Sunday, May 18, 2003
Last modified at 11:26 a.m. on Friday, May 16, 2003
© 2003 - The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Lee Brodie

Exhibits can go beyond museums

If change is as good as a rest, then we at the Museum of Texas Tech are going to be well-rested because many changes are taking place. The dinosaur gallery is scheduled for completion by the end of this year, the retablo gallery will be replaced by a new, improved pre-Columbian gallery, the planetarium is scheduled for a face lift very soon and there will be a new traveling exhibition added every month until the end of the year.

A change in exhibition is an opportunity to display artifacts from the collections that have not been seen by the public. And those artifacts that have been exposed to light sources for long periods of time can return to storage, where they are kept away from damaging environmental conditions.

When exhibitions are changed, quite often walls are painted, added, moved or removed; display cases are added or removed; text labels are written; paintings or photographs are hung; lighting is adjusted; and objects are arranged for optimum viewing.

The next time you visit the museum, I suggest that you observe not just what is on display, but how those items are displayed. Note the colors around the objects, the paint on the walls, the lighting, the way objects are grouped together (i.e. the theme of the display case) and the text that describes what you are seeing.

Bill Meuller - Museum Of Texas Tech

The Western Apache coiled baskets and the pinon-pitch water jar, above, were made in the early 1900s.

Then, bring your observations home to create your own family museum. Here, roughly, is what museum personnel do when designing an exhibition that you as a family can do to create your own museum: Start with the conceptual phase by gathering ideas about what you want to display. Perhaps a theme might be "A Day in the Life of Our Family," "Family and Friends," "Family Trips," "Holidays," "Our Family Tree," "Family Heroes" or "Accomplishments."

The theme is the umbrella under which your exhibition will be constructed and will guide the selection of artifacts. Decide on the duration of the exhibition: opening and closing dates. Exhibitions can stay up for as little as three weeks or as long as 5 years, although six weeks might work well for a family museum.

Next is the development phase, which is the planning and production of your exhibition. Once you have selected your theme, decide what artifacts, artwork, and/or photographs you want to display that portray the theme. Find a space in your home to display your works. Draping a tablecloth over a box creates an instant display space. Museums use glass display cases called vitrines or stanchions to keep the public from getting too close to artifacts. How will you protect your artifacts?

Perhaps you want to type some labels to accompany your artifacts. Labels communicate the name of the object, its age, owner, materials and use. You also might want to develop a brief description of the exhibition that includes the title, names of the curators and a synopsis of the theme. Be consistent about where you place your labels (always to the bottom right of the art-work or artifact). Place the text panel close to your exhibition description where viewers can see it prior to viewing the artifacts.

Bill Meuller - Museum Of Texas Tech

The center object is a pre-Columbian bowl with a snake and bird motif. All of these artifacts are in the pre-Columbian gallery at the Museum of Texas Tech.

Many exhibitions are accompanied by an official opening. These can be formal, invitation-only, black-tie affairs with mood music or informal, everyone-welcome, come-as-you-are gatherings with a festive atmosphere.

Refreshments and speeches are common to all openings. You might want to invite friends and family to your opening as an excuse to socialize.

The functional phase of the exhibition process includes the operational stage, which is the opening and viewing of the display, and the terminating stage. The day after your closing date is the time to dismantle the exhibition. Labels are removed, and artifacts are returned to their owners.

This leads to the assessment phase of evaluating what worked well, what needs improvement and what ideas emerge for future exhibitions. In the museum world, there is a transition or turn-around time when one exhibit is packed up and shipped out and the display space is prepared for the arrival and installation of the next exhibition.

This is the time to select the next theme for your exhibition space. And the cycle continues. In the meantime, be sure to visit the Tech Museum often to check up on our changes.

LEE BRODIE is the curator of education at the Museum of Texas Tech, 742-2432 or lee.brodie@ttu.edu.