“The Future of In-House Design in an Outsourcing World”

AAM - 2013Mark Walhimer

Museum Planning, LLCmuseumplanner.org

“Nobody goes into museum work to get rich”

(…and if they do they don’t last long)

A highly unscientific survey:

- How many people work at a museum as staff ?- How many of your museums have a fabrication shop?- How many have in-house exhibition design?- How many used to have a fabrication shop?- How many outsource most of your exhibition design and fabrication?

Blog Post: “The Future of Museum Exhibition Design, Part I”

- Virtual Studio, mix of projects and locations - Film Studio Model, Assembling project teams- Globalization, USA provider to the rest of the world- Technology, Finding consultants, as specialists

Outsourcing, includes:- Exhibition Development - Curation- Registration- Exhibition Design- Graphic Design- Artifact Mount Making- Exhibit Casework- Graphic Production- Lighting Design- Vitrine Fabrication- Metalwork, welding, machining- Audio / Visual

Spectrum of Outsourcing

100% In-House 0% In-House

Technology

Spectrum of Outsourcing

100% In-House 0% In-House

Finding the spot on the axis where exhibitions communicate

mission, brand and voice at the lowest

cost with The greatest institutional

benefit

$500 per sq. ft.

$0 per sq. ft.

Exhibition Fabrication Models:1. 100% In-House, Design and Fabrication

2. “Design with Hybrid“- Designed In-house, % Fabricated In-House, % Outsourced

3. “Hybrid“- Outsourced Design, % Fabricated In-House, % Outsourced

4. Outsourced Design, Outsourced Fabricated Collaboration with Museum

5. “Design Build - Turn Key”

1. 100% In-House, Design and FabricationChildren’s Museum of Manhattan19973,500 sq. ft. $65,000 Total Budget, $18 per sq. ft. not including in house staff timeDesigned and fabricated in house

2. “Design with Hybrid“- Designed In-house, % Fabricated In-House, % Outsourced FabricationChildren's Museum of Indianapolis 200910,000 sq. ft.$4.3 Million Total Budget, $430 per sq. ft. including endowment for exhibit maintenance Designed and fabricated in house expect for casework, some interactives, and graphic production

3. HybridDiscovery Science Center199825,000 sq. ft.$2.5 Million Total Budget, $100 per sq. ft. including staff time and operational costs1/3 Designed and Built in House, 1/3 Bought off the shelf, 1/3 Modified Exhibit Components

4. Outsourced Design, Outsourced Fabricated Collaboration with MuseumMIDE 200715,000 sq. ft. of exhibits$2.5 Million Budget, $166 per sq. ft.Designed and fabricated in exhibits, created templates for graphics for the museum, layout of space that museum fabricated locally.

5. “Design Build - Turn Key”International Wetlands Project 2005Hong Kong$2.5M, $350 per sq. ft. (approximate) including design, installation and graphics Met Studios, Beck Interiors, Academy StudiosEntire project outsourced

Outsourcing Matrix

Model Per sq. ft.1. 100% In-House, Design and Fabrication

$18 per sq. ft.

2. “Design with Hybrid“- Designed In-house,

$430 per sq. ft.

3. Hybrid$100 per sq. ft.

4. Outsourced Design, Outsourced Fabricated Collaboration with Museum

$166 per sq. ft.

5. “Design Build - Turn Key”$350 per sq. ft.

*2. Includes Endowment for Exhibition Maintenance

Capital Costs:- Driving many of the decisions- Difficult to hire staff as part of project costs

Challenges of Exhibition Design & Fabrication In-House:- Can be insular- Can be very expensive- Difficult to schedule staff and funding- Multiple priorities- Matching skills to projects

Challenges of Outsourcing:- Communication of Institutional Culture- Loss of in-house talent- Loss of intellectual capital at end of project

Museum Voice:- “How” you communicate Mission- Communication of Institutional Culture- Communication of “Brand”

Recommendations:- "Hybrid" Children's Museum of Manhattan - Smaller projects designed and built in house, larger projects outsourced, good model

- "Staff General Contractor" - Overall vision from museum staff, with a Director of Exhibits managing a mix a in house and outsourced, Arizona Science Center

- "Freelance Director of Exhibits" - Museum Planning - Freelance Director of Exhibits, "General Contractor Model", Discovery Science Center Phase II, matrix of resources, Film Production Model, staff up, project based

- "Non-Profit / For Profit Model", COSI did not work well, but the model can work, Hands-On FL

- "Shared Staff" - NPS Model, Yuma Model, sharing staff amongst several organizations

There needs to be a keeper of the “voice”, either as a staff person or as a contractor