GHM Exhibit Visit

I visited the Greensboro Historical Museum the other day to view the exhibits and fully understand the museum. Unfortunately, I did not find the overall experience of the museum to be a positive one. We parked in the museum lot, crossed the street,  and entered into the now familiar lobby. After signing in we climbed the stairs and began our journey through the maze of exhibits the museum had in store. First on the list:


Historic Room Interiors & The Art of Turning Clay


The pottery displayed was beautifully crafted and wonderful, but poorly displayed in my opinion. The visitor enters the space and advances between the cases of pottery. The pottery is entirely to bulked together and the walk between the cases to short to fully grasp or appreciate the beautiful ceramic forms. Even as I tried to examine pieces of pottery individually, I felt to visually overwhelmed to enjoy any of it. Then, surrounding the display of pottery, are rooms on display. The rooms are dimly lit and arranged in an awkward circular path around the central exhibit, forcing the visitor to cross paths with those entering the pottery exhibit and causing potential circulation blockage. Once the circle is complete, the visitor continues through to the next exhibit. A lingering confusion followed me out as I passed a stained glass window, remaining from when the space had a different purpose all together.




Voices of a City:


Of the Exhibits in the museum, The Voices of a City was the one I found most successful. The space designated for this exhibit could be considered a difficult one to work with, but it seemed to suit the exhibit chosen for it. The quotations on the wall that guide the visitor up to the exhibit gives the visitor an idea of what to expect. This guidance is absent in the majority of the museum, leaving me feeling uncertain and out of place for much of my time there. The wall was filled with pictures and information relating specifically to Greensboro and linking those events back to America as a whole. The pictures drew me in with their back lighting and the bold print of the information was very informative and simplistic. This was the only exhibit I wanted to see more of and felt comfortable being in. 


Gate City:


This exhibit seemed like an attempt to get the viewer involved by putting them in a three dimensional setup of what it would have been like in the early 1900's. However, the motion sensor audio bits and strange lighting made for an experience I did not all particularly want to be involved in. Instead of encouraging me to learn about this time period, I felt overjoyed that this was not my reality.


Gift Shop:


Like many museums, you find yourself there sometime during the path of the museum. However, I thought this one gave a little less warning than most. It seemed like a consumer surprise attack rather than a casual encounter. The shop itself seemed nice, but I didn't linger in the shop, but continued on through the exit.


Over all, I did not enjoy my time in the museum. I think the labyrinth of circulation, the unflattering lighting, and dysfunctional exhibit displays hindered my ability to appreciate and understand the information the museum was trying to share with me. I was a little disappointed.