Between Fences - BEHIND THE SCENES
The following reflection was contributed by Arizona’s Between Fences museum scholar, Anna Johnson, who is a museum and historical consultant and former Curator of Education at the Tempe Historical Museum. Anna guides the host sites in their development of local exhibits, docent training, and teacher education, which she also did for the Arizona tour of the Smithsonian’s Yesterday’s Tomorrows.
Hosting an exhibition from the Smithsonian is an exciting experience for local organizations. The intent is to raise the visibility of small museums across the country and provide programs of high quality to rural areas where people rarely have these experiences in their own backyards. The enthusiasm of the local organizations is exciting, and the process they go through in hosting the exhibition is intense. As the project’s museum scholar, I advise on the organizing, exhibiting, and presenting of the local story.
Organizing includes developing the local narrative. This connects the visitors to the theme of Between Fences and defines the ways in which local experiences are part of the national story. For example, did we fence cattle in or fence them out? Is the railroad a fence? What could be more relevant today than a discussion of fences and borders? Other issues include how best to accomplish the organization’s purpose in hosting this exhibit, and developing appropriate programs to support the topic.
Exhibiting includes developing an interesting display that will encourage the visitors to better understand their own local account and to interact with the topic on a personal level. This includes finding and choosing which objects will most effectively inform that narrative, and placing the local exhibit somewhere close to the Smithsonian exhibition so the intellectual connection is clear.
Presenting the story will often include special openings, tours using docents or guides, school tours, and special activities developed to intrigue the visitor such as speakers, to name just a few approaches. How does an organization prepare for these functions? What organizational structure needs to be in place in order for them to be successful? Should the facility hours be extended, how many staff and volunteers are necessary, and where do we find them? How do we market this? How does the organization guarantee a consistently good experience for their visitors? Developing a high-quality tour that visitors of all ages will enjoy can be a challenge. We hope this experience will offer them growth and development and be a stepping stone to an exciting future!
