When Best Practices Aren’t Perfect: Reflections on Resilient Exhibition Development

ID: WMA2026_604

Track:

Developing exhibits is messy, often straying from a prescribed set of rules. No matter how hard you try, scope creep can devolve into scope slaughter. Teams can end up frustrated or disappointed. What causes exhibit making to go off the rails? When can you loosen up and make your own process? In this session, we’ll explore common pinchpoints, offer practice advice, and muse on aspiring to “best practices”—which maybe aren’t that perfect after all. 

Session Information

Format: Regular session/panel (roundtable, single speaker, etc.)

Uniqueness: Many sources champion THE exhibit process. We’ll emphasize flexibility, adaptation, and critical reflection. Building on formal examples, we’ll open up the conversation about alternative approaches.

Objectives:

There are nuances in the exhibition development process, and with these there are some specific tools that aid in the organization and collaboration process.

1. Participants will learn multiple methods from exhibit development processes to use in their own work.

2. Participants will become familiar with the signs that the “best practices” aren’t working–and be empowered to get their projects back on track.

3. Participants will network with other professionals to help support or challenge their current processes and tools.

Engagement: The session will start with micro presentations by four panelists, each describing their approach to exhibit development. Then the audience can pose a questions to the entire group for open discussion.

Relationship to Theme:

Audience

Audiences: Curators/Scientists/Historians Other Registrars, Collections Managers 

Professional Level: All levels 

Scalability: A “traditional” exhibit development process is generally based on larger organizations and institutions, often with healthy project budgets. We will focus on how the process scales for different projects, regardless of size and available resources.

Participants