Making the Museum

How do you keep a huge cultural project on track? How do you guess the future? What’s a contingency — and why is it the difference between success and failure?

Project manager Beth Van Why (Becker & Frondorf) joins host Jonathan Alger (C&G Partners) to reveal the Secrets of Complex Cultural Project Management.

Along the way: recovering architects, Gantt charts, museum benchmarking — and a Girl Scout Gold Award.

Listen and subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts.
Or start here: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm

The List:

1. How to anticipate the unknowns
2. How to understand the knowns
3. How to prepare for the unforeseen
4. How to document the approvals process in advance
5. How to define the project parameters
6. How to know your client

Guest Bio:

Beth Van Why has spent most of her career managing construction and development projects for non-profit and cultural institutions. She offers an extensive background in architecture, exhibit design, collections care, construction, and owner-run program management. Beth is very familiar with the various funding sources available to non-profits and the parameters that come with them. From master planning to design and budget consultation, Beth brings a comprehensive view of the role needed in making a building project successful. A strong advocate for the importance of education, Beth also serves as an associate professor in museum design at University of the Arts.

How to Listen:

Listen and subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts.
Or start here: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm

See you there!

Warmly,
Jonathan

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About:

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]
https://www.beckerfrondorf.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethvanwhy/

Show Contact:

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

Newsletter:

Like the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter! Making the Museum is also a very short daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com

What are “streakers, strollers and studiers”? How can we plan better projects using the “attract, reveal, reward” system? What’s a “wunderkammer”? What can we expect in the upcoming “Exhibition and Experience Design Handbook”? 

Professor, designer, and museum director Tim McNeil (UC Davis) joins host Jonathan Alger (C&G Partners) to preview his upcoming book, “Exhibition and Experience Design Handbook”. The eBook is available this month (April), and the hardback version is coming in May — and available for pre-order NOW.

It’s not every day that a new book on exhibition and experience projects comes out. We’ll be among the first to get a sneak peek. (And a quick education in exhibition and experience design along the way.)

Subscribe and listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Or start here: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/11

Sneak Peek Chapters in the Show:

Chapter 1. Streakers, Strollers, Studiers

Chapter 2. Once Upon a Timeline

Chapter 5. Wow Moments

Chapter 8. Trapped in Glass Boxes

Chapter 10. Smoke and Mirrors

Guest Bio:

Tim McNeil is a professor of design and director of the Design Museum at the University of California, Davis. He has spent 30 years as a practicing exhibition designer working for major museums, researching exhibition design history and methods, and teaching the next generations of exhibition design thinkers and practitioners. Tim contributed to building the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center and Getty Villa, and the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. His work has been recognized for design excellence by the Society for Experiential Graphic Design and the American Alliance of Museums.

How to Listen:
 

Subscribe and listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Or start here: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/11

See you there!

Warmly,
Jonathan

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About:

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:

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER: 

The Exhibition and Experience Design Handbook
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538157985/The-Exhibition-and-Experience-Design-Handbook

Tim’s Practice

http://munizmcneil.com/

Tim’s Research
http://www.tim-mcneil.com

Tim’s Teaching
https://storiedspaces.faculty.ucdavis.edu/

Contacting Tim
[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-mcneil-1396636/

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Show Contact:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact

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

[email protected]

https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

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Newsletter:

Like the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter! Making the Museum is also a very short daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com

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What’s the best way to organize the content in our experiences? What tricks are we forgetting to try? And what if you learned there were five ways to do it — and only five? Host Jonathan Alger (C&G Partners) does a solo show on “L.A.T.C.H.”, the framework proposed by TED founder Richard Saul Wurman, where there are just five ways to organize any kind of information. Along the way, we’ll cover dozens of ways to apply L.A.T.C.H. to museum and experience projects, explore two surprising potential additions to the list, and even do a little audience participation.

Quotable Quotes:

“Wurman’s idea was that any form of information organization was one of these five, or a subtype of one of them — and there aren’t any others.”

“You could organize a sculpture show by C for Categorical, by sorting by medium. You could put marble over here, bronze over there … and dead shark in formaldehyde way over there.”

“Each of the five types don’t only have examples like the ones we talked about. They also have subtypes. Let’s look into some.”

“Sometimes you have an idea but it doesn’t feel quite right. Maybe it’s because the L.A.T.C.H. types aren’t the right fit. Or you are combining subtypes in an awkward way. But you didn’t know why. And maybe now you know.”

“There are two proposed additions to the list. One totally surprised me. The other has me scratching my head. Let’s see what you think.”

How to Listen:

Subscribe and listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Or start here: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/9

See you there!

Warmly,
Jonathan

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Bio:

We always start with a guest bio, but this is a solo show, so here’s mine: I am the Managing Partner of C&G Partners, a design firm in New York City working with cultural clients. I was taught architecture and graphic design in the day, and theater and music at night, but never thought I could do all that for a living. Like every guest on this show so far, I got into this field accidentally. In fact it found me, but that’s a story for another time. 

About:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. 

This is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. 

Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

Richard Saul Wurman’s “Information Anxiety”:

https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2019/03/book-review-information-anxiety.php

Nathan Shedroff’s Additions:

https://nathan.com/information-interaction-design-a-unified-field-theory-of-design/

Contacting Jonathan:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact

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

https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

[email protected]

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Newsletter:

Like the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter!

Making the Museum is also a very short daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com

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Is everything “phygital”? Are all our projects now neither physical nor digital, but both? How can a “phygital mindset” lead to better experience design? Exhibition designer and “phygital architect” Alin Tocmacov joins host Jonathan Alger (both partners at C&G Partners) to hash out some key principles, in “8 Ways to Be Phygital”. Stops along the way: magic portals, digital architecture, and that thing about glowing rectangles.

Quotable Quotes:

“Phygital is a mindset.”
 
“Think beyond the glowing rectangle.”
 
“A site-specific experience is unique by definition.”
 
“Technology shouldn’t be applied to architecture, it should be the architecture.”
 
“Every member of a project team now has to think phygitally.”

How to Listen:

Subscribe and listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Or start here: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/8

See you there!

Warmly,
Jonathan

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Guest Bio:

Alin Tocmacov, Partner, C&G Partners: Alin is a museum and exhibition designer with more than 25 years’ experience leading multi-disciplinary creative teams for cultural organizations and major nonprofits in Europe, the Middle East, Canada and the United States. He is a partner at C&G Partners, where his projects focus on the “phygital,” the intersection between physical and digital experiences. Originally from Switzerland, Alin has a master’s degree in architecture from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. He is also an adjunct professor in the Spatial Experience Design BFA Program at the FIT School of Art and Design in New York.

About:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. 

This 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]

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

https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

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Newsletter:

Like the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter!

Making the Museum is also a one-minute daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com

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Is lighting art or science?

If you’re a curator tasked with lighting design, where do you start? Is lighting about light, or about shadows? If an exhibit ain't lit, is it there? When is a lighting designer's job actually about not lighting things?

Lighting designers Steven Rosen and Ted Mather (Available Light) join host Jonathan Alger (C&G Partners) on Making the Museum, the podcast, to discuss "Revealing the Story with Light".

Along the way: how an exhibition is like a theatrical stage, and a reminder that design is a team sport.

REMASTERED: This episode is one of the first, from early 2023. It has been audio remastered to recover sound lost from mic problems in the original. This new version was uploaded on July 2, 2024. Enjoy!

Talking Points:

1. What shadows reveal

2. The ABC’s of Lighting

        a. Ambient Luminescence

        b. Focal Glow

        c. Play of Brilliance

 3. HELP! I’m a curator tasked with a lighting design—where do I start?

 4. Is lighting art or science?

 5. Photon or wave?

Quotable Quotes:

“If it ain’t lit, it ain’t there.”

“Lighting is about choosing where the shadows are going to fall”

“If the lips aren’t lit, no one hears them.”

“More lights aren’t about being brighter, it’s about more control.”

“You are painting with light.”

“Design is a team sport”

How to Listen:

Subscribe and listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Or start here: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bios:

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.

Steven is a member of Praxis Museum Projects Group, a "network of professionals, each of whom brings an expertise to the process of creating exhibitions and cultural experiences in collaboration with exhibit designers, architects, and museums".

Ted Mather, Managing Principal, New York Studio, Available Light:By design, Ted Mather’s career resides at the intersection of theatrical, entertainment, and architectural lighting. Ted’s dramatic flair and technical expertise merge seamlessly to create striking, dynamic environments and state-of-the-art installations. Ted’s decades of experience—working around the globe—means that his creative vision is balanced with what is truly practical and possible. Ted has transformed the Architainment industry with groundbreaking, award-winning projects such as The International Spy Museum, the National WWII Museum, and the National Museum of African American Music. Ted began his training at the University of Illinois and received his MFA in Stage design from NYU. 

About:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. 

This is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

Steven Rosen

https://www.availablelight.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-rosen-fiald-70a2593/

https://www.praxisexhibits.com

https://www.praxisexhibits.com/posts/89tp8gajbu2bvd4lnn9rqaf1z1eorm-a7w52

https://www.businessoflight.org

https://www.businessoflight.org/who-we-are.html

Ted Mather

https://www.availablelight.com/team/ted-mather

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-mather-8963156/

https://www.inparkmagazine.com/etc-from-theme-parks-to-everywhere/?fbclid=IwAR1uXhTUU_HqS07ML2FR8GzChSaXZj93JpPYM0i7mPn4003hCvbWVeO-Twc

Newsletter:

Like the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter!

Making the Museum is also a very short newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com

How do we keep cultural projects from going off the rails, without sacrificing creativity? It’s not impossible. In fact, there are some simple secrets to unlock the process. (Except now they won’t be secrets anymore.) Media design expert Trent Oliver joins host Jonathan Alger on Making the Museum, the podcast, to discuss the Secrets of Creative Collaboration. Trent brings her theatrical experience as an equity stage manager to her work creating visitor experiences. Turns out, theater has a lot to teach us.

Quotable Quotes:

“Brainstorming doesn’t work, but improv does.”

“Having all the technical people collaborate up front is a form of insurance policy.”

“Assign a devil’s advocate.”

“The why is the map.”

How to Listen:

Subscribe and listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Or start here: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

See you there!

Warmly,
Jonathan

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Guest Bio:

Trent Oliver, Principal and Managing Director, Blue Telescope: Trent is a connector who finds the best people. The first time she felt in her element was when she stage-managed for community theater in between her engineering studies. Since then, she’s always done some version of putting on a show. Stage managing led to live theater, commercials, and corporate video. Trent has built a highly respected, award-winning team at Blue Telescope, producing hundreds of boundary-pushing interactives over several decades. She wants these experiences to be impactful, emotional, instructive, and accessible, with a healthy dose of weirdness (as appropriate). She believes in changing the world by doing work that matters.

Trent is a member of Praxis Museum Projects Group, a "network of professionals, each of whom brings an expertise to the process of creating exhibitions and cultural experiences in collaboration with exhibit designers, architects, and museums".

 
About:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger.

This is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.

Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

https://www.bluetelescope.com/

https://www.praxisexhibits.com/

https://www.praxisexhibits.com/posts/89tp8gajbu2bvd4lnn9rqaf1z1eorm-a7w52-ssx9k

https://blooloop.com/museum/opinion/brainstorming-sparking-great-ideas/
https://harrietbdesendants.org/team

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Newsletter:

Like the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter!

Making the Museum is also a very short daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com

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Do exhibits really teach? Do they really present big stories well? Is personalization really a must? Are exhibits getting ... better?

Interpretive planner and designer Matt Kirchman joins me on the podcast to debate Six Provocative Questions. Listen in and see what your own answer is to each. But buckle your seat belts — these are called provocative for a reason.

Quotable Quotes:
“Exhibits tell great stories — but they don’t narrate very well.”

“Do less, better.”

“Exhibits are both Shredded Wheat and Lucky Charms.”

“Exhibits aiming at customization often deliver complexity instead.”

“We’re the number one trusted source, more than the news media – now what do we do with that soft power?”

Guest Bio:
Matt Kirchman, Founder and President, ObjectIDEA: Matt serves as the Creative Director of Planning and Design for all his projects. A formal education in visual communication and experiential education underpins his passion for interpretive design. After 20 years in the field, he founded ObjectIDEA in 2005. The company works with institutions, architects, and designers to create enjoyable and memorable visitor experiences. Matt is a member of The Museum Group and the Praxis Museum Projects Group and serves on the Boards of the New England Museum Association (NEMA) and the National Association for Museum Exhibition (NAME). Matt keeps a database of his museum visits: 600 and growing.

Matt is a member of Praxis Museum Projects Group, a "network of professionals, each of whom brings an expertise to the process of creating exhibitions and cultural experiences in collaboration with exhibit designers, architects, and museums".

About:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger.

MtM is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
Learn about the firm's creative work at:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:
http://www.objectidea.com/

https://www.praxisexhibits.com/

Core Standards for Museums (American Alliance of Museums)
https://www.aam-us.org/programs/ethics-standards-and-professional-practices/core-standards-for-museums/

Standards for Museum Exhibitions and Indicators of Excellence (American Alliance of Museums)
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58fa260a725e25c4f30020f3/t/58ff73ed3e00bea8e746d4ce/1493136367751/2012+Standards+for+Museum++Exhibitions+and+Indicators+of+Excellence.pdf

The Visitor Studies Association, whose mission is to understand and enhance learning experiences in informal settings through research, evaluation, and dialogue.
https://visitorstudies.org/

The Big Idea e-book by Beverly Serrell
https://serrellassociates.com/store/big-idea-ebook

The 227-Mile Museum, or, Why We Need a Visitors' Bill of Rights, by Judy Rand
https://www.informalscience.org/sites/default/files/VSA-a0a0x9-a_5730.pdf

Please write in and add your own provocative ideas and resources to Matt’s ever-growing list!

Newsletter:
Like the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter!

Making the Museum is also a very short daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com

Prototyping saves projects money and time, every time. But how do you do it right? Exhibition designer and prototyping expert Paul Orselli joins me to discuss his proven system: Prototyping with ELVIS.

Guest Bio:

Paul Orselli, POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop)
For over 40 years, Paul Orselli has worked to create inventive and playful museums and exhibits. He is now the Chief Instigator at POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) his exhibit design and development company. Paul has consulted on museum projects in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. He has taught and lectured at numerous universities on museum topics and has presented at professional conferences around the world. He is also a two-time grant recipient of the Fulbright Specialist program. His popular ExhibiTricks blog can be found at blog.orselli.net.

Praxis Museum Projects Group

Paul is also a member of Praxis Museum Projects Group, a "network of professionals, each of whom brings an expertise to the process of creating exhibitions and cultural experiences in collaboration with exhibit designers, architects, and museums". Members of the Praxis group are a special focus of the first episodes of this podcast.)

Show Links:

[email protected]

https://www.orselli.net

https://www.praxisexhibits.com/

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Like the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter!

Making the Museum is also a very short daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com

Making the Museum is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.

Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger.

Exhibit fabrication expert Cathlin Bradley joins host Jonathan Alger to discuss the Five Questions Fabricators Always Hear.

 Guest Bio:

Cathlin Bradley has worked in the museum industry for nearly 20 years, holding a variety of roles in museums and the firms that serve them. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master’s Degree in Arts Administration from the University of Cincinnati, Cathlin has developed a well-rounded perspective of what it takes to design and build an exhibit – or an entire museum – from the ground up. Cathlin currently serves as Vice President of Partnership Strategy at Kubik Maltbie, Inc.

(Cathlin is also a member of Praxis Museum Projects Group, a "network of professionals, each of whom brings an expertise to the process of creating exhibitions and cultural experiences in collaboration with exhibit designers, architects, and museums". Members of the Praxis group are a special focus of the first episodes of this podcast.)

 Show Links:

[email protected]

https://kubikmaltbie.com/

https://www.praxisexhibits.com/

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Like this episode? Subscribe to the newsletter!

Making the Museum is also a very short daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com

Making the Museum is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.

Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger.

Audio visual technology experts Tony Warner and Bryan Abelowitz join Jonathan Alger to discuss the Six Secrets of Exhibit Technology.

  Guest Bio:

Tony Warner, CTS-D, LEED AP, CDT, President, Phase Shift Consulting

Tony leverages decades of project experience and industry service. Having co-managed a technology practice within a top-five global design firm, he has both a strong grasp of technology trends across market sectors and fluency across all aspects of technology in today’s built environment. A past President of Avixa and a former board member of Integrated Systems Events (ISE), Tony has played an active role in shaping the strategic direction of the industry around the globe.

(Tony is also a member of Praxis Museum Projects Group, a "network of professionals, each of whom brings an expertise to the process of creating exhibitions and cultural experiences in collaboration with exhibit designers, architects, and museums". Members of the Praxis group are a special focus of the first episodes of this podcast.)

Bryan Abelowitz, CTS-D, Principal, Phase Shift Consulting

Focused on building strong collaborative teams, Bryan understands that it truly does take a village to raise a child, or in this case complete a project. Whether it is a corporate, educational, or cultural project, Bryan brings more than three decades of audio-visual design experience to guide the project stakeholders to an exceptional outcome. His goal is to create technology experiences that enhance the guest and user involvement, not distract from it. As a project executive, he is passionate about delivering Phase Shift’s uncompromising commitment to client advocacy and project success.

  Show Links:

https://www.phaseshift.com/
https://www.praxisexhibits.com/

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Like this episode? Subscribe to the newsletter!

Making the Museum is also a very short daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com

Making the Museum is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger.