Exhibition Guidelines

We aim to produce exhibitions that: 

• Support the strategic mission of the libraries and the university
• Complement the university’s curricular and programmatic initiatives
• Increase awareness of our collections, services, and events
• Cultivate intellectual and creative growth in the university community
• Strengthen partnerships around the university and wider community
• Promote the diversity and research value of our holdings
• Highlight university, local, national, or international events
• Create an inclusive environment for scholarship and engagement 

Proposal process for Large Scale exhibitions on the ground floor and first floor of Doheny Library

1.  Proposals will come from a variety of sources, such as library staff, university faculty, or community members. They are often generated in conjunction with a multicomponent grant proposal (such as Visions and Voices, California Humanities, NEH, etc.) or a special anniversary. 
2. A proposal should be submitted no less than 18 months in advance and be at least one page long with a lead curator identified; description of the concept as well as timeframe and location being requested; kinds of materials that would go on display with any key items and/or collections called out specifically; describe the logical layout for the exhibition; intended audience; outside funding sources (if they exist); and outcomes desired.
3.  Staff on the exhibitions team (i.e., currently Tyson Gaskill and Anne-Marie Maxwell) will receive these and bring to the committee for regular review.  
4.  Occasionally, proposals may come in without the necessary lead time. We will do our best to review and slot them in if they are deemed important enough to support.

Proposal process for exhibitions in other locations (e.g., AFA, NML, SSL—this does not include ONE Archives or Special Collections, which have separate processes outside the purview of this committee)

1.  These smaller displays are typically requested by library employees and are related to something of special interest to them. 
2.  A proposal should be submitted 6 months in advance and be at least one paragraph long with the curator identified; description of the concept as well as timeframe and location being requested; collection and/or key materials to be used. 
3.  These may not need to go through a formal approval process but staff in the programming department should bring them to the committee for review and comment as there may be ways to promote them in conjunction with other events/programming taking place. 

Selection Criteria 
Exhibitions will be selected for approval and further development that meet these criteria

1.   Form part of a grant-based proposal we have received
2.   Relate to the pedagogical mission of the libraries and/or university
3.   Further the scholarly understanding of our collections 
4.   Feature interesting content that appeals to a broad constituency
5.   Tied to a special event or anniversary of significant interest
6.   Contribute new research or present previous research in an innovative manner
7.   Meet goals of including culturally diverse subject matter 
8.   Part of a traveling exhibition that we have supplemented with materials from our own collections

Next steps
If a proposal is accepted by the committee, the next steps are:

1. Curator identifies a Special Collections liaison (if necessary, or if hasn’t happened already).
2. Curator makes a preliminary list of relevant materials and/or groups of materials and consults with Special Collections and exhibitions team to discuss conservation and display issues. If conservation problems are significant, exhibition may need to be put on hold until the issues are resolved.
3.  If there are no major conservation problems, exhibitions team to call launch meeting to determine scope of requirements, costs, timing, related events, etc. Participants include curator, exhibitions team, and other staff who may be impacted.
4.  Curator responsibilities include: arranging with Digital Imaging Lab for photography of specific exhibition objects (if needed, for publicity or design purposes), negotiating any loans from outside organizations with assistance from exhibitions team, providing draft text for a poster/introduction and any relevant label copy, develop related public programs, be available to assist during installation, giving lectures or gallery talks, be available for press interviews as needed, and assist during deinstallation after exhibition has concluded. 
5. Final note
6. We always keep in mind during the exhibition development process that people who come to our libraries often compose a diverse audience and may not be specialists in the field. Therefore, as much as possible the materials on display should be visually compelling with a clear theme and narrative and be informative without getting too dense or bogged down in esoteric details.
   
   For information related to Student Curated Exhibit Opportunities with USC Special Collections click here

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