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In my original definition, an exhibit to me is a part of the museum that holds artifacts, objects, or information regarding a subject. The exhibits should motivate and engage visitors and follow the museum's mission. It should also be inclusive to visitors from all backgrounds.

However, after reading the textbook and articles, an exhibit is so much more. Exhibits rely on the interactions and experiences on the visitors, even before they come to visit! The audience is a big key throughout the design process (there is a whole Museum Studies class devoted to the Museum Evaluation and Visitor Studies, including Falk’s 5 motivation types).

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In my original definition of a museum, I stated that I think a museum should work to connect with visitors through exhibits. After reading the material and watching the videos, I now understand that an exhibit should be designed and executed with the visitor in mind constantly. An exhibit should make visitors feel at home, connected, and have a sense of purpose throughout the exhibit. I previously stated that an exhibit should have a theme and this is in line with the 'purpose' aspect of an exhibit as stated in the readings. The most important qualities exhibits should have is they should connect with all cateogries of museum visitors as described by Falk, and they should be used as a communication tool to make visitors feel a sense of emotion and curiosity. It is not about overwelhming the visitor with information or knowledge, but making sure they have a lasting impression that they can take away when they leave the museum.

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My definition of an exhibit has changed from being broad to a more specific idea. I originally would have said an exhibit in a museum was an object or objects that you could physically see and study. The readings taught me that it is more of an experience for the visitors rather than something to just look at. These exhibits make you feel a certain way and interact with others differently then if you hadn't seen the exhibit. I look forward to learning the specifics of why certain exhibits where created the way they were.

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My definition of a museum was previously just a display of information for visitors. Now I see it as a more comprehensive presentation using all sorts of tools and techniques to accomplish a variety of goals. The visitors bill of rights presents most of the goals that an exhibit needs to accomplish in order to be truly successful and a great experience for the visitor. An exhibit is much more thought out then just a display put together to convey information.

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I think that my definition of an exhibit has been widened from just a simple display by the museum to a more comprehensive tool that allows the museum the chance to present its objects in a way that gives visitors the opportunity to make a meaningful connection with the material. "Visitor's Bill of Rights" was very influential on my thoughts - while not at the same level of frustration, I have been in similar situations as the author found herself in at a couple of museums - where I was unable to properly take in the objects presented, bustled along by a timetable keeping docent.
"Setting the Stage for Meaningful Exhibits" also reinforced the that the museum should focus on how the audience reacts to the exhibit, rather than how the museum thinks they should. I think this is important given that many times, the visitors of a particular museum may come away with a completely different 'end take' than what was envisioned by staff. Overall, I think my definition of a museum would be a display that is an organized set of information and *possibly) objects that a visitor can learn from and relate to.

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My definition of an exhibit has been somewhere along the lines of a display that is intended to educate the public on a particular topic using text, images, video, and physical objects. These are mostly all primary sources and represent both the research abilities and focus of a museum as well as what they have in their collection. I still think this is mostly true but the Chiodo and Rupp article reminded me that exhibitions are also "creating a stage or opportunity for transformational experiences," (p. 21). The way that I thought of it sort of forgot about the visitor, who is actually essential. So, while exhibitions are all that I said, they are also intended to spark interest and feeling in the viewer, or at least give them the tools to do that. Therefore, they are a communication tool as well.

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Before completing the assigned readings and videos, my definition of an exhibit was a public display of a collection of objects with a common theme usually for the purpose of educating its visitors. The readings have shown me that the social aspect between visitors during and after viewing the exhibit is just as important as the person-document transaction. I also learned that it isn’t so much that the goal of the museum is to teach its visitors about the content of the exhibit, but that visitors make their own meaning and create a conservation about the exhibit and share their meaning with others. The best way for museums to create this visitor-centered, meaningful environment is through following Judy Rand's "Visitors' Bill of Rights." This document demonstrates how to put visitors' needs first in order to create a barrier-free museum environment that bridges the gap between the visitor and exhibit.

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From my understanding of what a museum exhibition is, before reading any material or watching the videos provided in the modules, is that they are specified areas in a museum that show art work of all kinds that the artist themselves would design. The display is an essential part in expressing the message to the audience of whatever it may be to the artist.
After reading through all the materials I can define museum exhibitions to be organized displays of artwork related to different kinds of subjects meant to be learned such as history, cultural aspects, interactions, visual presentations, and much more. I once believed that museum exhibits were easily build with a guided blueprint described by the artist themselves and that's it. I now learned that its a more complex design that needs to be instructed and the audience is basically the main source of success for a museum, and/or studios, art spaces.

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To me a museum exhibit is something that is created by the museum to inform the visitor and create a connection between material and the visitor. Before I had taken any museum classes, I had only believed that exhibits were created to give a brief explanation about the object that is displayed. However, I have come to believe that exhibits are created as experiences to help the visitor make their own meaning of what is displayed. From the readings, I gathered that visitors come in as both empty vessels ready to learn information and as knowledgeable individuals who want their ideas confirmed and connections to be shared with the exhibit. Visitors want to see the exhibit in a context of their own lives. Ultimately, I figured out that with each new exhibit that is designed, it is important to take a step back and try to imagine yourself as a new visitor who knows nothing about the subject and is looking to be both informed and wowed.

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To me an exhibit is a specific place in a museum dedicated to reaching out and touching visitors with a specific idea or theme. The exhibit could take many physical or digital forms. Yet the guiding is idea is the connection formed between the visitor, museum, and idea.

Our texts helped refresh this idea in my head. I took two classes last semester that touched upon these concepts in a general sense so it wasn't to surprising. Just a nice focus er to start things off.

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Before reading the materials for module two I had my own definition that revolved around the physical exhibit. Aside from this I thought an exhibit should be a focal point for a specific lesson the museum wants the visitor to take away, yet it is so much more than that. Yes, it is true you want the visitor to take something away from the exhibit they did not know of before but the biggest part of an exhibit is to create a higher level of communication and involvement. An exhibit is the most visual communication a museum can offer. When a visitor leaves they should not have just learned something, but experienced something that got their senses going and caused them to really reflect. As important as the knowledge gained from the exhibit should be the memory of it.

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My understanding of what an exhibit is has been very basic, and I don't think I realized that until I was done reading the assigned articles. I hadn't really thought much about what went into creating an exhibit, and about what they were meant to do for museum visitors beyond the obvious: showcasing items for people to look at and maybe learn a small bit about. Now, I better understand that museum exhibits can be considered a form of communication. Exhibits send information and ideas to the people that come to see them, and people can interpret these ideas however they want. The piece by Chiodo and Rupp talks about how "visitors do not come to museums as 'empty vessels,'" and about how aspects of their various backgrounds can help make certain exhibits more meaningful to them. I see now that museum exhibits are more than just places for objects to be displayed, but places that can send individuals different messages, and help people make their own connections to objects, or come up with their own interpretations of what is presented to them.

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Before I read through these chapters, I had a pretty generic definition of exhibits, mostly defining them as displays of objects with some sense of context. After reading the chapters, I can see how an exhibit is not only a display, but a communication tool and an experience. It is not just a way for the museum to show the visitor what they have, nor is it even just about teaching the visitor something. An exhibition is a method of engagement between content and viewer. A good exhibit should (as the text says on page 9) make a subject come to life for the viewer. This is much more powerful than a simple display. I also appreciated that the text pointed out (more than once) that the focus of an exhibit should not just be to force information into the viewer's head, but to teach as well as delight, with maybe even a bit more focus on the delight. An exhibit creates an experience.

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A museum exhibition is more than just a display of various objects, summarizing the entirety of the museum's collection. Rather it is an experience. It is an interactive way of communicating the museum's mission with museum visitors, and is a creative way of presenting ideas with the general public. This module has caused me to stop and consider a museum exhibition as more than just a display but as the primary form of communication for the museum. I had always thought that exhibits were simply the museum staffs' way of communicating with visitors what they thought was most important for their audience to learn, but now I understand it to be so much more than that. While opinions can be hard to hide within an exhibit, and maybe shouldn't be at times, exhibits are meant to allow visitors to develop their own opinions about the subject matter presented to them.

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Remembering what I'd learned from Intro to Museum Studies, I knew that the relationship between exhibits and museums had more give-and-take than one would initially think. The fact that FLOW was brought up and discussed in the videos is key to this notion, since the goal of museums is to engage the visitors on a level where they can achieve this "FLOW" and make the content come to life for the visitor, possibly on a level where they'll be inspired to return to the museum. So, focusing on how visitors aren't just "empty vessels" that the museum gives knowledge, was an aspect of these readings that shape that way I think about exhibits. This combined with the goals of communication, research, and preservation for the functions of a museum, has lead me to my current definition of what an exhibit is. I define an exhibit as the space within a museum where objects become a narrative. It is where the displays stop being a collection of artifacts devoid of meaning, and instead become part of the ongoing story of humanity, science, and art. Thus, an exhibit's effectiveness is measured by how well it engages the visitor and communicates the overall themes of the space, as opposed to the specific details.

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Before reading this module’s assignments, I thought that exhibits were a way for the museum to show off its artifacts and give its visitors the opportunity to interpret and form a relationship with the artifacts. I understood that the artifacts were the center of exhibits, but I refused to see the overarching story that tied them all together (or I was really visiting cabinets of curiosity). I was also happy to learn that exhibits are becoming more collaborative among museum staff; it makes much more sense to include everyone from the beginning of the process rather than a single curator try to train the entire rest of the staff to adhere to their perspective. I also thought it was interesting that there is less emphasis on learning objectives and that the goal is for visitors to have a memorable experience.

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Before the reading and videos, my concept of an exhibit was a collection of artifacts put into a room and to be viewed upon by the public. I knew that showcasing objects was important and the overall collection had a theme to it. I had this idea of a exhibit when I first visited the history museum in Des Moines when they had the Original Puppets from a popular 60's television show called the Floppy Show. After reading the materials I found out that the purpose of this collection of puppets was in honor for the man who was from Ankeny, Ia teaching kids across the midwest about friendship. An exhibit is a space for museum professionals can combine collections to further their mission statement. Spreading the message was done throught the museum staff and how their interpretations to visitors can impact the community.

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Before reading the materials, my definition of an exhibit was- areas of a museum designed uniquely to showcase important objects which draw people into the museum. This definition has been in my head since the popular Terra Cotta soldiers exhibit was up at the Field Museum in Chicago. Since then, my definition has changed. This is because there is so much one can say about a museum exhibition and there are many factors involved. First, an exhibit is a space in the museum for professionals from different areas of the museum to collaborate on showcasing items which forward that museum's mission. For example, the collections staff and the communications staff would collaborate on how to portray a message of an exhibit. Secondly, an exhibit is supposed to help visitors learn and draw conclusions in a meaningful way. Some exhibits in museums may have a hidden message of conservation for example. The way I used to think about exhibits all had to do with drawing people in playing on the interests of the community, however, there is also the factor of making sure an exhibit will serve an educational purpose as well as the mission of the museum.

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Exhibits are the most visible and memorable aspects of a museum. When you ask someone how their trip to a museum was, they will tell you about what they saw, what their favorite exhibit was, and who they went with. The exhibit is remembered as a space where the visitor connected with objects, created meaning, and socialized with the people around them, whether it be staff or someone visiting with them. On the surface, an exhibit is a physical space that displays objects and provides background information and interpretation through graphics and text panels. Diving deeper, however, one finds that an exhibit is a space that encourages meaning-making with objects of specific value, exhibits invite people to connect with the past, feel emotions about passionate artwork, and more. Exhibits "bring visitors into contact with authentic objects and then step back to leave them space for their own experiences" (Summers, Chapter 1). Essentially, exhibits facilitate visitor experiences.

After reading the Summers reading, my interpretation of the idea of a museum exhibit was altered to include the experiences that visitors have in an exhibit space. In addition to focusing on the objects, the text, and the graphics, exhibit planners need to think of the reality of how visitors use exhibits: to connect and make meaning. John Chiodo and Alissa Rudd's piece titled "Setting the Stage for Meaningful Exhibits," furthered this realization, giving useful tips on how museum planners should imagine a space being utilized. Exhibits need to account for visitor's different tools they bring to the table, their different ideas, different assumptions, and so on. Exhibits cannot assume that all visitors are the same, and as such should provide space for different and new interpretations. Exhibits need to create common ground between the museum and the visitor in order to maximize the visitor experience. Lastly, the Visitors' Bill of Rights provides guidelines on how visitors' needs should be imagined within a museum's space.

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So many factors play into defining and establishing an exhibit -- more than I ever thought about before this class / module! I think an exhibit is a space or a method for displaying objects, artifacts, ideas, and facts within a museum to the public.  An exhibit must exist seamlessly within a museum and among all the other parts of the museum as a coherent unit. The exhibit should exist both as a space for open learning and honest communication -- between visitor and visitor, visitor and museum, and visitor and exhibit. Multiple relationships should be able to thrive within the exhibit space, and visitors should be able to take away more than a few quick facts they read about on signs -- they should be able to take away personal meaning and value from the exhibit.

One of the materials for the module that made me consider exhibits in a different way was "Why We Need a Visitor's Bill of Rights." It put the needs of a visitor in an exhibit in a different context. It was also very interesting to see something like that written by someone who works in a museum. It allowed both sides -- a museum worker and a museum visitor -- to be considered and heard, and it made it apparent that both of these sides have needs that need to be met by the exhibit. When Judy Rand talked about how the guide, Fred, made her feel insignificant, unappreciated, and unwelcome, it instantly made me realize the connection between that and the museum visitor experience. When visitors feel like they're being talked down to, or they feel like their voices aren't being heard, or they feel like they're not in a welcoming and friendly space, they are going to leave with a horrible memory of that museum, or even block the museum entirely from their memories. Considering this reading and the Visitor's Bill of Rights made me really take into consideration what the visitor not only wants in an exhibit but needs in an exhibit, and how to best serve these visitors to give them the best experience possible. I also thought about this while reading the textbook chapters, because different types of visitors were mentioned, which is something I have never really thought about before. By tailoring exhibits and museum experiences to please every kind of visitor in some way, big or small, and exhibit will become much more meaningful to visitors.

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To me, I believe that a museum exhibit is an interactive display of a collection of objects that share a common characteristic or theme. These objects work together, in collaboration with the textual material and interactives shown with them, to communicate a narrative and/or encourage learning among visitors. An exhibit should be formatted so that it welcomes visitors of any age or experience with the exhibition's topic. Additionally, exhibits provide a setting for visitors to interact not only with the objects being shown, but also with each other, to foster a welcoming social setting. While my initial definition of an exhibit was only one sentence long, I now recognize that an exhibit's role is so complex, a multi-part definition is necessary.

Before I read/listened to all of the materials for this Module, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what an exhibit was: a group of objects that share something in common and work to educate the public. I totally overlooked the complete scope and breadth of what exhibits do, however. The Visitor's Bill of Rights reminded me that exhibits are not only for learning, but they also act as a location for social interactions and revitalization. The different types of museum visitors also raised the point that different people want different things out of exhibits and are glad when they act as a place for rest or for gathering among friends or family members. The Bill also reminded me that exhibits are not just about the objects; designers must consider both the visitor's and the objects needs when creating and exhibition. In addition, the FLOW videos brought up the interesting point that exhibits need to challenge visitors enough so that they do not get bored and are not just passively receiving information. Lastly, I completely overlooked what is, probably, the most important function of exhibits: communication; I never considered the fact that exhibits are the most visible form of museum work until I did the readings for this week. Overall, the materials for this week’s Module both expanded and unpacked my original, simple, and inadequate definition of what I thought an exhibit is.