Summer 2005

GW Students Exhibit at Air and Space

Graduate students in the Columbian College of Arts and Science’s Museum Studies program designed a temporary exhibition in the National Air and Space Museum’s Hall of Air Transportation as part of a spring semester museum studies course.
Barbara Brennan, exhibition designer at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) provided the students with the label script for one unit of the exhibition, a CD with all of the photographs from that unit, and a teacher’s guide created by NASM’s Education Division for the new exhibition.

“This was an excellent opportunity for the students to experience first-hand, all of the steps involved in creating an exhibition,” said Brennan. “Even a small installation requires collaboration with an extended team of professionals from registrars to curators, script editors, and educators and the students worked closely with several NASM departments while developing and installing the exhibitions.”
The class of 22 students was divided into four teams; each was allotted three graphic panels plus one introductory panel. Students were encouraged to come up with unique ideas appealing to children and families and to include touchable elements whenever possible.

The four teams developed their concepts, wrote label scripts, and designed the exhibitions. Each team conducted historical research for the text and photographs in NASM’s Archives Division, at the Library of Congress, and at other area research facilities. NASM’s fabrication shop printed and mounted the graphic panels and produced all of the exhibit elements.

The student exhibitions were subjected to the same review and approval process that all NASM installations go through, and teams were required to present their exhibit concepts to NASM’s senior staff before proceeding with their final designs.
The GW student exhibition will be on display in the Hall of Air Transportation through the end of 2005.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu