Exhibit Policy

It’s hard to imagine a museum leader today that does not acknowledge the importance of core documents like a mission statement or a collections policy. But you would be much more likely to find a museum that lacks a formal exhibition policy. Even the American Alliance of Museum’s list of Core Documents does not include an exhibition policy. Considering the amount of resources (time, staff, and money) allocated to producing and hosting exhibitions, this is a glaring omission, especially when you consider that for most visitors, the exhibitions are the only aspect of the museum they ever have contact with.

 After viewing a few exhibition policies online, I realize that there is very little standardization. Some museums include information that belongs in other documents (e.g. how to handle objects on loan for exhibits) or is too detailed, obvious, or restrictive to be useful in a general exhibition policy (no loan objects will ever be for sale or a loan will never exceed a certain length of time).

 This PDF file covers seven factors to include in an exhibition policy, namely, subject matter, geographic parameters, space factor, priorities, goals, visitors, and function. I hope you find it useful.

Download PDF of Exhibit Policy Guidelines

© Riccio Exhibit Services, LLC 2013