Gwendolyn Taylor

Hist 6304

Exhibit Review

There is much that can be said about an exhibit that is currently under reconstruction from

previously being a corridor of things piled left and right. This is the case for the Pine Mountain Gold

Museum as it is a small city museum which has an interior exhibit and exterior exhibits on the trails

throughout the park. I will be focusing on the interior exhibit as it is where the main exhibition is

present and that is currently under reconstruction. The exterior exhibits are mostly signs which give

some information on a feature nearby. However, there are occasions where the information connects to

another feature but is on a sign a good few feet away with a different feature. At least all signs are

readable even with some damage to their frames. All lettering are large enough to see at a distance for

the signs on ledges and the coloration makes them easy enough to spot on the trail without it being

startling. As for the interior exhibit, it starts and ends at the same place which is the gift shop/cashier

counter. You pay the fee and are led to a room to the left were you are shown a ten minute movie about

the history of Villa Rica’s gold rush. This movie is the thing that mostly stuck in my head as it gave the

most clear information of the exhibit. Though the room did have tubs of decorations and other supplies,

which was a bit distracting, there was a map of the northern part of Georgia that had the “gold zone”

marked on it right before you entered the tunnel to the exhibit itself.

The exhibit has you enter a “mine shaft” with some empty boxes marked to be supplies like

diamante and other explosives. The lighting of the first section is low and yellowed like that of an

actual mine and it leads you out into the open space beyond the shaft where most of the information is

to be found. There is a panel in the shaft itself, but it is a bit hard to read it in the low lighting and the

exit is right there with a case of objects to look at. There are panels and labels on the walls around the

case, however most of them do not actually talk about the objects on display instead giving information

on the area around Villa Rica and the start of the gold rush. Most panels are a bit higher up than the eye
naturally wants to go to. Even though they are easy to read you mostly dismiss them as you are looking

for information or identification of the objects in the case. There is very little identification and no

interpretation of the objects. While the Clovis point does has some information with it, it is the only

piece in that case that does. There is a bronze tag that is labeled but no other objects are. The only

reason I knew what most of the artifacts were is because I have taken classes on southeastern

archaeology and have seen similar artifacts elsewhere.

The mission statement for the museum is placed in easy viewing as you leave the first section of

the exhibit, however I am not certain if it is the full goal of the exhibit itself. The goal of “Preserving

and interpreting the unique history of Georgia’s first gold rush while providing nature-based recreation

and interactive education” is the only thing the exhibit itself is trying to provide to the visitors. But it is

nice to know and I can see an attempt of it in the exhibit itself. While there are very few labels in the

exhibit as a whole, and there are those which cover the object they are trying to discuss or hiding

behind the objects, there is information and interpretation to be found in them. Although the labels

discussing the “big topics” of a section can be hard to read depending on the lighting due to the

watermark on them. If they are back-lit it is hard to read which makes it hard to get the information

from them. The “big idea” labels are also rather small in size and can be easily missed.

The flow of the exhibit does take advantage of the old layout and people’s instinct to go right.

As you leave the first area through an archway you tend to go to the area to the right where a display of

an old office and other objects can be found. There is many objects out in the open which visitors can

possibly touch, and no signage stating otherwise. It is really obvious that the exhibit is under

construction not only by the signs saying so, but the objects waiting to be put on the walls and the

labels not in the correct places. However, there is some things which can be gathered from it, beyond

pretty rocks on display or interesting things to look at. I learned that there are pyrite mines in Georgia

and even without labels that there are many different versions of pans used to shift for gold.
 There is a section of the exhibit before the exit and the last section which shows the offices of

the staff that looks under construction like the rest of the museum. This is likely due to the limitations

of the space given and the layout which has been given for the exhibit before the revitalization effort.

The last section has the flaw of being right next to the exit and the call of the dark tunnel and what lies

beyond it can be a strong pull for some visitors even with all the interesting objects before them. The

tunnel leads right out where you started from. When I went, the director himself came out and asked if

we had any questions. Which was a lovely way to see what visitors had to say and to see what still

needed fixed while they are working on reconstructing the exhibit.

In comparison to what the exhibit was like when I first visited it years ago, it actually left more

of an impression now and I feel the urge to return and see how it changes for the better over time. As

the old exhibit was basically a bunch of objects placed around for you to look over similar to looking at

your grandfather’s old collection in the attic, it is nice to see things laid out in some semblance of order

and intent. I have an actual idea what the exhibit is trying to say while I could not tell you what it was

trying to do years ago even when I just left it. This updated version I can tell you is trying to show the

history of Villa Rica’s gold rush and how it brought the city to were it is now. Which is a great

improvement from before and I can only see it getting better as they go about fixing it.

Personally I might be biased in regards of the exhibit being engaging, but I did really enjoy it

even with all the flaws. I wanted to go look around the trails for the exhibits outside. I wanted to go on

the train, though I couldn’t due to weather sadly, and I wanted to see the interpretative garden they

have. While there things blocked off from visitors and the garden and train were closed when I visited,

the things I was able to interact with was really interesting and made me want to go back and look

around more. I will say that the exhibit needs work, but it was still engaging and was successful in

getting me interested in the history of Villa Rica’s gold rush.