The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience (MPCE) has compiled and published a toolkit so that returned Peace Corps volunteers can create their own temporary exhibits across the United States and beyond. The toolkit responds to requests received over several years from various National Peace Corps Association affiliates.
Local exhibits can inform communities big and small about the role Peace Corps Volunteers have played around the globe. Toolkit co-author Nicola Dino (Ecuador 1994-1997) says, “The objects and stories you bring together for exhibition can foster greater understanding and empathy for the traditions, beliefs, and challenges of many of the countries where we have served. Download our first-step prompt as a roadmap to start on your own Third Goal journey.”
Curating Local Peace Corps Exhibits: A Toolkit is a complete guide to everything you need to know so you can create your own exhibit. The 18-page toolkit was written and edited by a team of MPCE volunteers who have organized their own museum-based and virtual online exhibits. They were actively engaged in creating events such as the popular “Peace Corps at 60; Inside the Volunteer Experience” exhibition at American University Museum in Washington, D.C. and the 2001 groundbreaking “Artifacts and Anecdotes” exhibit in Portland, Oregon.
The toolkit includes suggestions for establishing the goals and a theme for your exhibit, how to find your audience, create a budget, locate a venue with an appropriate floor plan, collect objects and stories, draft loan agreements, and promote your exhibit. You can see samples of MPCE texts that tell Peace Corps stories through artifacts and written narratives.
Check out the latest RPCV entries on our website to inspire your thinking.
For information, contact:
Patricia Wand (Colombia 1963-1965) and Nicola Dino (Ecuador 1994-1997)
Co-chairs, Museum of the Peace Corps Experience
E-MAIL: contactus@peacecorpsmuseum.org or call (503) 381-4206
