Museums Explained: Exhibitions

Museums Explained

Sections:

Exhibitions

Museums with permanent collections have usually a small fraction of the artworks they own on public display at any one time. Sometimes long term exhibits of portions of the museum's own collection are called "permanent" exhibits. The rest of the collection is stored in vaults, or portions of it are on tour. Many museums also organize "special" exhibitions which have a specified time frame.

Many museums have the financial resources and staff to organize exhibitions held at their own facility. Others host exhibitions organized elsewhere. Some institutions also have the ability to plan and manage exhibition tours. While museums sometimes tour exhibitions that they have organized, they usually do not manage the touring of exhibitions organized by others.

When a museum rents an exhibit from a tour organizer the museum's curator may enhance the exhibit by adding works from the museum's own collection or from the collections of other owners. Sometimes the museum will present a derivative exhibit along with the rented exhibit.

There are many elements to planning and executing an exhibition. Some elements include:

concept design
budgeting
curator, registrar, education director recruitment
vendor selection and contracting
catalogue design and production
grant management
preparation of agreements
legal review
marketing
scheduling
crating, insuring and transporting of art works
security planning

The non-profit Exhibition Alliance has created a video which, according to the American Association of Museums,

"shows the best methods for handling artworks and artifacts, using demonstrations and a question-and-answer format. The 26-minute video is an excellent training tool for registrars, curators, art preparators, artists, students, shippers, or anyone responsible for handling works of art or historical artifacts."

The Exhibition Alliance also has a web page containing "technical briefs" which are illustrated and helpful for learning how to prepare artworks for exhibition and shipping. They have prepared a page including a budget worksheet to help in planning and management of exhibitions.

For more on exhibitions see also see TFAO's Planning, Organizing and Touring Art Exhibitions.

Other non-profit organizations besides museums may also originate or present exhibitions. The can be arts centers, historical societies, libraries, and even airports. [1]

A list of museums that exhibit American representational art may be found at the Museums Index of Resource Library. [2]

To make the most of your visit to an exhibition:

If you are touring, you will find American art venues to visit Indexed by State within the United States. Call the museum in advance to see if you:

can join a docent tour to interpret the exhibition,
need to make a reservation to have lunch in the museum cafe,
can take your camera with you to take pictures of the art.

Always verify dates directly with museums before visiting their exhibitions. Museums often have closed days. Mondays are common in the USA but sometimes there are other closed days or multiple closed days. It's a good idea to arrive early or late in the day when there are less crowds. Many museums have tours for school children in the morning, causing increased traffic. Some museums have evening hours and many offer free days throughout the year.

When arriving you can get an idea of what the museum considers it's most cherished works by scanning the postcards in the museum gift shop. Or take a look through books that describe the museum's collection. Larger museums have kiosks, brochures, and even computer rooms for viewing the collection on a screen.

Video

How to Visit an Art Museum is a 28-minute video produced at the Art Institute of Chicago which helps visitors make the most of every art museum visit. "In this video you will learn how to see more of what is in a painting using simple techniques, how to plan museum visits around your special interests, how to appreciate the pleasure of gallery walks made alone or with others, how to look at art in different ways and come away with greater understanding, how to develop your imagination through art's power to surprise, how to make new discoveries in works of art you feel you already know, how to deepen your feelings for art through the many activities offered by museums, how to create your own art as part of your visit, and how to help young people feel at home in museums -- whether you are a parent or a teacher.[3] (left: box cover of How to Visit an Art Museum)

1. See the Academies, Associations, Ateliers and Societies Index of Resource Library for names of other non-profit organizations which may originate or present exhibitions.

2. Resource Library is an Internet-based publication devoted to American representational art. The publication includes aspects of both a popular magazine and a scholarly journal and maintains a balance between both emphases. Resource Library is published as a complimentary public service without a subscription fee by its nonprofit owner and publisher Traditional Fine Arts Organization. Resource Library 's content time line spans the Colonial period to the present and covers significant artistic achievement in every state of the Union, while building an interconnected body of knowledge including, but not limited to, the relationships of American artists to their teachers in European and American art centers, schools and ateliers. The publication provides a comprehensive record of American museum exhibitions and evolving cultural emphases within its field on interest. References to the specific art museums listed above contain links to pages in the publication.

3. quote courtesy Audio Visual Institute of DuPage.