Can a building tell a story?

How do you design a glass wall to be ... mist? What if architecture, landscape, and exhibitions were all thought of as one thing? What changes when you etch barbed wire into a handrail? How can the floor plan of an entire museum relate to a nautilus shell? What does “A.D.R.O.I.T.” stand for? We’re going to find out, so notebooks at the ready.

Alan Reed, FAIA, LEED AP (President and Design Principal of GWWO Architects), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Story-Based Design.”

Along the way: dendrites, neurons, Seminole history, and a famous mathematical sequence that goes 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 …

Talking Points:

1. What is Story-Based Design?

2. Do the Research

3. Define the Essence

4. One Experience: Architecture + Landscape + Exhibitions

5. Intuitive Wayfinding: A.D.R.O.I.T.

6. Materials Matter, Down to the Details

How to Listen:

Listen on Apple Podcasts >

Listen on Spotify >

Listen at Making the Museum, the Website >

Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor >  

Guest Bio:

Alan Reed, FAIA, LEED AP is President and Design Principal of GWWO Architects. Alan has focused his career on the planning and design of facilities that engage users, foster interaction, and enhance communities. Alan is a regular speaker on issues related to museum and interpretive facility design. He has spoken at numerous conferences, on many panels, and for many organization events including the National Association for Interpretation Conference, Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums Conference, Southeastern Museums Conference, and Building Museums Symposium. His work has been featured by Architectural Record and Metropolis, among other publications, and has received accolades at the national, regional, and local levels.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.

Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners >

Links for This Episode:

Email Alan Reed

Alan Reed on LinkedIn

GWWO Architects

Projects referenced:
Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Welcome Center at Niagara Falls State Park

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center

Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention

George Washington’s Mount Vernon Ford Orientation Center and Donald W. Reynolds Museum & Education Center

Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:

Contact Making the Museum
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn
Email Jonathan Alger
C&G Partners | Design for Culture

Making the Museum, the Newsletter:

Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)

Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.

Subscribe here >

How would you design an exhibit — if an animal’s life depended on it?

What is the number one reason people come to the National Aquarium? When should you take ego out of design? What is a “machine for living”? Which is right: “know-feel-do” or “feel-know-do”? (Hint: might not be the first one.) Why would an aquarium visitor want to hear from the people who take care of the animals? What happens when you float an entire Chesapeake wetland on top of the ocean, in the middle of Baltimore Harbor? How have kitchens and exhibits had a similar evolution?

Jacqueline Bershad, Vice President of Planning & Design at the National Aquarium, joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Designing with Animals.”

Along the way: plankton, anemones, turtles, ducks, night herons, sloths, and rockwork sculpting geniuses.

Talking Points:

1. Architecture with a Small “a"
2. Embracing Unlearning
3. When Your Clients Can’t Speak for Themselves
4. Behind the Scenes IS the Scene
5. Passionate People and Pragmatic Problems
6. Vision with a Big “V”

How to Listen:

Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ 

Guest Bio:

Jacqueline Bershad, Vice President of Planning & Design at the National Aquarium, is a licensed, LEED certified architect with 25 years of experience in the design of museums, exhibit experiences, zoos and aquaria. Her team is responsible for all capital improvement projects, experiential design, exhibit fabrication and operations. She represents the Aquarium at national conferences including AAM, MAAM, AZA and ASLA; has published on museum experience in national outlets; and was appointed by the Mayor to serve on Baltimore’s Public Art Commission. Jacqueline holds a Master’s in Architecture from North Carolina State University, Master’s of Science in Architecture from the University of North Carolina with a specialty in the design of public space, and a Bachelor’s in History from Wesleyan University.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Links for This Episode:

[email protected]

Jacqueline on LinkedIn
 
National Aquarium - Harbor Wetland

Baltimore Floats an Artificial Wetland in Pursuit of a Cleaner Harbor - Bloomberg

National Weather Desk Harbor Wetland

National Aquarium Strategic Master Plan – Studio Gang

Harbor Wetland — Ayers Saint Gross

Urban Aquatic Health: Integrating New Technologies and Resiliency into Floating Wetlands. | 2018 ASLA Professional Awards

Evolutionary Thinking in Habitats® - CLR Design

Links for MtM, the Podcast:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:

Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. 

(And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)

Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.

Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):

https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

How do you make an institution that's both a museum and a memorial — at the same time?

How are exhibitions like theater? Is a museum a group experience, or a personal one — or is that a trick question? When is it time to trust your gut? Why is collaboration so important? When is a single milk can the most important object in a museum? How can one single, simple philosophy inform everyone’s work, from the curators to the team making mounts for the artifacts? How are the principles of making a memorial museum different from other types of museums — or are they so different after all?

Alice Greenwald (Principal of Memory Matters, LLC, and past President and Chief Executive Officer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Making a Memorial Museum.”

Along the way: spackling, reverence, and what happens when a museum director leaves their office door open.

Talking Points:

0. What is a Memorial Museum?
1. Start With Authenticity
2. It’s About Storytelling
3. Museums Are Not Books
4. Practice Conscientious Listening
5. Trust Your Gut
6. Collaboration is Required

How to Listen:

Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Alice M. Greenwald is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of museum practice, with expertise in history, ethnic heritage, and memorial museums. Currently the principal of Memory Matters, LLC, providing strategic advice to museums, memorial projects, senior executives, and boards, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum from 2017-2022 and from 2006 to 2016, as the organization’s Founding Museum Director and Executive Vice President for Exhibitions, Collections and Education. Previously, she was Associate Museum Director, Museum Programs, at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Alice serves on the boards of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and the United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial Foundation and is a Trustee Emerita at Central Synagogue in New York City. She is First Vice President of The Lotos Club, and in January 2024, concluded her service as a board member of the International Council of Museums-US. She holds an M.A. in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and a B.A with concentrations in English Literature and Anthropology from Sarah Lawrence College, where she delivered the commencement address to the class of 2007.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Links for This Episode:

Alice by Email:
[email protected]

Alice at Memory Matters:
https://www.memorymattersllc.com

National September 11th Memorial & Museum:
https://www.911memorial.org

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
https://www.ushmm.org

Links for MtM, the Podcast:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:

Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. 

(And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)

Join hundreds of your peers with an ad-free quick one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, visitors, budgeting, content, and project management, to name just a few.

Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):

https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

Is there an organization for the exhibition field? A new initiative is picking up steam.

The exhibition community in the US, some say, has recently gone from having “nearly one” professional organization — to none at all. That’s because of the unexpected 2023 dissolution of NAME, the National Association for Museum Exhibition, a group within the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). But now a new effort is rising at SEGD, an international organization headquartered in the US. It takes the form of a PPG, or professional practice group, specific to exhibition practitioners. How can everyone in the field access professional development and mentorship? What is the role of networking in a professional community? Should there be better standards for the field?

Cybelle Jones (CEO of SEGD) and the cofounders of the new PPG, Steven Rosen (President and Creative Director, Available Light), and George Mayer (Retired Vice President of Business Development, Kubik Maltbie), join host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “A New Home for the Exhibition Community.”

Along the way: how listeners can get involved, the role of local meetups, and what a survey revealed that people in the field most urgently need.

Talking Points:

1. Elevate
2. Advocate
3. Educate
4. Standardize
5. Socialize
6. Celebrate

 How to Listen:

• Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G 
• Everywhere: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ 

Guest Bios:

Cybelle Jones is CEO of SEGD, a multidisciplinary community creating experiences that connect people to place. SEGD is a non-profit member organization focusing on education, innovation and design excellence by designing more equitable, sustainable, and user-centric environments. Prior to joining SEGD, Cybelle led numerous acclaimed design projects during her 25+ year tenure as Principal of G&A, including the National WWII Museum, the International Spy Museum, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum. Cybelle is actively involved in various boards and has spoken on the field of experience design at AAM, the V&A, FIT, AIGA, AIA and MuseumNext.

Steven Rosen, President and Creative Director, Available Light: Merging performance lighting techniques with traditional non-theatrical environments launched Steven’s career and his founding of Available Light over 30 years ago. From Museum exhibits to immersive architecture to trade shows, the fun never stops—it helps that he works with some of the planet’s most talented lighting aficionados. The originality and grand scale of Steven’s award-winning designs are evident in many one-of-a-kind award-winning projects as: The Neural Climber interactive at the Franklin Institute, Ocean Hall for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the International Spy Museum in DC, and Chicago MSI’s U-505. He is passionate about supporting the lighting community.

George Mayer first joined Maltbie Associates in 1986 and was responsible for identifying new business opportunities, proposal writing, presentations, contract negotiation, and oversight of project management teams to ensure satisfactory fulfillment for permanent and traveling exhibits. From 2002 to 2009, George worked as the founding director of a new museum fabrication business for Art Guild, Inc., a nationally active trade show exhibits producer. In 2010, George rejoined Maltbie (now Kubik Maltbie, Inc.) as Vice President of Business Development. He retired from the firm in June of 2022.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Links for This Episode:
 

SEGD:
https://segd.org/

SEGD Membership:
https://segd.org/join/

SEGD Professional Practice Groups:

https://segd.org/resources/introducing-segd-professional-practice-groups/

SEGD PPG Unveiling at 2024 AAM:

https://segd.org/news/segd-unveils-professional-practice-groups-at-american-alliance-of-museums-conference/

Cybelle:

[email protected]

Steven:

[email protected]

George:

[email protected]

 Links for MtM, the Podcast:
 
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com 
 

Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
 
Like the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. Join hundreds of your peers with an ad-free quick one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, visitors, budgeting, content, and project management, to name just a few. (And a bonus: newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
 
Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):

https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

“The client’s role is not to solve the problem — it’s to state the problem.”

What’s the client’s perspective in major cultural projects? What are “client user groups?” What’s the difference between advocating for the client, and advocating for the project? How do you “inhabit your project?” How might a single gender-inclusive restroom project change an entire institution? Should every project have a “super contingency” in the budget?

Amy Weisser (Deputy Director for Strategic Planning and Projects at Storm King Art Center) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “The Client Side of Major Projects.”

Along the way: P.P.E., trusting the hiring decisions, and a 2,000-year-old Roman theory that still works today.

Talking Points:

1. The Three-Legged Stool: Vision, Schedule, Budget

2. Client Advocate, Project Advocate, User Advocate

3. Museum Building Projects are Linear, Not Cyclical

4. All Projects are Transformational

5. Project Phases: Watercolors to Hard Hats

6. Disasters DO Happen

7. Build Your Values

How to Listen:
 
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Amy Weisser is Deputy Director, Strategic Planning and Projects at Storm King Art Center, where she incubates projects focused on strategic growth. Weisser has spent 30 years supporting cultural institutions undergoing profound development. Prior to Storm King, Weisser led exhibition development for the National September 11 Memorial Museum from 2005 to 2017 and helped open the contemporary art museum Dia:Beacon and the American Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center for Earth and Space. She has taught Museum Studies at New York University. Weisser holds a doctorate in Art History from Yale University. She is a co-author of Martin Puryear: Lookout (GRM/SKAC, 2024). 

About MtM:
 
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Links for This Episode:
 

Amy’s Email:
[email protected]

Amy’s LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amysweisser/

Storm King: 

www.stormking.org
 

Storm King’s Capital Project:
https://stormking.org/capitalproject/

Building Museums Symposium, a project of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums:
https://midatlanticmuseums.org/building-museums/

Links for MtM:
 
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Newsletter:
 
Like the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email, three times a week, on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. (And the best way to find out first about new episodes of the podcast.)

Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

Can you get big press with a small budget? (Hint: Yes.)

For museums, small firms, and independent consultants, this episode is packed with literally dozens of ideas from a master of scrappy PR.

What is the #1 tip about PR, if you forgot all the others? How do you get a journalist’s attention? How do you get in the news without something new? Who should be your spokesperson? Is press actually about the topic — or is it about just being in the news? Once you get an article, what do you do with it? Do people still write press releases? How important is PR, anyway? (Hint: Very.)

Sarah Maiellano (Founder, Broad Street Communications) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Scrappy PR for Museums”.

Along the way: newsjacking, working the niches, and the magic of a holiday gift guide.

Talking Points:
 

1. Eight Story Ideas: Beyond the Exhibition

     a. New = News

     b. Humans are Interested in Other Humans

     c. Party Time

     d. Shopping!

     e. Localize It, Personalize It

     f. Education

     g. Newsjacking

     h. Money Money

2. Doing the Prep Work: Photos, Video, Writing, Talking Points, Spokesperson

3. Building a Media List

4. Maximizing Media Coverage

How to Listen:
 
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Equal parts creative and entrepreneurial, Broad Street Communications founder Sarah Maiellano’s superpower is discovering and telling stories. Sarah is an award-winning Philadelphia-based Public Relations professional and independent journalist. She serves Philadelphia area arts and culture institutions, with a focus on museums, and regional non-profits. Over the last 15 years, she has generated more than 3,000 stories about her clients. She’s a past board member of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association and is a frequent speaker at events and conferences, including the American Alliance of Museums 2024 annual meeting. As a freelance journalist, Sarah covers travel and food for regional and national outlets, including USA Today and Philadelphia Magazine.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:
 
[email protected]

www.broadstreetcomms.com
www.sarahmaiellano.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahmaiellano/

https://www.instagram.com/sarahmaiellano/ 

MtM Show Contact:
 
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Newsletter:
 
Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

Have we lost a sense of playfulness in our work … and could we get it back?

In museums for children, why does “analog usually beat digital?” What’s a “climbing structure”? What are design metaphors, and why should planners beware of them? How can exhibition teams better empathize with one another’s fears and concerns? Why should a museum professional or designer “hyper-specialize”?

Jonathan Goldstein and Kyle Talbott (Principals, Skyhouse Studio) join host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Six Keys for Unlocking Your Most Playful, Creative Work.”

Along the way: ancient trees, vacuum tubes, and Easter eggs.

Talking Points:

1. Finish Every Sketch
2. Beware of Design Metaphors
3. Design as if You’re Going to Build It
4. Demonstrate Empathy Through Disruption
5. Analog Usually Beats Digital
6. Hyper-Specialize

How to Listen:

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G 

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ 

Guest Bios:

As a child, Jonathan Goldstein accidentally built a 2-story treehouse surrounded by a thicket of poison ivy. Never deterred by a project’s audaciousness (or the limitations of his botanical knowledge), Jonathan designs climbing structures to conjure adventure and perceived risk—the stuff of childhood memories. Prior to his architectural studies, Jonathan’s earlier career as a junior high school history teacher prepared him for what would be his quest: To awaken people’s senses and engage their innate curiosities. His specialization in climbing structure design is born from a desire to make special places for families to share uncommon, joyous experiences. Jonathan is the founder and design principal of SKYHOUSE Studio.

Kyle Talbott is Design Principal at SKYHOUSE Studio. He is obsessed with designing complex three-dimensional labyrinths that challenge the mind and body. He uses cutting-edge parametric modeling software to sculpt weird, organic structures inspired by everything from a craggy mountainside to an osprey nest. Kyle sees the world as a complex, orderly whole, and his climber designs embody the harmony of natural and technological things. He is also a passionate educator who is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. In all his work, Kyle helps people cultivate a growth mindset and a heroic spirit through inquisitive play.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

Skyhouse
https://skyhousestudio.org/
SKYHOUSE Studio is a service of the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus

Jonathan Goldstein
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-goldstein-49856b2a

Kyle Talbott
Email for Kyle: [email protected]
LinkedIn for Kyle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-talbott-9b17b325/

MtM Show Contact:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger 
[email protected] 
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com 

Newsletter:

Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email, three times a week, on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. (And the best way to find out first about new episodes of the podcast.)

Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

How do new museums make money — really?

In this episode, we lift the veil on new museum projects and money. What is “the peril of the bicycle wheel”? Is it bad to rely on “anchor funding”? How many kinds of revenue should a new museum project have? What happens if you have the wrong number? (Hint: eh, not so good.) How much money do endowments make? And what’s so magical about thirds?

Amy Kaufman (Principal, Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “The Money Pie Chart”.

Along the way: Latin American Art curator jokes, coat-checking 200 motorcycle helmets at once, and a pharmaceutical metaphor Jonathan will never live down.

Talking Points:

1. Museums have to make money
2. Introducing the pie chart
3. Pac Man, peace signs, and anacins
4. The peril of the bicycle wheel
5. What happens when you don’t diversify
6. What’s next: Living wages and climate action

How to Listen:

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Amy Kaufman (Principal, Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning) is an institutional planner with demonstrated success in strategy, business and facilities planning, branding, and operational implementation. She has successfully worked with organizations of all types and sizes, including museums, universities, parks, botanic gardens, visitor centers and heritage sites. She collaborates with government agencies, architects, developers, foundations, and institutional leaders to integrate a variety of goals and perspectives. She plans new institutions; and assesses performance and conducts qualitative and quantitative market research for existing organizations, integrating findings into strategic, operational and visitor experience plans. Previously, Amy was Managing Director at Lord Cultural Resources and Special Project Director at the Guggenheim.

About MtM:
 
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:
 
Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning

https://www.akculturalplanning.com

MtM Show Contact:
 
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Newsletter:
 
Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

What’s the role of wonder in experience design?

What can the circus teach us to make our exhibitions better? (Spoiler alert: a lot.) Could being “with it and for it” be the secret to success for museum projects? How much technology is too much? Can we really design for all five senses? Can an exhibition be a high-wire act — literally?

Jennifer Lemmer Posey (Tibbals Curator of Circus at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to teach some inspirational “Circus Lessons for Museum Professionals”.
 
Along the way: popcorn, a wall of clowns, and that special smell of elephants.

Talking Points:

1. Build a team that is “with it and for it”

2. Engage all of the senses

3. Technology shouldn’t steal the center ring

4. Wonder is in the details

5. Create opportunities for shared experiences

6. Design a space that can be ever-changing, never-changing

How to Listen:

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G 

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ 

Guest Bio:

As the Tibbals Curator of Circus at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Jennifer Lemmer Posey oversees the interpretation and care of objects and ephemera related to the history of circus. With more than twenty years of experience, Jennifer serves as a liaison to the international circus community and facilitates academic study of circus arts. A leading scholar in American circus history, her work has been included in numerous books, catalogs, and journals. Jennifer served as editor for Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society and was an Advisory Scholar in Circus Arts for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2017.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

About Jennifer:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferlemmerposey/
https://www.instagram.com/wonderfilled_curator/

About the Ringling:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/theringling
https://www.instagram.com/theringling/
https://www.facebook.com/TheRingling

From Point 1 - Building a team that is “with it and for it”:

Behind the scenes of the Howard Bros. Circus model - museum staff program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxntny_wC_M

Wagon Wheel installation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgF8__NDnJQ

From Point 2 - Engage all of the senses:

The Ringling
https://www.ringling.org

Wonder Symposium
https://www.ringling.org/wonder-symposium/

From Point 3 - Technology shouldn’t steal the center ring:

The Greatest Show On Earth Gallery at The Ringling
https://www.ringling.org/event/the-greatest-show-on-earth-gallery/

Manage This Podcast – My Project is a Three Ring Circus
https://www.velociteach.com/manage-this-podcast/my-project-is-a-three-ring-circus/

From Point 4 - Wonder is in the details:

Howard Tibbals & the Howard Bros. Circus Model
https://www.pbs.org/video/wedu-arts-plus-311-howard-tibbals/

Smithsonian Folklife Festival – Wonder Is  by Albert Tong and Hae-Yang Chang
https://festival.si.edu/blog/wonder-is-circus-arts

Circus Museum Collection Highlights
https://emuseum.ringling.org/collections/5163/circus-highlights/objects

From Point 5 - Create opportunities for shared experiences:

The Ringling’s Collecting Recollections series features fascinating people with fascinating stories to tell about their lives, the Museum, the Circus, Sarasota – and more. I recommend Dolly Jacobs, Kenneth Feld, Jackie LeClaire, Peggy Williams
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLctJhityCmSnHNtgDWP6uWK3Nf0l7Pkr1

From Point 6 - Design a space that can be ever-changing, never-changing:

The Circus Museum at The Ringling
https://www.ringling.org/visit/venues/circus-museum/

To learn more about circuses:

Federation Mondiale du Cirque

http://www.circusfederation.org

Circus Historical Society
https://circushistory.org

Circus Sarasota
https://circusarts.org

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
https://www.ringling.com

MtM Show Contact:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected] 
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com 

Newsletter:

Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

Do museum stores actually make any money?

What are they really for? Can a store act like an exhibition? What does “cap rate” mean? How big should a museum store be? What percentage of visitors go into one, and how many of them buy something? Why should you get an expert to design your store, and what happens when you don’t?

David Franke (museum store architect) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discover what’s “Beyond ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’”.

Along the way: rubber snakes, oysters, onions, and Mona Lisa ashtrays.

Talking Points:

1.  An oyster living in a birds nest.
2.  New store in a new museum or a renovation to an existing one. Where, oh where to begin?
3.  The peeling of the onion.
4.  Getting the balance just right.
5.  Don’t forget that long range strategy to ensure you don’t fall victim to your own success.

How to Listen:

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G 

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ 

Guest Bio:

With over four decades of experience as an architect, David Franke’s focus is now exclusively on store design and planning for museum and cultural institutions around the world. Museum stores include two at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and the Museum of the American Cowgirl, the US Botanic Garden in DC, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Arizona; the Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey, three retail projects for the State Preservation Board in Austin, and the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park Illinois.
 

David has also served on councils and boards for the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle, Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s Building and Facilities Committee and the Pennsylvania Ballet. He is a participant in the International Museum Construction Congress, the California Association of Museums, Texas Association of Museums, American Association of Museums and Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, where has co-presented sessions on the design of museum retail.

About MtM:
 
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

David's website: https://www.davidfrankeconsulting.com

David by Email: [email protected]

David by Phone: +1 (215) 498-4384

David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-franke-ra-21a4539/ 

MtM Show Contact:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger 
[email protected] 
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com 

Newsletter:

Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com