Sharing Museum Fabrication Expertise at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts

Taking the drama out of fabricating technologically challenging museum exhibits. A relentless focus on delivering the intended visitor experience. These are two of the core commitments Art Guild’s Museums + Environments team makes to its customers. Keeping these commitments requires an extraordinary level of professionalism and expertise in many disciplines including prototyping, value engineering, fabrication and project management. It also requires expertise in the many specialized materials and fabrication methods used in modern exhibit production.

We’ve acquired this expertise through our work on hundreds of projects, and by building a team of true museum professionals. Every member here has more than 10 years of experience working in, or for, museums.

Now we are sharing this expertise in a graduate-level course for students in the Museum Exhibition Planning & Design program at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, one of the country’s oldest and most respected schools for the visual and performing arts. The course is co-presented by David M. Egner, Vice President, Museum Services, and Bill Furr, Technical Director. Guest lecturers include Project Managers Jay Sitton, Jim Guarino and Jason Campbell, Lead Detailer, George Black and VP of Operations, Bob Scupin.

The course is titled Exhibit Materials and Methods. It offers students a hands‐on exploration of materials used in the fabrication of museum exhibits, helping them to understand each in terms of functionality, structural considerations, cost, and sustainability. It also offers an overview of tools and methodologies commonly used in museum exhibit fabrication.

We are proud of the depth of expertise we can offer our customers. We are honored to pass it on to the next generation of museum professionals.