Exhibits
Exhibits at Museums and Historic Sites
In the fall of 2024, I studied Museum Exhibits with the University of West Georgia at the Atlanta History Center. During this course, I completed several academic writings concerning this topic, such as exhibit reviews, object interpretations, best practices, etc.
Below is some information about each assignment and links to the full writings.
Exhibit Review
My first assignment for this course was an exhibit review based on The Public Historian's exhibit review guidelines, which would cover an exhibit currently on display at the Atlanta History Center. I chose "More Than Brave. The Life of Henry Aaron," and reviewed the content, presentation, and flow of the exhibit based on my own experience walking through and observations of visitors.
Object Interpretation
I also completed an object interpretation exercise. I selected three objects from a current AHC exhibit that could be used to tell a different story in a proposed exhibit. I photographed these objects, described their current context, and then described the new story they could tell in my exhibition.
Label Copy Exercise
I also completed a label copy assignment, where my class picked a theme, and three objects from the AHC, and then rewrote their labels to match said theme. Then, we each individually picked a different theme from the same three objects and rewrote the labels again.
Team Exhibition Plan
As a group project, the entire class was tasked with acting as an exhibition team to propose a revamp of an AHC exhibit. As a group, we decided to repurpose a historic building near the Swan House into a children's exhibit on the history of toys. Within the group, I made mock-ups of the exhibit, a special activity, a webpage example, and example label copies and panels.
Best Practices for Exhibits
As a final essay, I also wrote a paper on best practices within exhibit preparation and design. The paper was based on the readings assigned throughout the course, and how they translated philosophically into what makes a good exhibition and into practice, with considerations of current issues in the field