Overview

Leslie Bedford, former director of the highly regarded Bank Street College museum leadership program, expands the museum professional’s vision of exhibitions beyond the simple goal of transmitting knowledge to the visitor. Her view of exhibitions as interactive, emotional, embodied, imaginative experiences opens a new vista for those designing them. Using examples both from her own work at the Boston Children’s Museum and from other institutions around the globe, Bedford offers the museum professional a bold new vision built around narrative, imagination, and aesthetics, merging the work of the educator with that of the artist. It is important reading for all museum professionals.

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9781611323115

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Reviews

The term page-turner does not come up often in reference to the literature of museum studies, but <em>The Art of Museum Exhibitions</em> is one such rare example. In her poetic and substantive new book, Bedford builds a case for the museum exhibition as an art form using essential concepts in progressive, aesthetic, and imaginative education. By bringing to life examples from across museum types, the author convincingly argues that it is the aesthetic qualities of exhibitions - more so than their educational content - that create lasting memories and significant meaning for visitors. Ben Garcia, Head of Interpretation, Hearst Museum of Anthropology, UC Berkeley

Author Information

Leslie Bedford is a museum consultant who consults on exhibition and professional development in the US and abroad. She is a member of The Museum Group and former Director of the Leadership in Museum Education Program at the Bank Street Graduate School of Education. Bedford holds a Ph.D. in Museum Studies from Union Institute and a masters of education from Harvard. She previously worked at the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Boston Children's Museum. Her writings have appeared in Curator , Exhibitionist and other key museum publications. In addition to having been a Senior Fulbright Research Scholar in Japan and later Argentina, she received the Ida Karp Award from the Bank Street Alumni Association.

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