[NHCOLL-L:3796] Exhibit fundamentals course online March 31

[Helen Alten]

MS106: Exhibit Fundamentals: Ideas to Installation
Instructor: Lin Nelson-Mayson
Dates: March 31 through May 9, 2008
Cost: $425
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 six 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:

“The lectures were clearly written and 
understandable, and the readings (Lord & Lord, 
Serrell) were surprisingly readable!  The 
Powerpoints provided a great summary for each 
section 
 I enjoyed the course thoroughly and 
have gained some valuable (and somewhat sobering) insight. “

“Great teacher, Great technology, Great 
peers/other students!  Enjoyable reading.  Very 
helpful for now and in the future.  Great reading.  Great Text.
A++  and THANK YOU!!!”

“I liked having the content presented multiple 
ways.  I read the lectures, viewed the Powerpoint 
slides, and completed the readings.  With each 
presentation of the materials I found I learned more.”

“The content could be adapted to a project we are 
working on 
 Rather than spending time planning 
and working on an exhibit I would never complete 
in my facility, I could instead focus on a dream 
(a big dream) of an exhibit and actually apply 
what I was learning to something that I will use in my museum.
The technology was quite easy to work with.  I 
didn’t need help with the technology, but support seemed readily available.”

“I enjoyed hearing about plans, experiences and 
challenges from professionals at other museums, 
and getting their feedback  it was nice to have a 
‘virtual community’ of people working on similar things.”

“The readings/assignments made me think about my 
exhibit in ways I hadn’t. Made me realize that 
there were more things to keep in mind than I 
realized. I’ll be on the lookout for future 
courses offered by NSCC. I feel like I really got my money’s worth from it.”
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