What are the (top) secrets of better collaboration?
Is collaboration like a game of ping pong? Or more like ballroom dancing? Is there a better way to disagree? Does having constraints make design ... better? How is an exhibition like a film? And what happens when your project feels — in this case, even literally — like “Mission: Impossible”?
Barbara Miller (Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs, Museum of the Moving Image) and Danae Colomer (Director of Exhibition Management and Design, Museum of the Moving Image) discuss “Mission: Collaboration” with host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio).
Along the way: zombies, skateboards, and messages that self-destruct.
Talking Points:
1. A Moving Experience
2. What is Collaboration?
3. Is It Ping Pong ... or Ballroom Dancing?
4. Constraints Make a Stronger Design
5. Sometimes It’s Mission: Impossible
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bios:
Barbara Miller is Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs at Museum of the Moving Image in New York, where she organizes exhibitions and directs the content of the Museum’s permanent collection of material culture related to film, television and digital media. Major projects at MoMI include The Jim Henson Exhibition; Deepfake: Unstable Evidence on Screen; and Born Digital: Pathways Towards Preservation, an Andrew W. Mellon-funded initiative to institute sustainable collection and exhibition practices related to digital media. Prior to joining MoMI in 2009, Miller's wide-ranging research and storytelling projects included work on the nationally broadcast PBS documentary American Roots Music, for which she earned an Emmy nomination. She holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from New York University.
Danae Colomer is an architect and exhibition designer with over 15 years of experience across museum, architecture, and film design. She is passionate about the power of storytelling and how it can be translated into physical space to create meaningful, immersive experiences. Originally from Spain, Danae discovered her passion for exhibition design at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Since relocating to New York in 2009, she worked at Ralph Appelbaum Associates on award-winning museums worldwide. In 2021, she joined the Museum of the Moving Image as Director of Exhibition Management and Design. She holds a Master’s in Architecture from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid and a Master’s in Exhibition Design from FIT in New York. When she’s not designing exhibitions, Danae explores the world through the curious eyes of her children — which currently means mastering the rules of soccer and decoding the unique language of skateboarding.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Barbara by Email:
bmiller@movingimage.org
Barbara on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-miller-8b788b13b/
Danae by Email:
dcolomer@movingimage.org
Danae on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danaecolomer/
Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI):
https://movingimage.org/
“Mission: Impossible — Story and Spectacle” (Exhibition at MoMI):
https://movingimage.org/event/mission-impossible-story-and-spectacle/
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
How do you choose the right architect for your museum?
Is architecture about more than a building? Is architect selection about more than architecture? What is a design “brief”? Why are museum projects on “elephant time”? Are anonymous open design competitions a good thing? What comes after “good design is good business”?
Susanna Sirefman (President, Dovetail Design Strategists) discusses “The Art of Choosing a Museum Architect” with host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio).
Along the way: cello studies, Winston Churchill, and two lions named Patience and Fortitude.
Talking Points:
1. Design excellence is a basic human right
2. Architecture is about more than a building
3. Architect selection is about more than architecture
4. Selecting the right architect is vital
5. Ask the right questions and you’ll get the right answers
6. Moving beyond “Good design is good business”
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Susanna Sirefman, President and Founder of Dovetail Design Strategists, draws from extensive knowledge of the latest design and building trends, providing her clients with unmatched access to both emerging and acclaimed talent in architecture. Trained as an architect at the renowned Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, England, Susanna’s deep knowledge of the field informs her ability to advise on design, synthesize architectural concepts, making architecture accessible to the public.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Susanna on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanna-sirefman-17b8a813/
Susanna by email:
info@dovetailstrategists.com
Dovetail Design Strategists:
https://www.dovetailstrategists.com
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
What if every museum were more like ... a children’s museum?
Why is play “agnostic”? Can you design an entire museum for every generation, all at the same time? How are children’s museums like (and not like) other museums? How did they get that way? Wait, could we make an entire exhibition out of nothing but cardboard boxes? What is “co-learning”? And why don’t more museum people visit … other people’s museums?
Along the way: teaching artists, art teachers, and what we really mean by “caregiver.”
Talking Points:
1. Children’s museums, then and now
2. See the word “museum” differently
3. Play is agnostic
4. Designing for multiple generations
5. Caregivers as co-learners
6. Why professionals should visit other museums
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Edwin Link, M.Ed., serves as the Executive Director of Children’s Museum of Atlanta, where he applies his 18 years of experience in the nonprofit, arts, education, children museums, and youth development sectors. His experience includes developing and executing national initiatives focused on serving families in under-resourced communities, building community responsive experiences that create joy and wonder, building strategic partnerships, driving revenue to support strategic objectives, and identifying and implementing change management processes for operational efficiency.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Edwin Link on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinlink/
The Children’s Museum of Atlanta:
https://childrensmuseumatlanta.org/
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
What can we learn from one of the most complex AI projects in any museum today?
What is the history of AI in museums? Can we add AI to our experiences without a complete renovation? How do you teach an AI about 775 different football teams? How can AI put visitors literally into a story? Is AI accurate enough for a museum? What about bias? Doesn’t AI take away jobs? And how do you specify exactly what shade of college football orange you want to an AI — if you can only use words?
Kimberly Beaudin (CEO, College Football Hall of Fame) and Geoff Thatcher (Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Creative Principals) discuss “A Museum Transformed with AI” with host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio).
Along the way: Hypercinema, Salvador Dalí, and net promoter scores.
Talking Points:
1. A College Football Museum Transformed with AI
2. History of AI in Museums
3. Adding, Not Redesigning
4. Putting Visitors in the Story: Cheerleader, Coach, Player
5. Accuracy, Inclusivity and Jobs
6. What We Learned
7. What Visitors Are Saying
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bios:
Kimberly Beaudin is the Chief Executive Officer for the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame, one of Atlanta’s top attractions, and college football’s mecca. Beaudin joined the College Football Hall of Fame in June 2015 as the Vice President of Marketing and Communications. With over 20 years of experience in leading brand development and marketing strategy, she was later promoted to oversee the sales operations of the business in March 2016. In April 2020, Beaudin was appointed CEO of the Hall of Fame, making her the first female leader of the storied attraction. In her role as CEO, Beaudin focuses on strategic marketing initiatives, community and public relations, group sales and event sales as well as philanthropic development and partnership sales and activation.
Geoff Thatcher is an experienced creative director who excels at leading projects from concept to reality. These projects are most often about creating world-class experiences in corporate visitor centers, executive briefing centers, museums, theme parks and live events.Great experiences are distinguished by great story telling. Whether it’s interviewing executives about the future of health care in America, walking the Fort Worth assembly line of the F-35 Lightning II or listening to a seventh-generation Hawaiian play ukulele in her living room, it all begins with finding the story and translating it into memorable experiences. Geoff’s passion and experience in leadership development is ultimately about creating an environment where great work can get done together.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Kimberly on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-hartley-beaudin-a547933/
Kimberly by email:
College Football Hall of Fame:
https://www.cfbhall.com/
Geoff on Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffthatcher/
Geoff by email:
gthatcher@creativeprincipals.com
Creative Principals:
https://www.creativeprincipals.com/
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
What if the secret to better museums was … neuroscience?
How can museums inspire human creativity? How much media should be in a gallery — or should there be any? How soon should you get feedback on your exhibition ideas? Can museums help us all “escape the algorithm”? What does knitting have to do with visitor satisfaction? In this episode, we’ll learn some unexpected tricks of the trade from a renowned museum leader.
Lynda Roscoe Hartigan (The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum) discusses “Creating Effective Museum Experiences” with host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio).
Along the way: standup comedy, Iris Apfel, and moon chairs.
Talking Points:
1. Embrace Human Creativity
2. Design is Critical — Use Media Wisely
3. Knit Experiences
4. Escape the Algorithm
5. Know Your Audience — Get Feedback Early
6. Consider the Neuroscience
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Lynda Roscoe Hartigan is The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum. As a curator, scholar and museum executive, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to PEM. During her time as Chief Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, she led an internationally recognized acquisition initiative to build collections of works by Black, self-taught and modern and contemporary artists. In 2003, Lynda was appointed as PEM’s first Chief Curator and in 2016 became Deputy Director. Overseeing the interpretation and installation of PEM’s new wing, she was integral to developing and advancing the museum’s innovative exhibition program, collection stewardship, fundraising, education, publishing, digital and global leadership initiatives. Most recently, she was Deputy Director for Collections and Research and Chief Innovation Officer at the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada's largest museum dedicated to art, culture and the sciences. Lynda has returned to PEM to become the museum’s first woman director and to boldly lead the nation’s oldest continually operating and ever-evolving museum forward.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Lynda’s Email:
Lynda on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-hartigan-762b475/
Lynda’s Thesis:
"Grandma Moses and the Implications of Memory,' in Grandma Moses in the 21st Century, Jane Kallir, ed., Art Services International, Alexandria, VA, 2001, pp. 64-79.
https://www.amazon.com/Grandma-Moses-Century-Jane-Kallir/dp/0300089279
Calder exhibition:
https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/calder-and-abstraction-from-avant-garde-to-iconic
Ansel Adams exhibition:
https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/ansel-adams-at-the-waters-edge
Escape the Algorithm, PEM’s latest ad campaign:
Neuroscience initiative:
https://www.pem.org/about-pem/pem-initiatives/neuroscience-initiative
Art Pharmacy from Mass Cultural Council:
FutureMuseum (PEM will be hosting museum leaders for this event on May 28 and 29, 2025):
https://www.museumbooster.com/future-museum
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
What if a museum were more like a laboratory?
What if our exhibits were experiments? What if our galleries were more about questions, rather than answers? What if we didn’t fear failure as much? What if scientists, artists, and technologists all created exhibitions together? What happens when you edit an exhibit about editing DNA? Should every project have a post-opening contingency — in addition to the normal kind?
Ann Neumann (Director of Galleries and Exhibitions, MIT Museum) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Museum as Lab.”
Along the way: circadian rhythms, robots, maritime paintings, and a huge spiderweb you can play like a musical instrument.
Talking Points:
1. The MIT Museum
2. Scientists, Artists, and Technologists
3. Editing the Genetics Gallery
4. Spiderweb Concert
5. Circadian Biology: Lighten Up
6. Moving 1,500,000 Objects
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Ann Neumann, Director of Galleries and Exhibitions at the MIT Museum, leads conceptual planning of museum exhibitions presenting MIT’s research, collections, and innovation in science, art, design and technology in the heart of the biotech corridor. Her focus is on the museum as an experimental test bed for ideas, conversations and experiences that reflect the critical issues of culture and society. She’s the recipient of numerous awards for her work and named a Blooloop Museum Influencer in 2024. Her experience developing museums and science centers in the US and internationally reflect a commitment to expanding the human experience and science understanding through interdisciplinary collaborations, visual communication and the built environment.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners, the exhibition and experience design studio.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Ann by Email:
Ann on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-neumann
MIT Museum:
https://mitmuseum.mit.edu
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
What if we're doing community engagement … wrong?
How long should the process really take for a museum or exhibition? What’s the difference between demographics and psychographics? What does it mean to “move at the pace of community”? Why do community engagement experts sometimes cringe when they hear the word “charrette”? And what exactly does “community” mean?
Nu Goteh (Founder and Principal of ROOM FOR MAGIC, and Co-Founder of Deem Journal) joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Community Engagement Misconceptions.”
Along the way: Red Bull, lived experience experts, and Burnt Caramel Cookie Crumble.
Talking Points:
1. What Does Community Mean?
2. Moving at the Pace of Community
3. Engagement Isn’t Free
4. Finding Partner Organizations
5. Charrettes Are One Tactic (They’re Not a Strategy)
6. The Inherent Tensions
7. The Ice Cream Test
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Hi, I’m Nu—a designer, strategist, and educator dancing between design, culture, pedagogy and socially-engaged art. My practice integrates and reframes design beyond aesthetics. I’m interested in how design can serve as a catalyst for meaningful social change, informed by my Liberian heritage and a commitment to counter-culture ideals. I believe in the regenerative power of creativity to reimagine what is possible and to shape more inclusive and sustainable futures.
As the Founder and Principal of ROOM FOR MAGIC (studio practice) and the Co-Founder of Deem Journal (research & narrative practice), I see design as more than a tool—it's a language that connects people, places, and histories, offering pathways to restore and reshape the world. For me, design carries within it the life of communities, the rhythm of culture, and the potential for social regeneration.
I am passionate about creating projects that not only spark imagination but also nurture a sense of being, becoming and belonging. Whether building platforms for dialogue or designing systems for change, I am driven by a vision of community-focused spaces that invite others to participate, collaborate, and thrive. Design, at its best, becomes a bridge—a way to reclaim agency and envision new possibilities.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Nu via Email:
Room for Magic:
https://www.roomformagic.com
Nu’s Personal Website:
https://www.nugoteh.com
Deem Journal:
@deemjournal (Instagram)
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
What if we combined immersion, emotion, storytelling — and games?
We all want “engagement” … but what is engagement? How can our projects create it? What are the elements that go into it? Can game theory and play teach us how to make our experiences better? What is “narrative transportation”? Why are emotions key to memory creation? And what do Renaissance fairs have to do with museums?
Ed Rodley (Co-Founder and Principal, The Experience Alchemists), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Playful Engagement.”
Along the way: holodecks, Sleep No More, portmanteaus, and Ed’s upcoming book.
Talking Points:
1. What is “Playful Engagement”?
2. The Magic Circle
3. Immersion
4. Emotion
5. Storytelling
6. Games and Play
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Ed Rodley, Co-Founder & Principal, The Experience Alchemists (TEA), is an award-winning experience designer with over thirty-five years’ experience in making exhibitions and experiences for cultural organizations large and small. Incorporating emerging technologies into museum practice has been a theme throughout his career. As a thought leader in the digital transformation of the cultural sector, Ed frequently speaks at events around the world like ICOM’s International Symposium 2024 in Dubai and the National Digital Forum 2023 in New Zealand. He was one of Blooloop’s 50 Museum Influencers for 2021. His book “Designing for Playful Engagement in Museums” is due out in Summer 2025 from Routledge.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Ed Rodley by Email:
ed@theexperiencealchemists.com
The Experience Alchemists
https://www.theexperiencealchemists.com
“Taking the Plunge” in Museum Magazine
https://www.aam-us.org/2022/11/01/taking-the-plunge/
This article discusses the current state of immersive experiences, some of the conversations around these experiences and their “authenticity” and surveys the psychological research into immersion in digital environments to explore what makes them compelling.
"Thinking about Museums" Blog
https://thinkingaboutmuseums.com/
Ed’s personal weblog on museums, content, design, and why they matter.
Museopunks: The Podcast for the Progressive Museum
https://www.aam-us.org/programs/about-museums/museopunks/
Ed had the distinct pleasure of co-hosting with Suse Anderson her AAM-sponsored podcast which investigated the fascinating work and personalities in and around the museum sector, with a focus on emergent, boundary-pushing work and ideas.
Humanizing the Digital: Unproceedings from the MCN 2018 Conference
https://ad-hoc-museum-collective.github.io/humanizing-the-digital/
This book explored how museums can use technology to foster human connection and dialogue, advance accessibility and inclusion, and champion inquiry and knowledge, drawn from the Museum Computer Network conference.
CODE | WORDS - Technology and Theory in the Museum
https://medium.com/code-words-technology-and-theory-in-the-museum
Brought together leading museum thinkers and practitioners to explore emerging issues about the nature of museums in the light of the dramatic and ongoing impact of digital technologies.
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
Can a statue change American history?
How do we decide who gets a statue? What happens when you realize how many people deserve a statue but never got one? What’s the difference between a “forensic sculpture” for an interpretive exhibition, and one you’d put in a fine art show? Why are some museums just not complete without a bronze statue of the main characters? Are there “statues of limitations”?
Ivan Schwartz (Founder and Director of StudioEIS), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Sculpting History.”
Along the way: hagiography, phalanges, and ketchup bottles made of bronze.
Talking Points:
1. What is a “Forensic” Sculpture?
2. Sculptor as Visual Storyteller
3. How to Sculpt a President
4. A Phone Call from the Archives
5. Telling History Like It Is
6. Statues of LImitation
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Ivan Schwartz is the founder and director of StudioEIS. He is a sculptor, painter, and designer, with a keen interest in American history and the use of sculpture in the development of our national symbols. With a degree in sculpture from The College of Fine Arts at Boston University, he packed up and spent a year working in Pietrasanta, Italy in the early 1970s. He was the recipient of a distinguished alumni award from Boston University in 2003, and has shown his work in New York since 1981. Ivan was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts until the end of 2009 and was also a founding board member of Art Omi, an international arts workshop. He was also President of Innovators in America, 2009-2011, working closely with Sir Harold Evans. The StudioEIS archive was acquired by the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas, Austin, in 2014 in association with a new area of study on American symbols.
StudioEIS has created hundreds of projects in its 50-year history; most notably for: The National Constitution Center, The New York Historical Society, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Virginia Women’s Monument, and The National Museums of African American History and Natural History. The studio has explored the American Presidency, Military History and Civil Rights history extensively. Current Projects include the Clara Luper Memorial that will be unveiled in May in Oklahoma City and Theodore Roosevelt & Barack Obama Presidential Libraries.
Ivan has been seen recently on the CBS Sunday Morning program and at the Lyndon Johnson Library in conversation with Doris Kearns Goodwin on the subject of Abraham Lincoln. His film: “Lest We Forget, Statues of Limitation,” can be seen on Vimeo.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Ivan by Email:
ivan@studioeis.com
StudioEIS Online:
“Lest We Forget: Statues of Limitation” on Vimeo:
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
How do you make a museum display case disappear?
This episode is a masterclass in museum display case design. To the untrained eye, museum display cases look like what you’d find in a gift shop. But under the hood, they couldn’t be more different — and they are 100% unique to the museum world. Secrets we’ll reveal: art envelopes, non-offgassing, air exchange rates, and how glass is never, ever just glass. How can a display case be sealed, yet also designed to leak? What exactly makes a museum display case conservation grade? How do those little packets of silica gel work?
Stéphanie Bilodeau, (Director, Sales and Business Development, Zone Display Cases in Québec City, Canada), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to reveal the “Secrets of Museum Display Case Design.”
Along the way: reclaimed wood from Oregon, ordering a lot of insects, and falling in love with an industry.
Talking Points:
1. What Makes a Display Case "Conservation-Grade"?
2. The Basics: Microclimates, Art Envelopes, and Air Exchange Rates
3. How to Balance Conservation, Operation, and Design
4. Can a Display Case Look Antique but Be Modern?
5. Think You Know Glass?
6. I Need a Display Case - Now What?
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Born and raised in Québec City, Stéphanie has an extensive academic background in science, with multiple years of focused studies, including a specialization in entomology and a marketing certificate from Université Laval. She joined Zone Display Cases in 2011, drawn to the company’s collaborative and people-centered culture. Over the years, she progressed from Internal Sales and Project Management to Director of Sales and Marketing in 2018. Known for her energy and sociability, Stéphanie is highly skilled and passionate about supporting the various trades within the museum community. Her scientific expertise offers a unique perspective on artifact preservation, helping to showcase and protect cultural and historical treasures.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Zone Display Cases:
https://www.zonedisplaycases.com
Email Stéphanie Bilodeau:
steph@zonedisplaycases.com
Stéphanie on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/st%C3%A9phanie-bilodeau-52269177/
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a newsletter on exhibition planning and design — for museum leaders, exhibition teams, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
Can a building tell a story?
How do you design a glass wall to be ... mist? What if architecture, landscape, and exhibitions were all thought of as one thing? What changes when you etch barbed wire into a handrail? How can the floor plan of an entire museum relate to a nautilus shell? What does “A.D.R.O.I.T.” stand for? We’re going to find out, so notebooks at the ready.
Alan Reed, FAIA, LEED AP (President and Design Principal of GWWO Architects), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Story-Based Design.”
Along the way: dendrites, neurons, Seminole history, and a famous mathematical sequence that goes 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 …
Talking Points:
1. What is Story-Based Design?
2. Do the Research
3. Define the Essence
4. One Experience: Architecture + Landscape + Exhibitions
5. Intuitive Wayfinding: A.D.R.O.I.T.
6. Materials Matter, Down to the Details
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts >
Listen on Spotify >
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website >
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor >
Guest Bio:
Alan Reed, FAIA, LEED AP is President and Design Principal of GWWO Architects. Alan has focused his career on the planning and design of facilities that engage users, foster interaction, and enhance communities. Alan is a regular speaker on issues related to museum and interpretive facility design. He has spoken at numerous conferences, on many panels, and for many organization events including the National Association for Interpretation Conference, Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums Conference, Southeastern Museums Conference, and Building Museums Symposium. His work has been featured by Architectural Record and Metropolis, among other publications, and has received accolades at the national, regional, and local levels.
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners >
Links for This Episode:
Projects referenced:
Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center
Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Welcome Center at Niagara Falls State Park
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center
Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention
George Washington’s Mount Vernon Ford Orientation Center and Donald W. Reynolds Museum & Education Center
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn
Email Jonathan Alger
C&G Partners | Design for Culture
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
How would you design an exhibit — if an animal’s life depended on it?
What is the number one reason people come to the National Aquarium? When should you take ego out of design? What is a “machine for living”? Which is right: “know-feel-do” or “feel-know-do”? (Hint: might not be the first one.) Why would an aquarium visitor want to hear from the people who take care of the animals? What happens when you float an entire Chesapeake wetland on top of the ocean, in the middle of Baltimore Harbor? How have kitchens and exhibits had a similar evolution?
Jacqueline Bershad, Vice President of Planning & Design at the National Aquarium, joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Designing with Animals.”
Along the way: plankton, anemones, turtles, ducks, night herons, sloths, and rockwork sculpting geniuses.
Talking Points:
1. Architecture with a Small “a"
2. Embracing Unlearning
3. When Your Clients Can’t Speak for Themselves
4. Behind the Scenes IS the Scene
5. Passionate People and Pragmatic Problems
6. Vision with a Big “V”
How to Listen:
Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Everywhere: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Jacqueline Bershad, Vice President of Planning & Design at the National Aquarium, is a licensed, LEED certified architect with 25 years of experience in the design of museums, exhibit experiences, zoos and aquaria. Her team is responsible for all capital improvement projects, experiential design, exhibit fabrication and operations. She represents the Aquarium at national conferences including AAM, MAAM, AZA and ASLA; has published on museum experience in national outlets; and was appointed by the Mayor to serve on Baltimore’s Public Art Commission. Jacqueline holds a Master’s in Architecture from North Carolina State University, Master’s of Science in Architecture from the University of North Carolina with a specialty in the design of public space, and a Bachelor’s in History from Wesleyan University.
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Links for This Episode:
Jacqueline on LinkedIn
National Aquarium - Harbor Wetland
Baltimore Floats an Artificial Wetland in Pursuit of a Cleaner Harbor - Bloomberg
National Weather Desk Harbor Wetland
National Aquarium Strategic Master Plan – Studio Gang
Harbor Wetland — Ayers Saint Gross
Evolutionary Thinking in Habitats® - CLR Design
Links for MtM, the Podcast:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals.
(And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):
How do you make an institution that's both a museum and a memorial — at the same time?
How are exhibitions like theater? Is a museum a group experience, or a personal one — or is that a trick question? When is it time to trust your gut? Why is collaboration so important? When is a single milk can the most important object in a museum? How can one single, simple philosophy inform everyone’s work, from the curators to the team making mounts for the artifacts? How are the principles of making a memorial museum different from other types of museums — or are they so different after all?
Alice Greenwald (Principal of Memory Matters, LLC, and past President and Chief Executive Officer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Making a Memorial Museum.”
Along the way: spackling, reverence, and what happens when a museum director leaves their office door open.
Talking Points:
0. What is a Memorial Museum?
1. Start With Authenticity
2. It’s About Storytelling
3. Museums Are Not Books
4. Practice Conscientious Listening
5. Trust Your Gut
6. Collaboration is Required
How to Listen:
Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Everywhere: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Alice M. Greenwald is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of museum practice, with expertise in history, ethnic heritage, and memorial museums. Currently the principal of Memory Matters, LLC, providing strategic advice to museums, memorial projects, senior executives, and boards, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum from 2017-2022 and from 2006 to 2016, as the organization’s Founding Museum Director and Executive Vice President for Exhibitions, Collections and Education. Previously, she was Associate Museum Director, Museum Programs, at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Alice serves on the boards of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and the United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial Foundation and is a Trustee Emerita at Central Synagogue in New York City. She is First Vice President of The Lotos Club, and in January 2024, concluded her service as a board member of the International Council of Museums-US. She holds an M.A. in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and a B.A with concentrations in English Literature and Anthropology from Sarah Lawrence College, where she delivered the commencement address to the class of 2007.
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Links for This Episode:
Alice by Email:
alice.m.greenwald@gmail.com
Alice at Memory Matters:
https://www.memorymattersllc.com
National September 11th Memorial & Museum:
https://www.911memorial.org
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
https://www.ushmm.org
Links for MtM, the Podcast:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals.
(And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with an ad-free quick one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, visitors, budgeting, content, and project management, to name just a few.
Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):
Is there an organization for the exhibition field? A new initiative is picking up steam.
The exhibition community in the US, some say, has recently gone from having “nearly one” professional organization — to none at all. That’s because of the unexpected 2023 dissolution of NAME, the National Association for Museum Exhibition, a group within the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). But now a new effort is rising at SEGD, an international organization headquartered in the US. It takes the form of a PPG, or professional practice group, specific to exhibition practitioners. How can everyone in the field access professional development and mentorship? What is the role of networking in a professional community? Should there be better standards for the field?
Cybelle Jones (CEO of SEGD) and the cofounders of the new PPG, Steven Rosen (President and Creative Director, Available Light), and George Mayer (Retired Vice President of Business Development, Kubik Maltbie), join host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “A New Home for the Exhibition Community.”
Along the way: how listeners can get involved, the role of local meetups, and what a survey revealed that people in the field most urgently need.
Talking Points:
How to Listen:
Guest Bios:
Cybelle Jones is CEO of SEGD, a multidisciplinary community creating experiences that connect people to place. SEGD is a non-profit member organization focusing on education, innovation and design excellence by designing more equitable, sustainable, and user-centric environments. Prior to joining SEGD, Cybelle led numerous acclaimed design projects during her 25+ year tenure as Principal of G&A, including the National WWII Museum, the International Spy Museum, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum. Cybelle is actively involved in various boards and has spoken on the field of experience design at AAM, the V&A, FIT, AIGA, AIA and MuseumNext.
Steven Rosen, President and Creative Director, Available Light: Merging performance lighting techniques with traditional non-theatrical environments launched Steven’s career and his founding of Available Light over 30 years ago. From Museum exhibits to immersive architecture to trade shows, the fun never stops—it helps that he works with some of the planet’s most talented lighting aficionados. The originality and grand scale of Steven’s award-winning designs are evident in many one-of-a-kind award-winning projects as: The Neural Climber interactive at the Franklin Institute, Ocean Hall for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the International Spy Museum in DC, and Chicago MSI’s U-505. He is passionate about supporting the lighting community.
George Mayer first joined Maltbie Associates in 1986 and was responsible for identifying new business opportunities, proposal writing, presentations, contract negotiation, and oversight of project management teams to ensure satisfactory fulfillment for permanent and traveling exhibits. From 2002 to 2009, George worked as the founding director of a new museum fabrication business for Art Guild, Inc., a nationally active trade show exhibits producer. In 2010, George rejoined Maltbie (now Kubik Maltbie, Inc.) as Vice President of Business Development. He retired from the firm in June of 2022.
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Links for This Episode:
SEGD:
https://segd.org/
SEGD Membership:
https://segd.org/join/
SEGD Professional Practice Groups:
https://segd.org/resources/introducing-segd-professional-practice-groups/
SEGD PPG Unveiling at 2024 AAM:
Cybelle:
Steven:
George:
Links for MtM, the Podcast:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Like the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. Join hundreds of your peers with an ad-free quick one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, visitors, budgeting, content, and project management, to name just a few. (And a bonus: newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):
“The client’s role is not to solve the problem — it’s to state the problem.”
What’s the client’s perspective in major cultural projects? What are “client user groups?” What’s the difference between advocating for the client, and advocating for the project? How do you “inhabit your project?” How might a single gender-inclusive restroom project change an entire institution? Should every project have a “super contingency” in the budget?
Amy Weisser (Deputy Director for Strategic Planning and Projects at Storm King Art Center) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “The Client Side of Major Projects.”
Along the way: P.P.E., trusting the hiring decisions, and a 2,000-year-old Roman theory that still works today.
Talking Points:
1. The Three-Legged Stool: Vision, Schedule, Budget
2. Client Advocate, Project Advocate, User Advocate
3. Museum Building Projects are Linear, Not Cyclical
4. All Projects are Transformational
5. Project Phases: Watercolors to Hard Hats
6. Disasters DO Happen
7. Build Your Values
How to Listen:
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Amy Weisser is Deputy Director, Strategic Planning and Projects at Storm King Art Center, where she incubates projects focused on strategic growth. Weisser has spent 30 years supporting cultural institutions undergoing profound development. Prior to Storm King, Weisser led exhibition development for the National September 11 Memorial Museum from 2005 to 2017 and helped open the contemporary art museum Dia:Beacon and the American Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center for Earth and Space. She has taught Museum Studies at New York University. Weisser holds a doctorate in Art History from Yale University. She is a co-author of Martin Puryear: Lookout (GRM/SKAC, 2024).
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Links for This Episode:
Amy’s Email:
as.weisser@stormkingartcenter.org
Amy’s LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amysweisser/
Storm King:
Storm King’s Capital Project:
https://stormking.org/capitalproject/
Building Museums Symposium, a project of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums:
https://midatlanticmuseums.org/building-museums/
Links for MtM:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Newsletter:
Like the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email, three times a week, on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. (And the best way to find out first about new episodes of the podcast.)
Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com
Can you get big press with a small budget? (Hint: Yes.)
For museums, small firms, and independent consultants, this episode is packed with literally dozens of ideas from a master of scrappy PR.
What is the #1 tip about PR, if you forgot all the others? How do you get a journalist’s attention? How do you get in the news without something new? Who should be your spokesperson? Is press actually about the topic — or is it about just being in the news? Once you get an article, what do you do with it? Do people still write press releases? How important is PR, anyway? (Hint: Very.)
Sarah Maiellano (Founder, Broad Street Communications) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Scrappy PR for Museums”.
Along the way: newsjacking, working the niches, and the magic of a holiday gift guide.
Talking Points:
1. Eight Story Ideas: Beyond the Exhibition
a. New = News
b. Humans are Interested in Other Humans
c. Party Time
d. Shopping!
e. Localize It, Personalize It
f. Education
g. Newsjacking
h. Money Money
2. Doing the Prep Work: Photos, Video, Writing, Talking Points, Spokesperson
3. Building a Media List
4. Maximizing Media Coverage
How to Listen:
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Equal parts creative and entrepreneurial, Broad Street Communications founder Sarah Maiellano’s superpower is discovering and telling stories. Sarah is an award-winning Philadelphia-based Public Relations professional and independent journalist. She serves Philadelphia area arts and culture institutions, with a focus on museums, and regional non-profits. Over the last 15 years, she has generated more than 3,000 stories about her clients. She’s a past board member of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association and is a frequent speaker at events and conferences, including the American Alliance of Museums 2024 annual meeting. As a freelance journalist, Sarah covers travel and food for regional and national outlets, including USA Today and Philadelphia Magazine.
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
sarah@broadstreetcomms.com
www.broadstreetcomms.com
www.sarahmaiellano.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahmaiellano/
https://www.instagram.com/sarahmaiellano/
MtM Show Contact:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Newsletter:
Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com
Have we lost a sense of playfulness in our work … and could we get it back?
In museums for children, why does “analog usually beat digital?” What’s a “climbing structure”? What are design metaphors, and why should planners beware of them? How can exhibition teams better empathize with one another’s fears and concerns? Why should a museum professional or designer “hyper-specialize”?
Jonathan Goldstein and Kyle Talbott (Principals, Skyhouse Studio) join host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Six Keys for Unlocking Your Most Playful, Creative Work.”
Along the way: ancient trees, vacuum tubes, and Easter eggs.
Talking Points:
1. Finish Every Sketch
2. Beware of Design Metaphors
3. Design as if You’re Going to Build It
4. Demonstrate Empathy Through Disruption
5. Analog Usually Beats Digital
6. Hyper-Specialize
How to Listen:
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bios:
As a child, Jonathan Goldstein accidentally built a 2-story treehouse surrounded by a thicket of poison ivy. Never deterred by a project’s audaciousness (or the limitations of his botanical knowledge), Jonathan designs climbing structures to conjure adventure and perceived risk—the stuff of childhood memories. Prior to his architectural studies, Jonathan’s earlier career as a junior high school history teacher prepared him for what would be his quest: To awaken people’s senses and engage their innate curiosities. His specialization in climbing structure design is born from a desire to make special places for families to share uncommon, joyous experiences. Jonathan is the founder and design principal of SKYHOUSE Studio.
Kyle Talbott is Design Principal at SKYHOUSE Studio. He is obsessed with designing complex three-dimensional labyrinths that challenge the mind and body. He uses cutting-edge parametric modeling software to sculpt weird, organic structures inspired by everything from a craggy mountainside to an osprey nest. Kyle sees the world as a complex, orderly whole, and his climber designs embody the harmony of natural and technological things. He is also a passionate educator who is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. In all his work, Kyle helps people cultivate a growth mindset and a heroic spirit through inquisitive play.
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
Skyhouse
https://skyhousestudio.org/
SKYHOUSE Studio is a service of the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus
Jonathan Goldstein
Email: jonathan@skyhousestudio.org
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-goldstein-49856b2a
Kyle Talbott
Email for Kyle: kyle@skyhousestudio.org
LinkedIn for Kyle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-talbott-9b17b325/
MtM Show Contact:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Newsletter:
Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email, three times a week, on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. (And the best way to find out first about new episodes of the podcast.)
Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com
How do new museums make money — really?
In this episode, we lift the veil on new museum projects and money. What is “the peril of the bicycle wheel”? Is it bad to rely on “anchor funding”? How many kinds of revenue should a new museum project have? What happens if you have the wrong number? (Hint: eh, not so good.) How much money do endowments make? And what’s so magical about thirds?
Amy Kaufman (Principal, Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “The Money Pie Chart”.
Along the way: Latin American Art curator jokes, coat-checking 200 motorcycle helmets at once, and a pharmaceutical metaphor Jonathan will never live down.
Talking Points:
1. Museums have to make money
2. Introducing the pie chart
3. Pac Man, peace signs, and anacins
4. The peril of the bicycle wheel
5. What happens when you don’t diversify
6. What’s next: Living wages and climate action
How to Listen:
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Amy Kaufman (Principal, Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning) is an institutional planner with demonstrated success in strategy, business and facilities planning, branding, and operational implementation. She has successfully worked with organizations of all types and sizes, including museums, universities, parks, botanic gardens, visitor centers and heritage sites. She collaborates with government agencies, architects, developers, foundations, and institutional leaders to integrate a variety of goals and perspectives. She plans new institutions; and assesses performance and conducts qualitative and quantitative market research for existing organizations, integrating findings into strategic, operational and visitor experience plans. Previously, Amy was Managing Director at Lord Cultural Resources and Special Project Director at the Guggenheim.
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning
https://www.akculturalplanning.com
MtM Show Contact:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Newsletter:
Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com
What’s the role of wonder in experience design?
What can the circus teach us to make our exhibitions better? (Spoiler alert: a lot.) Could being “with it and for it” be the secret to success for museum projects? How much technology is too much? Can we really design for all five senses? Can an exhibition be a high-wire act — literally?
Jennifer Lemmer Posey (Tibbals Curator of Circus at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to teach some inspirational “Circus Lessons for Museum Professionals”.
Along the way: popcorn, a wall of clowns, and that special smell of elephants.
Talking Points:
1. Build a team that is “with it and for it”
2. Engage all of the senses
3. Technology shouldn’t steal the center ring
4. Wonder is in the details
5. Create opportunities for shared experiences
6. Design a space that can be ever-changing, never-changing
How to Listen:
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
As the Tibbals Curator of Circus at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Jennifer Lemmer Posey oversees the interpretation and care of objects and ephemera related to the history of circus. With more than twenty years of experience, Jennifer serves as a liaison to the international circus community and facilitates academic study of circus arts. A leading scholar in American circus history, her work has been included in numerous books, catalogs, and journals. Jennifer served as editor for Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society and was an Advisory Scholar in Circus Arts for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2017.
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
About Jennifer:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferlemmerposey/
https://www.instagram.com/wonderfilled_curator/
About the Ringling:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/theringling
https://www.instagram.com/theringling/
https://www.facebook.com/TheRingling
From Point 1 - Building a team that is “with it and for it”:
Behind the scenes of the Howard Bros. Circus model - museum staff program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxntny_wC_M
Wagon Wheel installation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgF8__NDnJQ
From Point 2 - Engage all of the senses:
The Ringling
https://www.ringling.org
Wonder Symposium
https://www.ringling.org/wonder-symposium/
From Point 3 - Technology shouldn’t steal the center ring:
The Greatest Show On Earth Gallery at The Ringling
https://www.ringling.org/event/the-greatest-show-on-earth-gallery/
Manage This Podcast – My Project is a Three Ring Circus
https://www.velociteach.com/manage-this-podcast/my-project-is-a-three-ring-circus/
From Point 4 - Wonder is in the details:
Howard Tibbals & the Howard Bros. Circus Model
https://www.pbs.org/video/wedu-arts-plus-311-howard-tibbals/
Smithsonian Folklife Festival – Wonder Is by Albert Tong and Hae-Yang Chang
https://festival.si.edu/blog/wonder-is-circus-arts
Circus Museum Collection Highlights
https://emuseum.ringling.org/collections/5163/circus-highlights/objects
From Point 5 - Create opportunities for shared experiences:
The Ringling’s Collecting Recollections series features fascinating people with fascinating stories to tell about their lives, the Museum, the Circus, Sarasota – and more. I recommend Dolly Jacobs, Kenneth Feld, Jackie LeClaire, Peggy Williams
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLctJhityCmSnHNtgDWP6uWK3Nf0l7Pkr1
From Point 6 - Design a space that can be ever-changing, never-changing:
The Circus Museum at The Ringling
https://www.ringling.org/visit/venues/circus-museum/
To learn more about circuses:
Federation Mondiale du Cirque
http://www.circusfederation.org
Circus Historical Society
https://circushistory.org
Circus Sarasota
https://circusarts.org
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
https://www.ringling.com
MtM Show Contact:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Newsletter:
Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com
Do museum stores actually make any money?
What are they really for? Can a store act like an exhibition? What does “cap rate” mean? How big should a museum store be? What percentage of visitors go into one, and how many of them buy something? Why should you get an expert to design your store, and what happens when you don’t?
David Franke (museum store architect) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discover what’s “Beyond ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’”.
Along the way: rubber snakes, oysters, onions, and Mona Lisa ashtrays.
Talking Points:
1. An oyster living in a birds nest.
2. New store in a new museum or a renovation to an existing one. Where, oh where to begin?
3. The peeling of the onion.
4. Getting the balance just right.
5. Don’t forget that long range strategy to ensure you don’t fall victim to your own success.
How to Listen:
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
With over four decades of experience as an architect, David Franke’s focus is now exclusively on store design and planning for museum and cultural institutions around the world. Museum stores include two at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and the Museum of the American Cowgirl, the US Botanic Garden in DC, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Arizona; the Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey, three retail projects for the State Preservation Board in Austin, and the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park Illinois.
David has also served on councils and boards for the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle, Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s Building and Facilities Committee and the Pennsylvania Ballet. He is a participant in the International Museum Construction Congress, the California Association of Museums, Texas Association of Museums, American Association of Museums and Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, where has co-presented sessions on the design of museum retail.
About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
David's website: https://www.davidfrankeconsulting.com
David by Email: DavidFrankeRA@Gmail.com
David by Phone: +1 (215) 498-4384
David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-franke-ra-21a4539/
MtM Show Contact:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Newsletter:
Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com
