, so they can be easily modified.  Similarly, graphics were produced using low-impact materials that can be easily changed and modified.  Prototyping ultimately saves time and money by allowing for more thoughtful materials and design solutions in the final exhibit components.



6) Green Design Can be Fun!

There often seems to be a perception that sustainable exhibits need to be plain, rough-hewn affairs made of sticks and mud without a trace of color, fun, or design flair.  To disprove that notion, Ben showed us the beginnings of his desk prototype (created from reused extrusions and other OMSI shop scrap by volunteers, of course!) to harness the nervous fidgeting of a worker's feet through a treadle system and transform the motion into energy to power simple office devices like lights or smart phones.

Thanks to the entire OMSI crew for helping move the conversation about sustainability and green exhibit design forward for the entire museum field!


Have some of your own green exhibit design tips or resources to share?  Let us know about them in the "Comments" section below.


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Museums In The Middle

I'm worried about museums. Specifically "museums in the middle."

As will come as no news flash to intrepid ExhibiTricks readers, the wretched economy is playing havoc with the museum biz (and all the adjunct players like designers, fabricators, architects, etc. who work with museums.) Just the other day, Design Craftsmen announced they were closing up shop after 40 years.

But this posting is about "museums in the middle" as in middle of the bell curve.

Not BIG museums like those that form The Smithsonian, or MOMA --- these battleships will keep moving in the same direction even if you cut their engines tomorrow. To borrow a phrase, these iconic institutions are simply "too big to fail."

Nor am I concerned about many smaller museums, the ones that didn't overbuild, the quirky little gems that bask in the love of their respective communities --- they've always lived by their wits, rather than endowments or visitor attendance projections, and will continue to do so, even if their forms and formats change somewhat.

No, I'm worried about the mass of mid-sized, perfectly nice, but not exceptional, museums who bought into the notions that the only way to get better was to grow bigger, or to jump onto the traveling exhibits treadmill to boost visitation statistics. When the donor and governmental money was freer-flowing it seemed like every building expansion, or every dodgy ploy to boost attendance, was a smart bet.

But now in the midst of this recession/depression/whatever these notions have become largely unsustainable --- and thus comes the reduction in staff, the reduction in hours, the reduction in, let's be honest, quality and service to the public.

So what happens now? What's the best way to use this time to rethink and reshape our current museums? I'm worried that many museums --- traditionally risk-averse, will just shrink their operational footprint and wait until things "get better."

Rather than just waiting, how can we thoughtfully, and boldly, use this time to make things better now?

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

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

Building Internal Capacity

If there is one silver lining to the continually oppressive economic news, it's the opportunity for museums and other organizations to focus (or re-focus) on building their internal capacity.

It might sound funny for an independent museum professional like myself to advocate for museums being able to develop and create programs and exhibits internally, but I am a strong believer that all types of museums should build upon the strengths of their existing staff and other institutional resources, rather than automatically looking for outside help. (See my recent posting on the importance of in-house exhibit workshops, for example.)

One way for museums to stretch their resources in these tough times is to look for ways to increase such internal capacity.

Art Museums, as one obvious instance, are starting to think more carefully about how the items in their collections might be reinterpreted or redisplayed to create new exhibitions, or even "mini-exhibitions" of a few works, rather than booking traveling shows, or trying to mount expensive "blockbusters."

Any type of museum could benefit from taking a fresh look at their programs and exhibits to try and creatively, and economically, improve them. Is there a way to slightly change or reconfigure a troublesome exhibit component to make it more interesting for visitors? Can you rethink or revitalize an exhibit in storage, and bring it out of retirement? What about building upon a current news item to rapidly develop a combined education program and mini-exhibition on the topic?

These are the types of questions that a knowledgeable museum professional from outside the organization, with a fresh point of view, can help answer.

As a matter of fact, I'm about to formally announce the launch of a new service called the "Exhibit Dr." designed to help museum staffers, as well as independent designers helping museums, to stretch their existing resources, and to "prescribe" the answers they need to solve their knotty exhibit problems.

So stay tuned, as ExhibiTricks readers will be the first to find out when the Exhibit Dr. is "in"!

Before You Start A Museum, Read This.

We've written previously about the closing of COSI Toledo (here and here) and the issue of sustaining a museum once it opens.

I'm happy to report that on the third try, the voters of Lucas County have passed a 5 year tax levy to provide support (read cold hard cash) to COSI Toledo.

This gives the fine folks at COSI Toledo (that's the current name, but it sounds like that might change soon, as they distance themselves from COSI Columbus) a little breathing room to restart and continue building ties to the local businesses and schools.

However, this tax levy brings up a dirty little secret about museums: they don't, or can't, generally support themselves on earned income --- museums need constant infusions of cash (via endowments, tax levies, generous donors, government grants, or winning lottery tickets.)

Well, o.k., the lottery tickets are a slight exageration, but really the odds of starting a museum that continues to grow, expand, and thrive (as opposed to constantly struggling and becoming shabby) strictly on earned revenue, are high odds indeed.

That's the part of the story that never comes up when the feasibility documents with the rosy budget and attendance figures are passed around. That doesn't mean that new museums shouldn't get created, but you better make sure your source(s) of outside cash are firmly in place.

What do you think? Should anyone try to start (or restart!) a new museum in today's economic climate? Let us know in the "Comments Section" below.

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Sustainable Design Inspiration

I've been doing some design work for the Children's Museum of Indianapolis on topics related to water and the environment for their upcoming exhibition on modern Egypt.

I thought I'd share information about two organizations that are developing simple, even elegant, design solutions to solve literally life-and-death problems related to water use in developing countries.

The first is KickStart, a non-profit organization that develops and markets new technologies in Africa. I was especially impressed by their "micro-irrigation" technologies --- essentially simple, durable, easy to maintain people-powered pumps. Some of their designs are called "Money Maker" pumps to indicate that from a small initial investment rural economies can grow through increased farm profits and local jobs.

The second organization is PlayPumps International. As you can see from the video above, they have created water pumps that are powered by children at play. The PlayPumps are installed near schools, and double as a water pump for a local community as well as a merry-go-round for children.

The PPI approach is great on several levels: first, using kid-power frees up villagers (primarily young girls and women) from spending several hours every day on collecting safe water from remote locations. Secondly, the educational opportunities for girls increase since they now have time to go to school instead of getting water. Lastly, PlayPumps International has been creative and entrepreneurial in getting sponsors (and even mounting advertising on units!) in order to expedite the process of providing pumps and installation for interested communities.

Museums can support the work of PlayPumps and KickStart by showing off their technology, thereby making visitors aware of the work of such organizations (like the wonderful exhibition, "Design For the Other 90%" organized by the Cooper-Hewitt.) But perhaps, more importantly, museums can inspire visitors to consider the broader issues related to the intersection between sustainable design and basic environmental issues by making them aware of the need for such technologies in the first place.


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Best Of ExhibiTricks: Museum Sustainability

While I'm away on vacation, I thought I'd offer a "Best Of ExhibiTricks" series that clusters together a batch of thematically related postings that you may have missed.

This time around the "Best Of" theme is "sustainability." Opening a new museum is tough. But keeping a museum going, and growing, for years and years, is much tougher. So here are postings about the difficult task of truly sustaining a museum:

First up, a post about COSI Toledo. How did one of the true "name brands" of the science center world close their doors completely after ten years of operation?

Next up, a post about the Mark Twain House, and how the institutional reach may have exceeded its grasp after a massive building addition was completed (way over budget.)

Finally, any discussion of the topic of institutional sustainability would be incomplete without mentioning the Millennium Dome in the UK. This post offers a bit of commentary and a link to an excellent PDF treatise on the subject by Dan Howland.

Enjoy!

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Another Cautionary Tale For Museums: What Happened To The Millennium Dome?

I happened upon the Danny's Land blog today, and aside from the fact that Dan Howland points out both Laurie Anderson's and Thomas Dolby's favorite oddball amusement parks (That would be "Dollywood" for Laurie and "Diggerland" for Thomas) he also offers a free PDF download of a treatise called "Dome and Domer: The Increasingly Stupid Story of the Millennium Dome."

The premise of the Millennium Dome: "Let's spend lots of money to build a ginormous new attraction with lots of flashy technology --- so many visitors will come, that it will be self-supporting!" certainly sounds familiar to museum people.

Unfortunately, initial bursts of civic enthusiasm and bucketfuls of municipal money do not make for long-term, sustainable business plans for museums. (See our previous posts on COSI Toledo and The Mark Twain House.)

Some of the important lessons learned from The Millennium Dome fiasco outlined in "Dome and Domer" are obvious in retrospect: the people who designed it weren't the people who had to run it, there was no cohesive "vision" to the entire enterprise, simple things like throughput and lines weren't taken into consideration, and tons of money was frittered away on bozo ideas like robotic pubic lice (!)

Obvious though such points about the 'Dome may be, there are still many museum projects hoping to survive on good intentions rather than sound business fundamentals.

Rather than detail here the many hilarious (and scary!) goofups that ultimately doomed the 'Dome, I'll let you download and read "Dome and Domer" for yourself.

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Sustainable Museums Part 3: Goodbye Mark Twain House?

I've written previously of the tricky business of not just opening, but also sustaining, museums in posts about COSI Toledo.

A recent article in the NY Times describes how Mark Twain's historic home (and museum) in Hartford, CT may now be in danger of closing due to lack of funds. This is a shame since I know from visiting Twain's home that it is beautiful and obviously of historic and cultural importance.

However, reading between the lines of the Times article, one has to wonder if the museum designed by "starchitect" Robert A.M. Stern (which cost $19 million, almost double the initial projections!) needed to be as large and grand as it ultimately became. Also, if your museum was losing money and cutting staff, would you eliminate key marketing and development positions?

There is also something unseemly when museums play the same sort of "chicken" game that the owners of sports stadiums pull --- "if you don't give us more money, we'll close the place down!" The Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island, which was funded largely by Nassau County, recently tried to make a similar argument.

The leadership in Nassau County told the Aviation Museum to "go fly a kite" and forced them to change their top management as well as institute a more aggressive fund raising plan.

It will be interesting to see how the greater Hartford community responds to the financial crisis at the Twain House and Museum.

(On a somewhat related note, I am offering a prize to anyone who can point me to a complete and definitive list of museums which received "earmarks" in the most recent Federal Budgets.)


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Green Exhibit Design: An Interview with Tim McNeil

A short while ago, I asked colleagues if they could recommend a good source for information about "green" (that is, eco-friendly) printers and printing materials suitable for museum exhibitions. While many museums are taking the first steps toward green exhibit design, it was clear that additional information in this regard would be helpful.

Happily, several folks referred me to Tim McNeil, who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design, and Director of the Design Museum at the University of California, Davis.

The Design Museum functions as a laboratory for exhibition design, interpretation, and practice. The 2007–08 season of eco-exhibitions at the Design Museum will present a range of work by designers at the forefront of sustainable and green design. McNeil is currently researching green design methods and technological advances that are applicable to exhibition environments. 

Tim was kind enough to answer a few questions for the ExhibiTricks blog as well as providing some resources that should prove useful to anyone interested in exploring the possibilities inherent in green design.



ExhibiTricks: Tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to the UC Davis Design Museum?

Tim McNeil: I’ve been working in the museum profession principally as an exhibition designer for nearly 20 years. A good part of that time was as a senior designer at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles where I designed exhibits and gallery spaces for the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The experience at the Getty afforded me the opportunity to participate in the planning and design of two new museums and work with some of the best museum professionals, objects, resources, and interpretive environments in the world. I was also fortunate enough to be at the Getty at the right time. When I arrived in 1992 there was a desperate need for an exhibition design department to help facilitate in-house design solutions with Richard Meier and Partners, architects for the Getty Center. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a new design department from scratch for a museum with resources and major ambitions for the future.

What made the new exhibition design department at the Getty unique was the goal to hire designers who could traverse multiple design disciplines. We weren’t interested in the conventional museum model that pitched design teams working in three dimensions (exhibit designers) with those who work in two dimensions (graphic designers). The Getty’s exhibition design department employs 10 designers with backgrounds in architecture, industrial, interior, and graphic design. Each designer is expected to work on every aspect of an exhibition, from spatial design and display furniture to the exhibit interpretive elements and text, to the printed ephemera and promotional environmental graphics. This approach yields very cohesive design solutions when the conditions are right, relying heavily on cooperation and lack of design ego.

This “multi-disciplinary” studio model is now far more typical of design studio practice. Include engineers, computer scientists, and behavioral psychologists and you have the IDEO of the design community. I still consider the Getty’s exhibition design department groundbreaking within the museum community. Finding good designers who can traverse multiple areas was never easy and continues to be challenging. The design curriculum I teach at UC Davis was developed from this experience, I am preparing designers who can move fluidly between the design disciplines.

Towards the end of my tenure at the Getty, I was increasingly involved in exhibit design projects for other organizations and museums. These projects allowed me to tackle a range of different exhibition environments that were less object-based and more about ideas and interaction. I was looking for a new path, one that would provide me with the opportunity to explore the proverbial question “What is design?” together with finding answers to “What is exhibition design?”. There is very little academic research about the exhibition design process, it is a topic badly in need of further definition and exposure. Coupled with my commitment to teaching the exhibition designers of the future, the joint Design Museum Director and Professorial appointment at UC Davis was far too opportunistic to pass up.




ET: What has prompted your interest in "green " design and materials?

TM: I can cite three major factors:

1) A lifelong exposure to nature and the outdoors and a belief that we all have a social obligation to clean up after ourselves.

2) The beginning and end of a products life rests squarely with the designer. They are the conduit between idea and reality and therefore perfectly positioned to influence change.

3) My work for the environmental action center at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Santa Monica, CA. In 2003, the project held the distinction for being one of the first “green” interpretive centers in the nation's “greenest” LEED platinum certified building: http://www.nrdc.org/cities/building/smoffice/intro.asp#smtop




ET: Can you discuss the scope and goals of the "Year of Eco-Exhibitions" at the Design Museum?

TM: The season of exhibitions highlights the work of designers at the forefront of sustainable and green design. The exhibitions balance conceptual design ideas with practical applications and are intended to provoke questions. The sustainable design movement is full of contradictions, there aren’t necessarily any right or wrong answers, but there are some incredibly ingenious and innovative ideas out there. The exhibitions are accompanied by a series of lectures and a symposium. These have allowed the UC Davis Design Museum to invite some of the most engaged speakers on green design to participate with the regional and university community. The upcoming Fashion Conscious exhibition and symposium (May 18, 2008) is one of the first in the country to tackle the rapidly expanding and controversial world of sustainable fashion and textiles.

Each of the exhibitions closely aligns itself with the three main emphasis areas in the UC Davis Design Program; visual communication, interior architecture, fashion, and textiles. They also educate design students about the future of their chosen profession and complement the program’s courses on sustainable design. Design education is going through another revolution and sustainability is at the heart, it’s amazing how motivated most students are about the issues, and how quickly education is having to adapt.

A primary goal of the exhibition series is to introduce the green exhibition design initiatives I had been incubating over the past several years. This had been my objective since becoming director of the museum in Fall 2005. The strength of the UC Davis Design Museum lies in its ability to experiment with objects and content and how this material is communicated within an exhibition environment. This is the complete antithesis of my work at the Getty Museum where perfection was the ultimate goal. Not to mention that the budget resources are vastly different. I wanted to demonstrate to the museum community that an exhibition can be designed and built using entirely recycled, rapidly renewable, and non-toxic materials, and that the design quality of the space, furniture and graphics do not have to be compromised. The subject of energy efficiency was also broached since this is a significant issue for museums with complex lighting and HVAC systems.
Critical to the success of the exhibitions and our efforts to promote sustainable behavior were the inclusion of accessibly written interpretive elements about the green initiatives we had taken. A series of eco-signs describe and draw attention to the green features using bold graphics. These signs have been evaluated and simplified as the year progresses to help determine the best way to connect visitors to potentially complex and unfamiliar topics.

The long-term goal is the successful continuation of this process at the Design Museum and it’s influence on others. I’m using several forums to communicate the results and findings from the green design wiki to talks and presentations at conferences and at museums. My continued design work for other museums and exhibition spaces serves as a venue for exploring these initiatives in a larger and more visible way. I anticipate publishing the work as well in the future.



ET: What are some of your favorite online (or offline!) resources for people interested in finding out more about eco-friendly design or materials?

Online:
http://www.treehugger.com/
http://www.designersaccord.org/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/ (Good stories on the environment)
http://www.makower.com
http://www.nrdc.org/
http://www.buildinggreen.com/
www.greenexhibits.org


Offline:
My students and colleagues at UC Davis.



ET: What advice would you have for fellow museum professionals, especially those from smaller museums, in developing more eco-friendly exhibitions?

TM: Taylor Wise-Harthorn, a graduate student at San Francisco State University has done some initial surveys with museum exhibition design professionals to help determine what is preventing them from adopting green practices. Cost and lack of information scored high, but the most cited reason was policy. Convincing museum directors and senior staff to go green is challenging because it necessitates change and often an upfront cost. However, the upside is that once the initial steps to go green have been taken, it is often very difficult to backtrack.

I have a top ten list of ways to green an exhibition environment, that are simple and applicable to museums of all sizes and can be implemented with little effort:

1. Improve the energy efficiency of exhibition lighting by installing timers and sensors to manage usage. Install CFLs when appropriate.
2. Adjust exhibition climate control settings where possible. Do the objects or exhibits need to be that cool or warm?
3. Design modular exhibition components/furniture that can be easily recycled or reused.
4. Practice the 4Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reinvest). Do more with less.
5. Use low-VOC paints.
6. Avoid vinyl-based signage products.
7. Print on 100% post-consumer paper using non-petroleum-based inks.
8. Use Agri-fiber products such as wheat straw rather than wood-based particle boards.
9. Use screws instead of glues.
10. Inform staff, vendors, and most importantly visitors about your efforts.



ET: Can you tell us more about the Green Design Wiki?

TM: It is very much a collaborative effort between myself and former design student Alan Wells. Alan had chosen to focus specifically on green design for his undergraduate degree. He has now graduated but remains involved with the site's development and maintenance. I suspect you will hear about Alan and his work in this area in the future. Above and beyond the Design Museum website and exhibitions, the wiki is the most practical resource we can provide to the museum community. It is intended to provide a basic grounding in sustainable design concepts and initiate an ongoing dialogue about greening the exhibition design field. The array of materials and products is rapidly evolving, a wiki-based platform is the best model for having others contribute and for keeping it current.



ET: Have you come across any obvious examples of overselling or "greenwashing" in any particular areas of exhibition design or materials?

TM: Lighting manufacturers are guilty of over-hyping the quality of their energy-efficiency lamps and fixtures. CFL and LED alternatives to MR-16 halogen lighting lack the lumens, color rendering and temperature for track systems in exhibition environments. They do offer advantages (no UV, low heat) for localized case lighting where the intensity of light required is less, but I think the color temperature is not there yet, especially for lighting art objects.

Plastic lumber. Beware of the claims by certain manufacturers regarding their products' recycled content. Some contain little or no recycled plastic and even use PVC, the common belief is that all plastic lumber is made from post-consumer waste plastics and sawdust.

Signage products for banners is probably the most contentious. The profits to be made in this industry are huge, and printers and substrate manufacturers are all grappling for an angle on how green they are, or want to be. The Design Museum uses a biodegradable PVC alternative for traditional vinyl banners-- while certainly a step in the right direction, it still has to be manufactured using raw materials and lots of energy. Ultimately it still has to be thrown away in landfill, where under the right composting conditions it will decompose more quickly. The green exhibit design industry is in its infancy and we are going to see a lot of conflicting messages. Lee Knight from Exhibitor magazine says:

“Today, nobody knows what Green really means — no common standards exist. Each client and supplier provides its own definition to its own satisfaction. To date, the number of reported exhibit-related Greenwashing incidents is almost nonexistent, but this could quickly change as the pressure from management to find Green exhibit solutions continues to grow.”
See: http://www.exhibitoronline.com/exhibitormagazine/feb08/knighterrant0208.asp



ET: I'm particularly interested in green aspects of printing and graphics for exhibitions. Any pointers you could offer in that area?

TM: The offset lithography printing industry has been using recycled paper and vegetable-based inks for some time and there really is no reason not to specify these products. The quality is comparable to traditional printing and with the advent of online printing services such as Greenerprinter.com, it is cost-effective and really easy. The signage and large-format graphics industry has some way to go before it can boast its green credentials. The main challenge facing the large format environmental graphics industry is the small quantities and custom-based design solutions (demand isn't driving change...yet!). Chemical-based processes and finishes are currently the only option given the longevity of a signage product, particularly for outdoor interpretive signage which has to withstand the elements, and depending on the location, indoor signage which needs to hold up to touch.

At the UC Davis Design Museum, we have been using a low-solvent-based ink on recycled paper, with no lamination or glues (they are stapled or clipped onto Homasote (recycled board) for all interior exhibition graphics. We've also printed on easily to recycle fabrics and are currently experimenting with Ecospun (recycled plastic bottles) and some of the natural organic cottons. The past exhibition (GreenStop) was printed on BioFlex (a biodegradable PVC banner alternative) using eco-solvent inks.

There are no alternatives to direct application vinyl lettering that I have found (vinyl not being an environmentally friendly product). We used a stencil (using vinyl and a vinyl cutter) on a wall and then rolled non-VOC paint over it and removed the stencil. It works well for titles and large headings and although you are still using vinyl for the stencil at least the product is removed from the exhibition environment.

Smaller graphics can be printed on colored papers using a laser printer. As long as you avoid foam core and spray mount, and use recycled paper boards and non-toxic glues this is a good economical and green way to produce graphics. Reusable clear acrylic covers rather than Polycarbonate laminates provide the protective covering.

The silkscreen process uses solvent-based inks and other chemicals (although the screens are reused). Exterior graphic/signage panels that use embedded graphics under laminates are very energy intensive and chemical-dependent. The commercial exhibit industry is poised to green itself in a big way (bigger business) and that, I predict will act as the catalyst that the large format graphics/ signage industry needs. Museums will then reap the benefits. 


Thanks once again to Professor Tim McNeil for taking the time to share his views and expertise on green exhibition design! To learn more about Tim and his work at UC Davis you can follow this link.

Let us know your own approaches to green exhibition design, or share some of your own favorite resources in the Comments Section.

COSI Toledo: Act 2?

I just received word that the fine folks at COSI Toledo, which "officially" closed at the end of 2007 (see this previous ExhibiTricks post) have decided to keep in the game by offering a suite of outreach experiences to area schools. It's my understanding from personal communication and news reports that the museum facility remains closed to the public, and that all of the exhibits have been wrapped up and stored.

I wish the folks in Toledo luck. Perhaps now that they are starting from "square one" (in the sense that many museums first operate as a facility "without walls" providing outreach programs, etc. before they gain a permanent home) COSI Toledo may be able to garner important community and political support and reopen in a revitalized form.

If not, I sure hope all the exhibits find good homes!