Make Your Own Museum
Learn what it feels like to create a museum by curating exhibitions, caring for objects, and inviting visitors to enjoy your work.
Words marked with an asterisk symbol (*) are defined in the glossary section.
Materials
Required
- A wall or area for curating your museum
- Paper
- Markers, colored pencils, or crayons
- Removable/Wall-safe tape
- Glue or tape
- Ruler
Optional
Cardboard boxes or cereal boxes
Activity 1: Name Your Museum
- Name your museum.
- Make a sign with your museum’s name and put it on the wall above your objects.
- Try planning one with Poster House Board President, Val Crosswhite!
NOTE: You can come back to this activity if you’d like to name your museum after you curate your first exhibition.
Activity 2: Curate Your Exhibition
- Congratulations! You are now the curator* of your museum.
- Select objects* from your home to include in your exhibition* (for example: toys, stuffed animals, shoes, books, etc.)
- Think carefully about which objects you choose:
- What makes your objects similar?
- What makes them different?
- Try your hand at curating your show with Chief Curator, Angelina Lippert!
- Now arrange your objects.
- Think carefully about how you will place them:
- Will you put them on a box, a stool, or a chair so people can see them clearly?
- Will you create frames for them to show how special they are?
- Curious about how to create a simple frame? Watch Exhibition Manager, John Lynch, explain!
- Give your exhibition a name!
Activity 3: Make Your Wall Labels
- On separate pieces of paper, write about your objects so that everyone knows what they are and why they are important to you.
- Use your papers as wall labels*
- Tape or place your wall labels next to their objects.
- Design your wall labels with help from artist and Museum Educator, Maya Varadaraj!
Activity 4: Create Your Poster
- Create a poster to advertise* your exhibition.
- Include:
- Your museum’s name
- The title of your exhibition
- A sentence that explains what’s in your exhibition
- The dates that people can come see your exhibition
- An image that makes people excited to come
- Design your poster with Design Director, Ola Baldych!
Activity 5: Invite Visitors to the Exhibition
- Create an invitation to give to your family and friends (your museum visitors), so that they can visit your exhibition.
- Include information such as the time, date, and title of the exhibition.
- While prepping for opening night, write your opening night speech with Museum Director, Julia Knight!
Activity 6: Prepare for Your Opening Party
- Set the mood for your party by creating a playlist and paying attention to the lighting.
- Make your visitors feel welcome by preparing special snacks for your exhibition opening with Director of Café des Affiches, Melissa Caruso-Scott!
Activity 7: Teach Visitors About Your Exhibition
- When your visitors arrive, give them a tour of the exhibition by telling them about each of the objects you included!
- You might also create a video tour for people who cannot attend the exhibition in person.
- Plan to teach your visitors about your exhibition with Education Director, Samantha Hirsch!
Activity 8: Care for Your Objects
- Make packaging from recycled boxes or folders to move and store your objects safely with Collections Manager, Melissa Walker!
Activity 9: Curate a Second Exhibition
- YAY! You’ve curated your first exhibition.
- If you had fun doing that, you can keep going and make more exhibitions! The possibilities are endless.
Glossary
Advertise: a way of encouraging people to want to do or buy something
Curate: to organize a museum or exhibition
Curator: a person who selects objects for an exhibition
Exhibition: a group of objects in a museum
Objects: items in an exhibition
Wall Label: an explanation of a museum object
Share
Take a photo of your exhibition and/or exhibition poster and share it with us, @posterhousenyc on Instagram. Be sure to include your museum name and exhibition title and we might include you in our #museumathome collection!