Exhibitions at a BIG Museum

Boston Children’s Museum History

• The Museum was founded in 1913 by Boston public school teachers.

• One of the oldest and biggest children’s museums

• Hands-on learning exhibitions were pioneered by Michael Spock, Museum Director from 1962-1986

Boston Children’s Museum History

• In 1979, the Museum moved to its present location to be become more accessible to people from Boston’s diverse neighborhoods

• Major expansion and renovation completed in 2007

Mission

• Boston Children's Museum exists to help children understand and enjoythe world in which they live. 

Profile

BCM is a private, non-profit, educational institution that is recognized internationally as a research and development center and pacesetter for children's exhibitions, educational programs and curriculum.

Outcomes for Our Visitors

What this Means…

•5 Friends from Japan•Kid Power•Children of Hangzhou•Art Studio•Teen Tokyo•KidStage

•Access/Ability•PlaySpace•Science Playground•Arthur•Peep and the Big Wide World•Blue Man Group: Making Waves

• The museum isn’t “about” anything specific

• Almost all exhibits fit into at least one pieces of the “pie,” often more than one

BCM’s Audience

• They’re young (0 - 12)

• They’re old (50% are adults!)

• They’re everything in between

• 400, 000 to 500,000 per year

Some Audience Driven Considerations

• Be aware of the relative attention span of adults and children

• Prototype and build to last, including materials that can be cleaned!!

• Give an explicit role for adults in each exhibit;

• Find ways to make kids the experts;• Guide observation and interpretation.

Attention Span Attract, Hold, Communicate

Prototyping - Cheap and Fast

Prototyping - Complex

Durability

Durability – Uh Oh…

Little Shop of Horrors

It Takes a Team to Build an Exhibit!

• Exhibit content developer• Collections manager or curator• Exhibit designer• Exhibit builder• Educational program developer• Media planner• Project manager (that’s me!)

And a LOT of Vendors!•Exhibit Designers

•Design + Communication, Montreal, Canada•Exhibit Technology

•XYZ Cultural Technology, Montreal, Canada•Exhibit Fabrication

•BCM Design and Production, Roxbury, MA•Mystic Scenic Studios, Norwood, MA•Blue Rhino Studios, Eagan, MN•Other Boston based cabinet maker•Boston based metal artist and welder

•Graphic Design•Busy Bee Printing Press, South Hadley, MA

•Scrim Artwork•Ms. Lin, China

•Graphic Production •Olsen Images, Watertown, MA•FOLIA Industries, Huntingdon, Canada

•Translations•Linguistic Systems, Inc., Cambridge, MA

•Theatrical Curtains•Major Theatre, Boston, MA

•Video Production•China based film crew•Teri Serafini, Boston, MA

•Photographs•China based photographer•Various stock photo agencies•Zeff Photo, Boston, MA

•Computer Interactives•State Street Technology Center, Hangzhou, China•KidZibits, Minneapolis, MN•RedPost inc., Goshen, IN

•3-D Imaging•3-D Concepts, Carlisle, MA

•Additional Cartography•DesignMaps, Oakland, CA

•Costumes•Chinese based vendor•CostumeWorks, Somerville, MA

•Exhibit Props•Numerous China based suppliers

•Exhibit Packing and Crating•Beauregard Exhibits, CT

Who Do We Work With?

• Internal staff experts• Scholars and other experts

(Harman/JBL)• Community groups• Advisory boards• For profit companies (Home Depot)• Entertainment industry (Blue Man

Group, WGBH)

Exhibit Team Workshop

Exhibit Design Drawings

And What About Collections?

• We actually have a large collection!

• Actively incorporate real objects into most exhibits

Fabrication - In-house and Vendors

BCM Vendor

Construction and Installation

BCM Vendor

And What if it Travels?

• BCM rents and travels 5 exhibits

And of Course, We Evaluate!

• Front-end, to find out what people know or want to know

• Formative - prototyping exhibit elements, text, graphics

• Summative - how well did we do? (we don’t do this as often as we should)

After That, the Party!

Thank You

James JensenDirector, Project ManagementJames @bostonkids.org

First 4 Tips

• Establish exhibit goals for your audience;

• Think about kids’ interests and what they like to do;

• Remember that kids of different ages think and respond differently;

• Figure out if you need a facilitator.

Next 3 Tips

• Let kids make choices;

• Depend on real experiences;

• Think about hands-on, inquiry based learning.