Open Forum

I am trying to do some research about exhibition fees and was not sure where to start. Specifically I'm curious about if borrowing institutions expect to pay fees, what the range of fees are and what, if any, fees/expenses lending institutions pay. If anyone feels comfortable sharing this info from their institution or can point me towards surveys/research/guidelines on the matter I would really appreciate it!  

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Rachel Smith PhD
Los Angeles CA
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Are you looking to find out information about how to create a traveling exhibition? If you are a museum using your own collection, there are costs involved with developing/generating and crating the exhibition, but usually the costs for traveling and lending are covered by the borrowing museum. Fees really depend on what the exhibition contains--is it 2D items, and how many? or is it 3D items? How much running feel (wall space) or square footage is required to display it properly and safely?

Will the generating museum create marketing and educational material that can be used by the borrowing museums? There are quite a few other issues to consider, including insurance, sending staff to install/deinstall, and physical technicalities (loading dock? elevator size? doorway size?) of transporting to each borrowing site.

Some traveling exhibit companies to take a look at are:

CATE http://www.curatorial.org/traveling-exhibitions

IA&A http://www.artsandartists.org/exhibitions.php

ExhibitsUSA from MAAA http://www.eusa.org/

Hope this helps, Nezka

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Nezka Pfeifer
Curator
Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science & Art
Scranton PA
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My organization (http://www.SAQA.com) creates exhibitions (about 4/year) and rents them out to venues.  We charge $4,500 which includes round-trip shipping, all hanging hardware, and complete signage (charges for international venues are handled differently). All a venue needs to do is design a layout and put up a few nails.  Feedback is fairly consistent that our exhibitions draw a larger, more diverse audience than the venues are accustomed to getting.

Currently we have 12 exhibitions available, with subjects ranging from portraiture to text messages to the periodic table.

Because our mission is to educate about our art form, we subsidize the rental fees.  Our rates just cover our actual costs.  Other organizations charge a lot more.  Check out the Smithsonian SITES program for the standard in the field (http://www.sites.si.edu/). 

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Martha Sielman
Executive Director
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc.
http://www.SAQA.com
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I am really glad you asked this question because I currently work at a Library where we have 2 art gallery spaces that we filled regularly. I'm beginning to work with our current staff member that curates the space, so I've been wondering these same questions. From the experience I have so far, the cost and fees depend on who you are borrowing from. That's our situation at least. And as already mentioned, many of the fees are typically covered by the borrowing institution. Fees such as insurance, installation, etc, but in our case, it depends on the deal you work out with the lending institution. I'm going to look into the links and material provided by the other staff members that replied because this is great and really helpful. 

Thanks for asking this question!

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Sarah Arntz
Program Specialist
Nashville TN
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