[NHCOLL-L:3206] Online Exhibits Fundamentals Course in November

[Helen Alten]

*** Course Announcement ***

MS106: Exhibit Fundamentals: Ideas to Installation
Instructor: Lin Nelson-Mayson
Dates: November 6, 2006 to December 1, 2006
Cost: $395
Location: www.museumclasses.org

Description:
Nearly every museum develops exhibits, but how can we improve communication 
with visitors while taking care of our objects? Exhibit Fundamentals 
explores exhibits from idea to final installation in a variety of settings. 
Topics include exhibit theory, the role of the museum's mission, creating a 
timeline, accessibility and script writing. Also covered are design 
elements, installation techniques, object safety and security, visitor 
safety and evaluations. Each student develops an exhibit plan for his or 
her museum.

Course Outline
1.      Introduction: Exhibition Theory and the Museums Mission
2.  Intellectual and Physical Accessibility & Exhibition Evaluations
3.  Creating a Timeline and Writing Texts
4.  The Role of Design Elements and Basic Installation Techniques
5.  Object and Visitor Safety
6.  Conclusion

Logistics:
Participants in Exhibit Fundamentals work at their own pace through six 
sections and interact through online chats. Instructor Lin Nelson-Mayson is 
available at scheduled times during the course for email support. Exhibit 
Fundamentals includes online literature, slide lectures and 
student-teacher/group-teacher dialog. The course is limited to 20 
participants.
Required texts are:
(1)     Lord, Barry and Gail Dexter. The Manual of Museum Exhibits. Walnut 
Creek, CA: AltaMira Press (A Division of Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 
Inc), 2002.
(2)     Serrell, Beverly. Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach. Walnut 
Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 1996.
(Both are good resources; if you don't have them in your library, they can 
be ordered on line from Alta Mira at http://www.altamirapress.com/)

Exhibit Fundamentals runs four weeks. Sign up at www.museumclasses.org and 
pay for the course at http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html. If you 
have trouble completing an on-line order, please contact Helen Alten at 
helen at collectioncare.org or Eric Swanson at eric at collectioncare.org

The Instructor
Lin Nelson-Mayson, with over 25 years of museum experience at small and 
large institutions, was recently the director of ExhibitsUSA, a nonprofit 
exhibition touring organization that annually tours over 30 art and 
humanities exhibitions across the country.  For five years, she was a 
coordinator or judge for the American Association of Museums’ Excellence in 
Exhibitions Competition. She currently serves on the exhibition committee 
for the National Sculpture Society. Ms. Nelson-Mayson has extensive 
experience with the planning, preparation, research and installation of 
exhibitions Ms Nelson-Mayson’s experience includes teaching museum studies 
and museology courses.  Her particular interest is the needs of small 
museums. She is now the director of the Goldstein Gallery at the University 
of Minnesota.

Her credentials include the following;
Ÿ       An MFA from The Ohio State University in sculpture and critical 
writing
Ÿ       A BFA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in painting.
Ÿ       Work as a curator for the Ross County Historic Society 
(Chillicothe, Ohio), the Art Museum of South Texas (Corpus Christi), the 
Columbia Museum of Art (South Carolina), and the Minnesota Museum of 
American Art.

Student Comments:
“I liked how Lin’s lectures were interesting, easy to follow, and written 
from experience.”

“I thought the chats were valuable.  That interaction made this class more 
than just a correspondence course.”

“One of the most important strengths of this class was the enthusiasm and 
knowledge of Lin.  During chats it was apparent that she wanted to include 
all participants so she made great efforts to address everyone who was 
there and her comments to me personally were always positive and 
upbeat.  She made you want to do as much as you could.  I also appreciated 
and recognized the expertise of Helen and Eric.  Their input was always 
valuable.”

“Lin was very helpful with her suggestions and feedback to my assignments 
and journal. She also had a way of remembering her students during the 
chats. Impressive.”





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