Exhibition Developer

The Exhibition Developer works with Content Advisors—academic researchers and community members—to shape the stories that an exhibition will tell, and is an advocate for the visitor. The Developer bears primary responsibility for shaping the exhibition’s visitor experience goals, and works closely with other team members who create the exhibit elements that facilitate those experiences for the visitor. This includes Exhibition Designers, Graphic Designers, Media and Interactives Specialists, Production Supervisors, and many other team members. The Developer balances the needs and desires of the visitor, the institution, and the communities we serve.

Core Responsibilities

•  Establish a conceptual and organizational framework for each exhibition, including the creation of sensory/motor, affective, and cognitive goals for visitor experience

•  Work with content advisors and team members to shape interpretive materials (photographs, illustrations, infographics; music and sound; video and animation; replications, touchables, and immersive environments; mechanical and digital interactives)

•  Conduct artifact research, identifying potential items for display; create and maintain object databases; take and enter preliminary dimensions and photos; enter and update information for collections items, incoming loans, and other acquisitions

•  Write and edit label text, media scripts, interactive text, and related internal documents (grant proposals, presentations for senior administration and Trustees, and reports to donors and other funders)

•  Advocate for visitor experience throughout project phases

•  Conduct background research sufficient to provide an “expert layperson’s” understanding of the content of the exhibition, and to ensure efficient and productive discussion of the topic with the assigned content advisor

•  Communicate exhibition content for other departments’ needs (i.e., marketing, public relations, institutional advancement, membership)

•  Conduct visitor surveys for front-end, formative, and summative evaluations and create related visitor studies reports

Community Collaboration

• All exhibition development requires the skills and experience, and fulfillment of responsibilities described above. Over the last five years the museum has increased its levels of community involvement, particularly in our cultural exhibitions. These collaborative or co-curated exhibitions have enlarged the Exhibition Developers’ responsibilities. Depending on project scope, schedule, and staffing levels, Developers assigned to cultural exhibitions may also be responsible for the following.

•  Establish and cultivate relationships with external community partners

•  Facilitate exhibition process for groups of community collaborators; educate and empower collaborators, eliciting participation, feedback, and consensus-based decision-making

•  Travel to communities; represent the museum at community functions; lead off-site presentations and workshops for community groups (may require evening and weekend hours)

•  Collect primary source research material (interviews, family photos, documents, etc.) from community members and archives

•  Create and manage databases tracking participants and progress for community-driven exhibitions

•  Lead team meetings with community partners and staff across the museum

•  Serve as point person for collaborators to help them navigate the museum, connecting them with museum staff across departments as needed

•  Advocate for collaborator needs in the exhibition process and communicate collaborator feedback to other divisions and departments; convey administrative decisions to collaborators

•  Facilitate commission of new artworks and other items for exhibition

•  Negotiate honoraria, image rights, and recording fees for community collaborators

•  Arrange travel itineraries, gifts, and condolences as needed for community collaborators

•  Schedule meetings, set agendas, and send follow-ups and reminders regarding deliverables and deadlines