Want to choose the art that makes your museum the hottest ticket in
town? Start by looking, looking and then looking some more to develop
your eye. Next, earn a master's degree, land a job at a museum and
work your way up to a curator's position. At last you're in prime position
to organize a blockbuster exhibition.
Instructions
1. Determine the exhibition's theme. Whether you feature a single artist, illustrate an artistic trend or place familiar works in a new context, start with an idea. "Winslow Homer's Paintings" doesn't tell a story. "American Impressions, 1865 to 1925: Prints, Drawings and Watercolors" is an exhibition theme.
2. Choose a date. Factor in considerable lead time, typically two to four years.
3. Seek out supplemental funding--corporate and individual--for both the exhibition and its catalog. Big exhibits cost big bucks but provide impressive opportunities for prestige by association.
4. Plan the catalog and assign essays to experts. Approve designs for other tie-in material, such as banners, postcards, calendars and T-shirts.
5. Allow delivered work to remain in packing materials for 24 hours to adjust to the museum's climate. Do a careful condition report on each piece as it is unpacked. Arrange for additional security guards if needed.
6. Work with the museum's exhibits specialist to design the physical aspects of the installation, including layout and construction of any special display elements such as pedestals, room dividers and temporary alcoves. Arrange for any special lighting needed.
7. Create informational labels for all the works. Great labels go beyond providing basic facts; they answer common questions and help visitors view the artworks with deeper understanding.
8. Identify the most important pieces to illustrate the exhibit's theme. Develop a script about this theme for self-guided tours on cassette or CD, and get a famous person to read it. Interesting art deserves an interesting voice. Check out Antenna Audio at antenna-audio.com.
9. Plan the publicity program. Oversee press releases to send to the art press, both local and national, and to travel publications. Contact a local charity about making the opening party a benefit. See 372 Publicize an Event.
10. Supervise the hanging and placement of the work. Then, just before the preview party, walk quietly around the exhibit--all alone--and savor what you've spent so long creating.
