How to credit, acknowledge or otherwise publicly recognize museum exhibition participants seems to vary widely. The "old school" approach avoided any names except in the fine print. Of course, a sponsor of an exhibition is often seen in some obvious manner to inform visitors of the source of money or objects in the exhibit. My preference is to avoid what may appear to be employee grandstanding. Personally and professionally I recoil from what another museum in your state does which is to list the director, curator, registrar, and an installer or two and no one else on the institution's team. Museums are group efforts and it is the effort of the group that must be respected - starting with the people who keep the bathrooms clean! Oh...and the trustees...
Curatorial statements are not unusual for exhibitions and in those cases a name is usually present, especially if the person is a guest curator. This is more an academic exercise than an applause. When it comes to listing other names, companies, donors, etc. terms of a gift or loan may dictate how a name is to be presented, and where. I haven't seen too many commercial contractors touted in exhibition credits. Payment is their reward rather than public profiling. But, if they gave a museum a break or did work for free, why not note that somewhere. Lenders of objects are another matter as they will specify, or a museum will ask, how they want to be acknowledged. Anonymous always seems to be a popular lender.
Steve
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Steven Miller
Executive Director
Boscobel House and Gardens
Garrison NY
Original Message:
Sent: 06-15-2016 11:30 PM
From: Diane Bushman
Subject: Exhibition credit panels
I'm looking for standard practices and suggestions on creating the credit panel for an exhibition. Many many many people put in work on making the exhibit fly. Who does your museum include in credits (staff, without or without titles; donors; contracted professionals; other institutions who loan items or provide images/other materials; etc.)? Do you have a separate donor panel vs credit panel? Are there some tasks/contributions that do not warrant acknowledgement on a panel?
I'd appreciate any shared images of exhibition credit panels for inspiration and to understand the tricky business of giving credit (and not stepping on toes).
Thanks!
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Diane Bushman PhD
Assistant Curator, Science Education
New Jersey State Museum
Trenton NJ
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