Intro Museum Terms - Midterm

Docent

a person who acts as a guide, typically on a voluntary basis, in a museum

Comparative

A type of museum based on the comparison of objects

Beaux Arts style

architectural style from France's École des Beaux-Arts, characterized by symmetry, grandiosity, and elaborate decoration drawing from Neoclassicism, Renaissance, and Baroque styles

Restitution

Returning of an item to the owner

Repatriation

Returning of a sacred item to its nation or people

Modes of Display

techniques used to present and interpret objects or artworks to visitors

Idiosyncratic Museum

a museum with unique, peculiar, or individualizing characteristics that make it stand out from others

Utilitarian Museum

emphasizes functionality over aesthetics, resulting in a plain and practical building

Functional Museum

Repurposed space (Mass Moca) 

Chronological museum

presents its collections in the order of their occurrence, from the earliest to the latest, to tell a story or provide a historical perspective

Ga Clark

Native American remains and artifacts as irreplaceable scientific data vital for human history and archaeological research, Emphasizes the objective, secular pursuit of knowledge for the benefit of all humanity, narrower interpretation of NAGPRA, especially for very old remains. KENNEWICK MAN

Joel Watkins

remains as Ancestors and sacred artifacts as Cultural Patrimony that must be treated with religious reverence and reburial, ethical and moral imperative of respecting the human rights and religious freedom of living Indigenous communities, repatriation to heal historical trauma caused by disinterment and display

Curator

object centric, establishes the content, narrative, and scholarly context of the exhibition

Educator

Develop and implement programs, tours, materials, and resources for diverse audiences. Focus on visitor-centered learning theory, provides dialogue to the public

Modern French Museum

Centre Georges Pompidou (Beaubourg) in Paris, France.

Museum Studies Midterm Flashcards

Evolution of Early European Museums

Shift from private, unsystematic Princely Cabinets of Curiosity (for the elite) to systematic, scholarly Public National Museums (for civic education/national glory), starting in the late 18th century.

Importance of the Crystal Palace (1851)

Demonstrated new iron and glass architecture; influenced museums toward didactic display and the systematic organization of knowledge; showcased colonial and industrial power.

Location of the Crystal Palace

Hyde Park, London (site of the Great Exhibition of 1851).

Susan Crane's Memory, Distortion, and History Key Idea

Museums are sites where memory and history interact, but the display of objects can distort or simplify complex historical narratives, making the past seem falsely unified or complete.

Impact of World’s Fairs on Museums

Promoted anthropological collecting (often displaying artifacts and peoples in ways that reinforced colonial power); popularized the universal survey museum model; established the idea of a temporary, thematic exhibition.

Lay Figures

Mannequins or wax figures used in anthropological and historical dioramas to represent people, a common exhibit type at Worlds' Fairs.

Audacity of The Carters’ Apeshit Music Video

The video was audacious because it reclaimed and centered Black bodies in the white, elite, and historically exclusive space of the Louvre Museum, challenging the traditional audience and institutional authority.

Pros of the Apeshit Video (Lisa Ragbir)

Challenged the art world's elitism and introduced classic European art to a massive, new, and diverse audience.

Cons of the Apeshit Video (Lisa Ragbir)

Commercialized and commodified the art and the museum space, reducing priceless cultural objects to backdrops for a music video.

Bilbao Effect

The phenomenon where the construction of an architecturally spectacular building (e.g., Guggenheim Museum Bilbao) leads to economic revitalization and increased tourism for a city.

Universal Survey Museum

A museum, often large and encyclopedic, whose mission is to present a comprehensive survey of world art, history, or science across all geographies and time periods (e.g., The Met, British Museum).

Amy Sodoro's The Memorial Museum Key Idea

Memorial museums manage the tension between memory (personal, emotional) and history (factual, academic), often focusing on traumatic events to foster remembrance and promote human rights.

Example of a Memorial Museum (20th Century)

Yad Vashem (Jerusalem, Holocaust, 1953) or Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (Japan, Atomic Bomb, 1955).

Stephen Weil: How museums focus "inward"

Prioritizing the collection, preservation, and scholarly study of objects, seeing their duty primarily as serving the collection itself and a narrow group of connoisseurs.

Stephen Weil: How and why museums focus "outward"

They prioritize the audience, community engagement, and social relevance ("being for somebody"), driven by pressure from funding sources, cultural critique, and the desire for social impact.

Weil's 3 Examples of Museum Shift

1. Shift in Mission/Governance (visitor-centric over collection-centric). 2. Professionalization of Museum Education. 3. Focus on Audience Research.

The "White Cube" (Brian O'Doherty)

The neutral, modernist gallery space (white walls, polished floors, specific lighting) designed to strip the artwork of all external context, treating it as an autonomous object for pure aesthetic contemplation.

The "Museum Effect" (Svetlana Alpers)

The way a collection of diverse objects, removed from their original function and displayed within a museum, creates a new, art

Problem with Fixed Visions for Museum Displays

They prevent the museum from evolving with new scholarship, changing social values, and diverse public needs, risking the collection becoming stagnant or irrelevant (e.g., Barnes Foundation, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum).

Personal Collecting Museum

A museum established around the unique, idiosyncratic vision and collection of a single individual, reflecting their specific tastes. 3 Characteristics: Fixed Layout, Strong Individual Narrative, Focus on Connoisseurship. Example: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Result of a "Fixed" Museum Vision

The collection becomes a relic of the founder's taste and is resistant to new scholarship, struggling to attract new and diverse audiences.

3 Types of Museums Discussed

Universal/Encyclopedic, Personal Collecting, and Princely (evolved from royal/aristocratic collections).

3 Different Types of "Modes of Display" in Museums

Chronological, White cube, Period Room/Recontextualized (recreates a historical setting).

John Cotton Dana: Contrast of Today's vs. Tomorrow's Museum

"Today's Museum" is a "gloom of the museum," a passive warehouse; "Tomorrow's Museum" is a dynamic, democratic, and useful institution that actively teaches and serves the public.

Dana: Two Suggestions to Reach and Teach the Public

Open on Sundays/Evenings (to accommodate working class). 2. Provide Accessible, Practical Instruction/Labels (to make collections useful for artisans/public).

Two Reasons the Met's 1969 Harlem on My Mind was Controversial

Exclusion of Black Curators/Scholars (curated by white staff with no Black community consultation). 2.Lack of Authentic Black Community Involvement and a Controversial Catalog

Critical Impact of Harlem On My Mind

It was a watershed moment that prompted critique against institutional racism, leading to a stronger push for inclusive curatorial practices and the hiring of minority staff across the museum field.

Traveling vs. Permanent Collection Exhibit

Traveling: An exhibition created by one institution to be loaned to/displayed by others for a limited time. Permanent: An exhibition created using the museum's own collection and displayed indefinitely.

Fleming Museum Architecture and Style

Beaux

McClellan: Who constitutes the museum’s “public”

A complex, often divided constituency whose expectations include Education/Instruction, Aesthetic Pleasure, and Civic Symbolism.

McClellan: How the concept of the “public” changed over time

Shifted from an exclusive group of aristocratic/scholarly elites (17th/18th centuries) to the bourgeoisie and eventually the mass public (19th/20th centuries).

McClellan: Why history of museums is a history of reconciliation efforts

The museum is founded on the inherent conflict between its origins (private, elite) and its mandate to serve a democratic, mass audience.

“Public” defined in the 17th and 18th century

Defined as the "worthy and curious" or "gentlemen, scholars, and foreigners," who were members of the aristocracy, educated elite, or professional classes.

Two Factors for the Public Expansion (McClellan)

Political Revolution (leading to nationalized, public collections). 2. Industrialization/Urbanization (creating an educated middle class with leisure time).

Most Significant Innovation in Museum Public Service

The introduction of the Docent (or professional museum educator) to interpret collections and mediate the gap between scholarly knowledge and the lay public's understanding.

Dana: "Today's" Museum - Character of Collections

Overly large, jumbled, and poorly displayed "dead things."

Dana: "Today's" Museum - Location

Often in grand, intimidating, remote or inaccessible buildings.

Dana: "Today's" Museum -Value of Contents

Value is largely wasted or inert because the objects are not used to actively teach or engage the public.

Free-Choice Learning

Self-directed learning that is voluntary and occurs in non-formal settings (like museums or zoos); the visitor chooses what to learn, when to learn it, and how much time to spend on it, which increases their sense of control over the experience.

Term - Definition

Museum Visitors' Primary Motivation (Falk/Dierking)

Visitors almost always come to museums seeking a learning-oriented entertainment experience (they seek both to learn and to have fun), not one goal exclusively.

Role of Personal Context in Museum Learning (Falk/Dierking)

An individual's prior knowledge, interests, beliefs, values, and personal history relative to museum-going, all of which heavily influence what they pay attention to and the meaning they make of an exhibit.

Role of Choice/Control in Museum Learning (Falk/Dierking)

Visitor choice in what and when to learn, and their perception of control over the experience, are intrinsic to the museum environment and are critical factors that enhance engagement and learning outcomes.

The Triad of Contexts that Affect Museum Learning (Falk/Dierking)

Learning is a function of the interaction between three overlapping contexts: the Personal Context, the Sociocultural Context (who you are with), and the Physical Context (the museum environment).