Do Visitors Get It? A Sweatshop Exhibit and Visitors' Comments

An “Honest Visionary” and “Dishonest Scallywag”: Blending Fact, Opinion, and Interest into a Front-End Evaluation

“…like a bird watcher checking off sightings on a life list." To the contrary, the visitors used a strong voice in their comments, demonstrating sophistication in their responses and active engagement with the exhibit (Alexander, 2000). However, missing from her commentary on visitors' interpretations of museum material is the role the museum should play, at the developmental stages, in gauging what will be deemed important and engaging to the visitors prior to the exhibit's development or reinstallation.…”

“…Alexander (2000) suggests that this disagreement among visitors should be welcomed by the organization. In an analysis of exit commentaries from a controversial historical exhibition, she stated that visitors did not approach the exhibit ".…”

“…Previous research indicates that history museum visitors see the same historical exhibition through different lenses (Alexander, 2000;Crane, 1997). Alexander (2000) suggests that this disagreement among visitors should be welcomed by the organization.…”

“…Beyond acknowledging the need for an all inclusive approach to museum exhibitions (Alexander, 2000;Crane, 1997), and some existing literature that has touched on the maintenance (Gilmore & Rentschler, 2002) and economic growth (Bernardi, 2005) within any kind of multi-systems approach, there has been little formal demonstration of what a development systems approach would look like at the creation stage of an exhibition reinstallation. This paper offers a framework for acknowledging and approaching problems addressed by previous literature when developing a museum around historic "facts."…”

“…This can be especially true for history museums dealing directly with controversial events, subject matter, or personages (Alexander, 2000). For example, history museums intending to educate visitors on the positive influence of British colonialism on the development of India's national infrastructure, or the life and writings of Charles Darwin can often face outside opposition from polarized groups or disappointment by patrons that expected something different.…”