expLoring exhibits & engagement, LLC
Client Projects
Overhauled the conceptual framework and exhibit texts to meet the museum’s learning and de-colonizing goals for the aquarium gallery in the museum’s new waterfront building.
From the Mountains to the Sea exhibit
Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, Portland, ME
Discovery Center at Water’s Edge, Belcamp, MD
Preview Center
Researched and wrote all panel texts for the Preview Center of this emerging museum offering STEM interactives, technology history exhibits, and explores “tomorrow’s technology today”. (With Quatrefoil Associates)
Discovery Museum, Acton, MA
Cause and Effect exhibit (in development)
Serving as the evaluator for this IMLS-funded exhibition from formative through summative phases, while training and coaching staff in evaluation methods.
Heritage Winooski Mill Museum, Winooski, VT
Kids at Work exhibit (in development)
Developed exhibit frameworks, and trained staff in evaluation-driven prototyping to increase interactivity and multi-age engagement in a planned exhibition exploring child labor in history and today.
Museum of Discovery and Science, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Exhibit development process overhaul
Co-developed with staff a new in-house, evaluation-driven exhibit development process. Conducted staff training exhibition visioning sessions for early childhood and climate resilience exhibitions.
Pathways to Resiliency exhibit (in development)
Conducted exhibit brainstorming workshop and literature review for an exhibition which will be integral to the museum’s plans to serve as a community engagement hub for climate resilience planning.
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, Yonkers, NY
Our Whole History
Researched content and images for exhibits exploring the lives of the Native Americans, Africans and African descendants, and Europeans who lived on the site of the Philipse plantation. (With Amaze Design)
SEE Science Center, Manchester NH
Millyard Design Zone exhibit (in development)
Led visioning session, built prototypes, and coached staff in formative evaluation to add urban planning-oriented interactives to an iconic, but under-performing, historic LEGO® model of Manchester.
Grant Writing
Writing narratives for Federal, State, and private exhibition-related grants to support exhibit projects following universal design standards.
What Clients Are Saying
Miriam Block
Director
Heritage Winooski Mill Museum
Betsy's experience helped guide my initial ideas into a sound exhibit framework and empowered me with cost-saving methods for planning future projects.
Joe Cox
President & CEO
Museum of Discovery and Science
During our exhibits planning workshop, Betsy guided great conversation and empowered our team with new skills and expanded confidence.
Lucia Stancioff
Deputy Director
Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine
Betsy was so easy to work with (and fun!). With a lot of cooks in the kitchen, she turned all our ideas into clear, educational signage that will last us for a long time.
Contributions to the Field
Workshops & Presentations
Role Play the Way: A New Direction of Imaginative Learning
Museums and Communities Working to Build Back Better
Build (Your Community) Back Better: Using museum practices for community and urban planning
Little “e” evaluation: DIY Methods for Busy Museum Professionals
Low Tech/No Tech Live-Action Role Playing Games for Public Audiences
Hacking the World - Imagining the Post-Pandemic Museum
Beyond Hands-on: Tapping the Non-touch Senses in Exhibitions
Project Management Potholes: Avoiding Blowouts on Your Next Exhibit Project
Exhibit Project Management ABCs
Butterfly Gardens & Beyond: Interpreting Green Space
They’re doing what!?: Using Timing and Tracking to Understand How Visitors Really Use Your Exhibits
Bringing the Public into Your Sandbox Without Getting Sand in Your Face – or Theirs
Publications & Partnerships
“Going Rogue for Good: Free the Museum”, Exhibition journal, Fall 2021
“Dream Big(ger): From Building Exhibitions to Building a Better City”, Exhibition journal, Spring 2021
Collaborative Research: Functional and evolutionary bases of substrate-specificity in wood-decaying basidiomycetes [NSF IOS-1456777, CoPI]
From the Lab to The Neighborhood: An Interactive Living Exhibit For Advancing STEM Engagement With Urban Systems In Science Museums [NSF AISL-1323168, CoPI]
Exhibit Lab: Developing a Community of Practitioners
[IMLS award# MP-00-11-0049-11]