We hope the following frequently asked questions and their answers will clear up some of your own concerns:

 

• HOW MANY PANELS SHOULD WE HAVE?

This depends on the size of the historic area which is the basis of the tour. The smallest size suggested is fifteen panels and the maximum thirty. However, it is possible to have several tours in different areas of a city, as is the case in Augusta, Maine. There, several tours are being organized, one of 9 panels, one of over 30, and one of about 12. So the visitor will either spread visits over the day with breaks in between or plan return visits on another day. Another town is planning separate tours within a total of about fifty panels.

 

• WHY ARE THERE SO FEW PANELS AND SUCH SHORT TEXTS ON THEM?

For a few reasons, we try to stick to a maximum of 30 panels in a single walking tour. Most importantly, The Museum in the Streets is a "teaser" of sorts that we hope will encourage visitors to search for further information. Many of the towns that ask for us to install a Museum in the Streets have historical societies, libraries, historical houses and museums of their own. The walking tour is a way to bring history to life through the immediacy of photographs and with a brief text that will spark curiosity in a visitor. The real wealth of the towns lies in the institutions that preserve collections and use them to diffuse knowledge and awareness of the importance of history in our daily lives.
A tour of thirty panels lasts about forty-five minutes to an hour. We have found that most visitors are happy to break off their visits at that point. There is a lot of information to glean from thirty panels.

 

• HOW LONG DOES THE PROCESS TAKE?

Much of that is up to each town. Some towns have almost all the information ready when they contact us. Others will first ask for advice, seek funding and then prepare the project. The final production and delivery time is about 5 weeks; but the time used prior to that depends on how much time it takes to collect images, write text and approve the layout. Most projects take between 6 months and a year.

 

• WHY ARE TWO LANGUAGES USED ON THE PANELS?

For several reasons. The Museum in the Streets is about community and awareness of how this community fits in the world. History is very much a question of context, and to think that, like Athena, we are "born from the head of Zeus", and live alone without any influence from others or on others is not very worldly. Our very ancestry often spoke another language. The second reason is that in some places the local language does not favor international tourism, or address the needs of an immigrant population. So, the first language on the panel is local and the second is the one favored by visitors from abroad, or by a majority of the population. Furthermore, local schools usually teach a second language. A second language on The Museum in the Streets panels provides the language students with a fun activity. The Museum in the Streets can provide the translations.

 

• MUST WE USE TWO LANGUAGES ON OUR PANELS?

This is something to discuss with us. Each community differs; this is not about "winning" an argument but finding out why one would not want to use a second language.

 

• HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Of course prices vary according to the number of panels. And prices change as time goes by and the cost of materials changes. The Museum in the Streets, as it operates now, offers a service at the minimum possible price. In 2008, costs are varying from $9,500 to $16,500 for fifteen to thirty panels and the accompanying large introductory panels.

 

• WHAT DOES THE PRICE INCLUDE?

The panels themselves, layout, proofs, corrections, translations, shipping, support and guidance during the entire project. Neither the making and supplying of brochures nor the installation and posts are included; each town has different idea of what a post is! But we offer guidance and put the network of towns that have installations in contact with the town entering the "club" to benefit from prior experience.

 

• WHO DOES THE WRITING OF THE CAPTIONS?

The "owners" of the local history and the project do that. The texts should be anecdotal (including local stories, lore, gossip) as well as historical. The panels are meant to be instructive as well as amusing because history is remembered by the telling. Local individuals are the most capable of telling their own story. The common thread of the panels and walk should be one that fits into a wider context and perhaps illustrates the role the town played in the growth of a province, state, the nation, or even continent.

 

• HOW LONG DO THE PANELS LAST?

They are guaranteed for ten years by the manufacturers against unusual degradation that might be caused by light (fading) and exfoliation or separation. If handled with care during the installation, they may outlast that period; panels installed in 1993 are still up and look very fresh.

 

• DO YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR FUNDRAISING?

Yes, many! Once the project is underway we offer all the advice we have gleaned from prior experience.

 

• WHAT CAN WE DO TO GET STARTED?