How do new museums make money — really? What is “the peril of the bicycle wheel”? Is it bad to rely on “anchor funding”? Amy Kaufman (Principal, Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “The Money Pie Chart”. …

Can you invent a genre? For sure. But inventing one from scratch is rare. Treasures of Tutankhamun was the first blockbuster. Ateliers des Lumières pioneered immersive projection. Meow Wolf was the first … Meow Wolf. But for each success, a hundred others lost their bet. …

Remember the “Lone Ranger” remake years ago? Johnny Depp played Tonto. You might not. It flopped. The audience expected a classic western, but got a comedy-action movie, and that disappointed them. For exhibitions, genre expectations are critical. For example: …

It’s genre week! I’m excited. We’ll explore what genre means, how to work with genre expectations, and even how to invent a new one. First, what is it? A genre is a category of art, literature or music where all works share characteristics. Imagine bookstore sections …

In Do Nonprofits Make No Profits?, I asked you: So if “nonprofit” doesn’t mean “no profits” — then what does it mean? Thanks to everyone who wrote in! Here’s a good start from one reader: I’m going to say “nonprofit” means that “mission takes priority over profit”. …

We could pack endless content into our experiences … but people can’t absorb that. A single idea in a gallery is powerful … but that’s not efficient. How do we find balance, in between those extremes? Here’s a loose rule of thumb to try: One idea per surface, at most. …

What’s the role of wonder in experience design? Can we really design for all five senses? Jennifer Lemmer Posey (Curator of Circus at The Ringling) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to teach some “Circus Lessons for Museum Professionals”. …

Don’t create an actual line representing time. Don’t put it on a wall. Don’t make it flat. Don’t make a straight line, if you must have a line. Don’t have each event point at a spot in time. And while we’re at it, here’s one last idea: …

Exhibition planning and design is a team sport. Yes, it does take experienced team leaders to finish projects on time, on budget, to rave reviews. But that doesn’t mean great ideas are exclusively the domain of a leader, or even the senior members of a team. …

Do museum stores actually make any money? What are they really for? Can a store act like an exhibition? David Franke (museum store architect) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discover what’s “Beyond ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’”. …

Today we have a guest author: the government. There is always a healthy debate about what “museum” means. But if we’re looking for an IMLS grant, their definition is clear. Over to you, Code of Federal Regulations § 3187.3! …

Morning, Bob. [Morning.] Got the content hose? [Yep.] Good. Which gallery are we doing? [Roman.] I think I did half of that yesterday. It’s a blur, right? [Yep.] OK, here we go. Look, that wall is totally empty. Let ‘er rip. [Right.] Whoa, that new hose is something. …

Sometimes you have an object that feels a little too big for its display case. Sometimes you have an object that’s just the right size. And sometimes the object feels small compared to its case. But wait. Why does “big case, little object” have to be a bad thing? …

“Nonprofit” is short for “nonprofit business”. Harvard, the Smithsonian, and the Met (either one) all have employees, bring in money, pay their bills, and offer things that people want (like, ahem, exhibitions). So does a nonprofit make no profits? The answer might surprise you. …

Most objects in museum collections are photosensitive — they can be harmed by light. To preserve such objects, we can only display them lit dimly. So we have to light galleries dimly too. We end up with a lot of darkness. But why is darkness bad? …

Before the commercialization of electricity in the late 1800s, “parlor tricks” were a popular form of entertainment. Private social gatherings might feature simple sleight of hand with everyday props like cards, cups or hats. But some of the oldest tricks are worth another look. …

Let’s use a projector and make our content huge, on the wall of the lobby! [At night?] No, during the day! [But our lobby is all glass, and we’re in Arizona.] That doesn’t matter! [Our projector can’t compete with the big light bulb in the sky.] What big light bulb? …

Do you have a love/hate relationship with mood boards for exhibition projects? I do. Because if our mood board becomes our design, we are repeating history. Past images are past images. Shouldn’t our job be making something new? …

Last week, in the email “What’s the Purpose of an Exhibition?”, I asked: What is the biggest, most important, highest purpose of every exhibition? Here are some of your replies, very lightly edited for clarity — including one that makes a great wrapup. …

An encyclopedic museum displays every subject in a field. And there are also encyclopedic exhibitions, which display every object in a category. And then there is the third cousin of this family: the encyclopedia exhibition (note the one-letter difference). …