Judging Exhibitions

'Taking part in the Excellent Judges process has been the most effective, least expensive (in time or money) professional development I have ever done. It provides the framework for me to visit other shows I would probably miss, critique them in a predictable and repeatable way so that I can develop criteria for excellence, and generate conversation with colleagues from whom I learn different perspectives.' Kitty Connolly, Huntington Library 'Throughout her thirty-plus years of working in and for museums, Beverly Serrell has focused on making exhibitions more visitor-accessible. Now, with this book, Serrell takes us on an invigorating journey into the process of thinking deeply about the exhibition medium and the complexities of striving for exhibition excellence. This is a must-read for anyone interested in creating museum exhibitions.' Kathleen McLean, independent museum consultant 'To the extent that judges do come to a shared understanding of the criteria through discussion of multiple examples, they have moved the field forward giving us a common language to talk about our craft.' Sue Allen, Exploratorium 'Judging Exhibitions does an intriguing job of balancing the desire to offer people clear, common guidelines that do some of the basic work of judgment, with the realization that judgment itself is an art, not a technique, and certainly not a science.' Elizabeth Minnich, Fellow, Association of American Colleges and Universities 'The book is short, easy to read, and engaging. ...I found Judging Excellence refreshingly honest about the project's ups and downs. Serrell describes how developers and participants disagreed regularly on aspects of the framework-the use of the term "excellence," for example. She also is well aware that the framework may not work well for every exhibition on the planet. Putting aside my nagging suspicion that only exhibition virgins truly experience an exhibition through a visitor's eyes, I nevertheless found that the framework (especially when coupled with this publication) has real merit. While this is not the final evaluative tool created for exhibition review, Serrell hopes that museum practitioners-especially students, exhibition developers, curators, educators, project managers, and designers-will try using it. Anything that can potentially help exhibition professionals to perfect their skills and improve their audience sensitivity is a good thing.' Kym Rice, Museum Anthropology Review