Not every museum display case groups similar objects or juxtaposes objects. Some display interrelated objects. Interrelating objects is a strategy where you select artifacts to tell a specific tale. They all belong to the same unfolding narrative puzzle. …

Most museum display cases invite visitors to compare similar things. Occasionally, though, you’ll encounter two objects in a case that don’t appear to be similar at all, but it’s no accident they are together. …

Have you ever learned something valuable — without any school, class, or training program? We all do it all the time. It’s called informal learning. You’re doing it right now. In fact, you’re informally learning about informal learning. …

When museums describe themselves as educational … are they? Yes. But. There is a difference between “education” and “educational.” Here is the landscape. First, Formal Learning. That’s schools, colleges, and universities. …

(See what I did there?) Yes. Most panel titles are just naming the subject, like a Wikipedia article: “Early Railroads.” “Civil War Medicine.” “Ancient Trade Routes.” Those titles are clear, sure, but they mostly just sit there. …

Why do our visitors come back? Often, because we have “something new.” But not every kind of “new” works this way. A whole new temporary exhibition can be an event. A single rotated object might be “new,” but not in the same way. …

How can exhibitions create positive change in the world? Femke Bijlsma (Partner, Kossmanndejong) discusses “Make Space for Change (The New Book)” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners). …

Political leaders have argued that museums should emphasize national pride rather than difficult history. Yes, museums should not overwhelm visitors. But there is a difference between handling history carefully and removing it entirely. …

Some difficult history exhibitions overwhelm visitors. Others are so restrained that visitors feel almost nothing. How do we navigate these two extremes? Here’s one way: the Inzovu Curve, developed during genocide memorial work in Rwanda. …

Many of us make exhibitions on subjects that are emotionally and politically difficult. (Some of us do nothing but.) War. Slavery. Genocide. Colonialism. Refugees. Terrorism. Injustice. In museum-speak, this is difficult history. …

“Want to get married under a giant extinct lizard skeleton?” ”I thought you’d never ask.” Exhibition halls and rotundas can make excellent event spaces. We need rentals. Without them, our financial health has one less thing to rely on. …

Scope creep is the gradual, unacknowledged expansion of work beyond what was originally agreed upon, without corresponding official changes to the budget, schedule, or expectations. Scope creep is not just “the project getting bigger.” …

Exhibitions have a constant tension. Are we giving information? Or creating engagement? Of course, the answer is, “Both! Duh.” But let’s dive into that, because “both” isn’t a thorough answer either. Imagine an Information/Engagement Spectrum. …

Someone might ask you to include a historical timeline in your next project. After all, they’re everywhere. Which is actually part of the problem. If you do decide to make one, here are a few challenges you could try …

All our visitors "carry over" expectations from their lives into our exhibitions. Are we actually meeting those expectations? For example, 100% of our visitors use their phones dozens of times on the same day of a visit. …

So how can you make a small image wall-sized without it looking low-res or inventing new pixels? Here’s an old-school trick: add controlled grain. You’re adding a mistake on purpose. But this actually makes it look better up close. …

Last time, we set out the basics, three questions that decide whether a mural graphic will look good — or like a picture you accidentally took pulling your iPhone out of your pocket in a taxi. But why can’t we just hit “print at 10,000%”? …

“It has to be 300 DPI!” You’ve probably heard that phrase. But this rule about DPI (dots per inch) comes from offset printing: brochures and other things people hold at arm’s length. But a wall is not a brochure, and resolution is not religion. It’s just math.

Nobody wants an exhibition. They want what an exhibition achieves. This MtM note is about outputs versus outcomes. Similar words, a universe apart. An output is the literal physical result of your work. An outcome is what happens after that …

We have a habit in museums. We assume that artifacts somehow deserve to be shown. They’re from the collection. They’re from the period. They’re authentic. And we need artifacts. So they belong in the exhibition, right? Not necessarily. …