Exhibit 101: How does it happen?

Exhibit 101: How does it happen?

Ever wonder how a history exhibition at the Evansville Museum goes from concept to reality? Ideas come from a variety of sources, and while each journey has its own unique story, the process remains the same with basic components of conceptualization, consideration, budgeting, the approval process, fundraising, research, object/image selection, writing, exhibition design, and installation—with several of these happening simultaneously.

Most commonly, history exhibitions at the Museum focus on aspects of local interest (though broader topics are presented on occasion) with ideas coming from me as the curator of history, members of the community-based Evansville Museum History Committee and from members of the general public.

Two types of exhibitions are considered. These are in-house exhibitions and traveling exhibitions. The former are exhibitions created by the Museum’s staff drawn from our collection and from other available holdings. Traveling exhibitions are ones borrowed or rented from another entity—normally another museum or an exhibition service. In the history area, in-house exhibitions are typically what are considered.

As ideas are generated, the viability of these exhibition ideas are discussed by the History Committee. Considerations include whether these exhibitions would be of interest to the public, whether the story or collection is worth sharing and if there is enough material available to create an exhibition. Some ideas may be worthy, yet lack items to create an exhibition.

If an exhibition subject is deemed valid, it is forwarded from the History Committee as part of an upcoming exhibition schedule—normally two to three history exhibitions are calendared each year—to the Museum’s Executive Committee and ultimately to the institution’s Board of Trustees for final approval. This process of conceptualizing and approving history exhibitions and their attendant budgets runs in parallel to developing exhibits in the disciplines of art and science at the Museum.

Spearheaded by our development department, potential community partners—be they companies, individuals or foundations—are identified. Positive results from these fundraising efforts make it possible for us to present an exhibition to the public.

Research and object/image selection normally happen at the same time. With most in-house exhibitions, a core of material has been identified and further items sought as the process moves forward. In happy instances, there is an expert—either a collector or subject matter specialist—who can help guide the process of finding information and material.

The first part of the writing process occurs early on and involves generating a statement that provides an overview of the exhibition. This statement is utilized during the approval process and in fundraising to explain the scope of the exhibition. Moving forward, text is written describing various topics within the exhibition and for specific artifacts and images.

As objects and images are identified and finalized for an exhibition, the design of the exhibit is also occurring. A broad idea of an exhibition layout is narrowed with the goal of creating the best possible combination of interpretation and visual appeal. An important part of this process is working with a graphic designer who provides expertise in setting the mood through appealing graphic panels and signage that tie the exhibition together. This is also the period when matting/framing, artifact preparation and component building are taking place.

The final phase of creating an exhibition is installation. This carefully executed work involves putting artifacts and images in place. As happens with many home improvement projects, unexpected challenges can arise during installation, but through the ingenuity and creativity of the Museum’s staff, a quality product is produced for the public to enjoy.

Thomas R. Lonnberg

Curator of History