Project by Allison Moore (2019)
The purpose of this project was to cultivate a new group of community stakeholders through the curation of a community-sourced exhibit. Hosted by the Renton History Museum (RHM), the exhibit hoped to address the problem of a lack of engagement in audiences between the ages of
25-44 at local-area history museums. By demonstrating the effectiveness of a community-sourced curation, this project was significant to the field by providing a model by which small museums could engage in community-based exhibit practices. The exhibit was also significant to RHM by providing them an exhibit for the summer and by helping them to engage new audiences. The major activities of the project included: developing a community contact list, conducting research, developing the exhibit, planning the exhibit, and evaluating the audience. The resulting exhibit, entitled Hero’s Feast, ran from May 7 – October 16, 2019. Although some limitations resulted from the unpredictability of working with community contacts, the project was successful in bringing in new adult audiences to the Renton History Museum.
Keywords: Class of 2019, museology, museum studies, exhibit, dungeons and dragons, community curation, project
Citation:
Moore, A. (2019). Engaging New Audiences through Community-Sourced Curation: Curating Hero’s Feast. Unpublished master’s project, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.