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Leslie Ritten
Dr. Ann McCleary & Ms. Erica Hague
Collections Management in Museums
July 13, 2022

When thinking about what makes a good label, the first things that comes to mind are the

basics: what is the purpose, be as succinct as possible, and only use one format (font, font size

and writing style). 1 Delving in a little deeper, it is important to convey what the museum wants

a visitor to experience keeping the institutions mission statement in mind. As mentioned

throughout the readings and discussions in class, a museum acts as a steward of developing

further understanding of the objects they display. Some of these objects can be priceless oil

paintings, ancient antiquities that inform people about the past or photographs whose sole

purpose is to capture a moment in time. A label is essential for being a launching pad for

someone to connect to an emotion, idea, and at times, an opinion that is on display. It could

contain basic information such as title, artist and year completed when connected to a

contemporary oil painting because the artist and/or museum feels that conveys their intended

outcome or in the case of a history museum, a label needs to provide contextual information

for what is on display.

Reflecting on the practicum, specifically in Gatheround, in class on Wednesday, July 6 th and

thinking about two essays, “Objects or People” and “Museum Collections and Public Feelings”

in Active Collections, the idea that an individual’s ideas and emotions for a specific event or

time frame are dynamic. As a result, museums need to reassess how best to convey their
1
“Exhibition Planning and Label Writing 101: Top Tips.” –NCMALearn. accessed July 9, 2022.
https://learn.ncartmuseum.org/resources/exhibition-planning-and-label-writing-101-top-tips/

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message in a way that is relevant and encompassing across many generations. Rainey Tisdale

wrote in “Objects or People”, “when we treat museum objects -and the stewardship practices

that govern them -as inherently valuable, immutable and sacred, we are ill-equipped to

recognize the instances where they have become relatively valueless in a changing social and

political system”.2 A label and the object/exhibit it is associated with are interconnected.

“Activating” a label is a practice that museums should consider on a regular basis, as it can

provide a more relevant experience for the audience.

One of the exhibits in Gatheround focused on the Orly plane crash in June, 1962. The purpose

of the trip was for artists and art patrons of the Atlanta Art Association, who at the time were

passionate about growing the cultural arts presence in Atlanta. The first sentence of the label

started out by stating there were 106 Atlantans who died included a, “delegation of civic and

cultural leaders on a trip sponsored by the Atlanta Art Association”. At the end of the label is

one sentence about an artist who was among the victims. Unfortunately, at this time, the label

for the exhibit does not align well with the AHC mission statement which states it, “preserves

and interprets historical subjects pertaining to Atlanta and its environs and presents subjects of

interest to Atlanta’s diverse audiences”.3 The wording on the label leads one to think that a

group of privileged wealthy influential leaders and philanthropists were killed after going on a

trip paid for by someone else. A visitor today may ask, why would this be included in

Gatheround while in 1962, Atlanta was still such a divided city? Atlanta lost many talented

artists from the tragedy. In 1968, the world class Memorial Arts Center was completed which

2
Rainey Tisdale, “Objects or People,” in Active Collections, Elizabeth Wood, Rainey Tisdale, Trevor Wood (New York: Routledge,
2018), 31.
3
“Governance”, Atlanta History Center, accessed July 9,2022
https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/about-us/governance/

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was a memorial to the victims from the plane crash. Later it became a component Woodruff

Arts Center which is made up of the High Museum, Alliance Theatre and Atlanta Symphony

Orchestra. Restating the information on the label by either focusing on how the Atlanta art

community was impacted or why Atlanta has a world class art center would be a better way to

educate the public on that historical event.

One hundred words can frame a major historical event or assist in immersing one’s thoughts

into a scene in a painting from the nineteenth century. Labeling is a lot like advertising, it needs

to be relevant and hold one’s attention in the moment. Like inventorying objects in a museum,

it is wise to do the same for labels, as the wording deserves the same attention to detail, since

it may be the beacon in forming a person’s experience.

Label Rewrite

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On June 3, 1962, Helen Clark Seydel, creator of the award winning The Egg and I, along with 106
Atlantan artists and members of the cultural arts community were killed during takeoff from
Orly Field in Paris. The group organized by the Atlanta Art Association was returning home after
embarking on an exploratory month-long tour of European museums and historical landmarks.
Theor goal was to create a world class arts center to Atlanta. The cultural arts community in
Atlanta suffered a tremendous loss of creativity and talent that day. To pay tribute to the
victims, the Memorial Arts Center was created in 1968, and later became one of component the
Woodruff Arts Center, the largest cultural arts center in the Southeast.

The plane crash was an event that had a direct impact on the Atlanta community for years. In
the display, maybe profile/include the art from the victims rather than having the newspaper in
the forefront. In addition, the newspaper headline could be replaced with one that described
how Martin Luther King, Jr and Harry Belafonte cancelled a sit-in in downtown Atlanta as a
respectful gesture.

Original Label:
On June 3, 1962, 106 Atlantans dies when their plane crashed during takeoff from Orly Field in
Paris. Victims included a delegation of civic and cultural leaders on a trip sponsored by the
Atlanta Art Association. Inspired by the desire to create a world-class arts complex in Atlanta,
they were returning from a tour of European cultural landmarks and museums. The tragedy
served as a catalyst to build the Memorial Arts Center, now a component of the Woodruff Arts
Center.
Helen Clark Seydel creator of The Egg and I, was one of many artists who perished in the crash.

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Bibliography

Atlanta History Center. “Governance”. Accessed July 9, 2022

https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/about-us/governance/
“Exhibition Planning and Label Writing 101: Top Tips.” –NCMALearn. Accessed July 9, 2022.
https://learn.ncartmuseum.org/resources/exhibition-planning-and-label-writing-101-top-tips/

Tisdale, Rainey “Objects or People,” in Active Collections, edited by Elizabeth Wood, Rainey
Tisdale, Trevor Wood, 21-33. New York, N.Y.: Routledge, 2018.

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