Exhibition Planning

Basic Steps:

• Develop the main idea of your exhibition. What is the big idea you want to communicate to the viewers?
• Decide on the central themes of the exhibition, and start thinking abut the “flow” of the exhibition. What do viewers really need to know?
• Decide what objects to include. What stories do they tell? Why are they interesting? How do they contribute to the central idea?
• Develop the exhibition narrative. Everything in the exhibition should contribute to the story you’re sharing with your audience. Make sure your group knows the main idea of the exhibitions; the major themes and how they relate to the main idea;  and how each object relates to a theme and, of course, to the main idea.

 What You Need:

1. Title for the exhibition
2. Brief description of the exhibition (3 or 4 sentences that sum up the exhibition)
3. Exhibition checklist (a list of the objects – photos, videos, books, artworks, etc..) that will be in the exhibition
4. Exhibition outline (a summary of the exhibition: title, brief description, the main themes, and the objects grouped by theme

Choosing Something to Display

• Browse several publications, sites, books and search broadly at first. In other words, don't limit yourself to searching for specific images or objects right away.
• Many publications that may not initially look interesting contain visual images or graphics that can help you tell a compelling story about your topic!
• Many documents and images published by the U.S. government are in the public domain, and therefore available for you to use.

Displaying Digital Images

• If you scan an image out of a book or magazine, scan it at 100%, 300 dpi. Save as a jpeg or tiff. For best results, use the Epson scanners connected to the desktop computers in the Reference Room and use the Image Capture app. 
• Make a note of the source of the image

Tips for Labels

• Short is always better!
• The label should be about what you’re looking at.
• The label should tell you why you’re looking at it.
• People often don’t read labels. That’s why the label should be short and tell the viewer something interesting about the object on display.

 Your exhibit will (may) include:

• Title
• A central idea or question
• A brief description
• Sections (groupings of objects)
• Objects
• Conclusion
• Credits

Title, Central idea, and Description

• What is this about, and why should we be interested? Make your viewers curious and eager to explore.

 Sections:

• Sections structure your exhibition and allow you to group objects (thematically, by historical period, by type,…)
• An introductory section introduces your main idea, and orients viewers to the structure of the exhibit
• Why are these objects together? What do they tell use about the main idea? How do the sections work together to construct a coherent story?

Objects

• Know why you are including each object: How does it contribute to the central idea? Why is it in this group? How is it different from the other objects?
• Your label text should answer these questions: What am I looking at? Why is it interesting? What does it have to do with the central idea?

Tips for Writing, Revising, and Rethinking:

• When writing object labels: If you can’t see it, don’t talk about it. (see Kris Wetterlund Guide to Interpretive Writing )
• Always return to the central idea: Does this object/label/text support what I really want people to know?
• But – revise your title, central idea, and description if you need to. Your ideas may shift as you do more research.
• If you are working with a group, check in frequently. Work on each object and each section should support the central idea, and the flow of the exhibition as a whole.