In this paper, we identify broad stages in the actual making of an exhibition and describe how various types of halls carry them out using various models of creation. The very first stage, Idea Generation, and the acceptance of a possible exhibition idea , were discussed earlier.
Concept Development
The making of an exhibition begins once the museum has allowed an idea to move forward into concept development. Most interviewees agree that concept development is when the “serious” work on the parameters for content, ideas, design, size and cost begins. The product of this stage is a relatively well-defined proposal for additional review and possible presentation to potential funders.Design Development
While some halls use outside contractors for exhibition design , especially if the exhibition involves complex technology, most design takes place within the initiating museum. The core team, exhibition developer, or lead curator work with the designer to orchestrate the exhibition design. Some halls are moving to in-house design after years of contracting. For example, according to the vice president of exhibitions at a major museum, they moved away from contract designers to strengthen their in-house exhibition staff. “The decision involved cost as well as how the museum represents itself in terms of control and accountability,” he commented.Fabrication and Installation
At the point at which exhibition fabrication begins, almost all of the decisions have been made. In the course of the OP&A study, interviewees raised very few issues relating to fabrication and installation. Unless unexpected problems arise, the main challenges here are monitoring and scheduling. Skillful project management that incorporates flexibility appears to solve most of the issues that arise. Like design, fabrication is either conducted in-house or contracted out. Many interviewees prefer to contract out but their halls do not have the resources to do so.Post-Opening Activities
In an ideal world, exhibitions would have “soft” opening dates with time and funds to make adjustments in response to obvious faults identified after installation. With the exception of exhibitions at some science centers and children’s halls, very few halls routinely plan for adjustments or corrections. Even when they conduct full-scale visitor evaluations, they rarely make changes. Some museum process documents specify that an amount of the budget must be held back for visitor studies and remediation. Interviewees told us, however, that these are seen as contingency funds and often are used for other purposes.A number of halls include a “post partum” stage in their process documents.
In the case of one museum, tasks at this stage include documentation, an audit of expenses, evaluation and revisions, and recommendations for future projects. In practice, by the time an exhibition has opened, most of the actors have moved on to the next project, and enthusiasm for revisiting decisions has evaporated. In small halls, there is a sharing of lessons learned from exhibition to exhibition. This is less the case in larger halls, where the individuals who occupy specific exhibition-making roles change repeatedly. Since unsuccessful experiments in design, presentation and process are rarely reported in the professional literature, there is little sharing of lessons across museum lines.
