Learn about article proposals or skip to other ways to contribute, including volunteer contributions as book reviewers and exhibition critique writers.

Proposals due January 8, 2027 for the Fall 2027 Issue

If you are selected to contribute to the issue, you will be notified in early February and a draft of your assigned submission (approximately 1,500 words) will be due in late March 2027.

Theme—Wellness Check: Are Exhibitions OK?

Are you sleeping enough? Eating enough protein? Getting enough steps in a day? Well-being, as it is currently being packaged and sold (to Americans at least), is an anxiety-inducing regimen that always requires you to do more. It is perhaps not surprising in our health-obsessed age that museums have gotten in on the act. From yoga in the galleries to dedicated meditation spaces, creative aging programs to tai chi, museums have turned to health programming both to attract new audiences and to argue for their relevance amid budget cuts and dwindling funding. But is this the type of well-being that truly matters in this moment?

A growing body of research supports the idea that regularly engaging with museums can improve health, reduce stress, and lower anxiety, suggesting that institutions are quite right to lean into this area to better serve their communities. While this is wonderful news, it tells only part of the story: well-being is not only individual but collective, not just human but planetary. An unspoken—but we would argue essential—part of well-being involves thinking about what is sustainable: What can a body, organization, community, or society maintain over the long term to ensure that it not only survives but has the chance to thrive? Contrary to health influencers, this often involves doing less, not more, and selecting those areas of focus with greater care and intention.

For this issue, we want to think capaciously about the intersections of well-being and sustainability—for our visitors, for our institutions, and for the planet. How can we move beyond the buzzwords to build processes and approaches that embed well-being and sustainability at the very heart of exhibition practice? Proposals for this issue might approach these topics from many angles, including:

• Are exhibitions “well”? What is the current state of the field in terms of audience engagement, fiscal sustainability, mission support, or any of the other measures that museums use to support the value of their work?
• What does it mean to claim an exhibition fosters well-being? What outcomes do we measure? Are there case studies that support the claim that a museum visit improves personal well-being? How do we plan for well-being early on and not as an add-on program at the end? How do we make sustainable well-being a throughline, not a one-off, on our exhibition calendars?
• How do we balance desired visitor outcomes against the experiences of staff? At a time when more and more colleagues are citing chronic overwork, burnout, and lack of resources as the reasons they are exiting the field, how do we build sustainable processes that center staff well-being?
• What does a sustainable exhibition process or schedule look like internally? Can a museum even claim to care about well-being if the concerns of overtaxed, underpaid, and “always on” staff members go unheard?
• There has been a lot of talk recently about making exhibitions “greener” and more environmentally sustainable, but how much progress has actually been made? How do we take the well-being of the planet into consideration in exhibition-making? How does planetary health intersect with personal and/or community health and the fiscal health of an organization? Are there design materials currently available that are financially and environmentally sustainable that also do not contribute to staff overwork?
• Whose well-being are we prioritizing? What communities are seen as having the right to rest and well-being? How can we center well-being practices that prioritize the needs and experiences of marginalized groups? 
• How can we design for well-being? What would an exhibition that balanced visitor, staff, and planetary health look and feel like physically and emotionally?
• What is the role of fiscal sustainability in all of this? Are there innovative ways to approach funding our exhibitions that would enable us to prioritize well-being while being less beholden to chasing each new trend to close budgetary shortfalls?

Proposals can focus on a specific exhibition, provide an overview of exhibitions and practices, or offer an insightful review of current literature and other resources to help elucidate core practices. The exhibitions and/or elements discussed can be created by or for museums of all disciplines, historical sites, galleries, institutions that collect and display living collections, or others. Proposals might come from designers, exhibit developers, interpretive planners, curators, writers, educators, or others who create and contribute to exhibitions at all stages of their careers. In all cases, accepted authors will be expected to write articles that illuminate larger issues. Exhibition descriptions should be critical and analytical, and theoretical research and evaluation findings (even if informal) must be used to support arguments for the strengths and weaknesses of a project.

A Note About AI

Authors are expected to write their own proposals and articles without the use of AI (large language models, ChatGPT, etc.). This includes using AI to edit your submission (beyond Word’s spelling or grammar check features). If authors plan to use AI to assist with data collection or other research functions, this use must be disclosed and properly cited in your proposal.

Exhibition does not use AI in any of its editorial processes. All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of your peers with many decades of combined experience who are all committed to creating meaningful content for our field. We believe this human-centered approach results in articles that honor your individual voice while protecting your intellectual property. We welcome first-time authors and ESL authors and will provide additional editorial support as needed.

How to write and submit a proposal

There are two parts to a proposal (which must be submitted as a Word document):

Part 1: Description (400 words max)

The description must:

• Include a proposed title for the article (proposed titles should be brief, interesting, and illuminating).
• Clearly and succinctly convey what the article’s thesis will be.
• Indicate the approaches, strategies, or knowledge that readers will take away from the article.
• Convey how the article would raise questions or illuminate larger issues that are widely applicable (especially if the proposal focuses on a single project).

Please note that accepted articles will be expected to provide critical, candid discussions about issues and challenges, successes and failures, and to provide some level of evaluation and/or theoretical grounding.

Part 2: Brief Bio

Please provide a brief bio (no more than one paragraph) for each author that describes their background and qualifications for writing the article (please do not include resumes or CVs).

Please send all proposals as Word documents via email to Jeanne Normand Goswami, Editor, Exhibition at: jeanne.goswami@gmail.com. Submissions from colleagues and students around the world are welcomed and encouraged.

Deadlines: Proposals are due January 8, 2027. Our editorial advisors will vet proposals in a blind review process, and you will be notified of acceptance or non-acceptance in early February. Articles of 2,000 to 3,000 words maximum, along with high-resolution images, will be due in late March.

Other ways to contribute

Would you like to contribute to Exhibition but don’t have a project that fits the call? We are looking for volunteers to contribute to the journal as book reviewers and exhibition critique writers.

What we’ll need:

If you are interested in being considered for these opportunities, please let us know:

• Your name, title/role, institution (if applicable), geographic location (so we can match you with exhibitions in your area), and any areas of particular interest or focus (e.g., are you a public history professional, art historian, scientist, or designer? Do you have experience with content development or museum education?).
  
• Whether you are interested in writing book reviews, exhibition critiques, or both (NOTE: Book reviewers will receive a complimentary copy of the chosen book).
  
• If you have a specific idea in mind for either a book review or exhibition critique, please provide a brief (150-word max) description that includes why you think it would make a good addition to this issue (NOTE: you do not need to have a specific idea to be considered).

Please send requested information via email to:

Jeanne Normand Goswami, Editor, Exhibition at: jeanne.goswami@gmail.com. Submissions from colleagues and students around the world are welcomed and encouraged.

Deadlines: All information is due January 8, 2027. Book review and exhibition critique submissions will be considered by our editorial team alongside article proposals in January 2027. If you are selected to contribute to the issue, you will be notified in early February and a draft of your assigned submission (approximately 1,500 words) will be due in late March 2027.

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