The Life Cycle of an Exhibition
The life cycle of an art exhibition is something most guests do not see all the way through. They pass by a gallery with art being taken down. In truth, the ideas and funding for an exhibition start long before any visitor enters the gallery. Many people are involved in making this happen. Special events, preparations, mansions, tour guides, security guards, preservation, donors, and more.
Stages of an exhibition from start to finish:
Ideas and Brainstorming: The first step is usually ideas regarding what artists are chosen to be in an exhibition, be it a theme, a solo artist, or another project.
Approval and Funding: Once this is established and selected by the comity and gets the museum director’s approval, the second step must come with funding for a budget for the entire project. More than one exhibition can be in various stages of this process at a time in one museum; this is typical in large intuitions. The volunteers must wear many hats to pull this off if the museum is more miniature.
Art on Loan/Make the best choice: Next, one person or two with expertise in the right style or artists will go to museums across the country and globe to collect artworks for this exhibition. Then, they are arranged to come back to the museum in shipping containers and packed for safe travel.
Fonts and Colors: Then, the graphic design department will do maps, layouts, and font choices with color options to be reviewed before approval on the final designs. They set the font, colors, and images to accompany the artwork.
How can I help you? Guest Services at the front desk will learn the prices and dates for the exhibition. Along with common questions visitors will have about the special exhibition. Some are free to see at no extra charge, but most need to pay extra. Most of them stay for about three months. It might be a good time to be a member of the museum.
De-install: De-install is used when the artwork is taken down, but there is more to it than this event. Preservation- restores and cleans artwork not up on display. During this time, old walls will be taken down.
Unpack and Set Up: Packing and shipping art from one museum to another requires arranging trucks and planes. Preparation Stores and removes the current exhibition or permanent collection from the gallery space. Painting the walls is next, and most exhibitions have a custom color for just that one show. Then, they clean the custom-made cases and install the new art.
A picture is worth a thousand words: The wall text is stenciled on the walls. The other option is a large sticker of text and images to be pasted onto the walls.
Hang the art: This can take weeks, depending on how much to put up and out for display. The more significant works are primarily in the center of the wall. Sculptures are planned throughout the exhibition. Tape on the floor and stations show guests were not to cross.
Adjust the lights: Sometimes, this is done before the art is hung, but mostly not. The right light lets you see the art in the best light; some sensitive artwork must have low lights.
Party! Like it’s an art museum. Special Events- host a party to open the gallery. Caterers bring in food, and tables are set up for the private opening.
Tour Start Here: Docents (tour guides) learn all they can about the new show to give tours publicly and privately. Now, the public can come in and see the art and schedule a tour to learn more.
Gift Shop: Get the catalog of the exhibition you just saw. The gift shop will most likely pop up in the exhibition. From calendars, pencils, puzzles, and prints of the art.
Down it Goes: Then the art is taken down at the end of the exhibition. Repacked and sent back to the museum where it came from or onto a new museum for their turn at an exhibition. The wall text is removed, and the walls are repainted.
Roped off: The old show is roped off, and a guard might be put there to redirect people to a different exhibition.
Then it starts all over again! Thanks for reading. If you want to apply for a museum job, check out this link for some examples.
