How to create exhibits that honor and inspire service in your community
- Authors: Written and published by the National Museum and Center for Service (NMCFS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
- Collaborating organizations: Developed alongside the Service is Everywhere in DC exhibit, with local exhibition co-creation contributions from the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, the DC Rotary Club, and the DC Public Library, with funding from Humanities DC.
- Audience: Community leaders, nonprofit organizations, service organizations, libraries, and local grassroots groups.
Primary focus: Tapping into local volunteer networks and public gathering spaces to build affordable, portable service exhibitions without requiring expensive outside experts.
“Each community possesses three essential resources to develop local exhibitions that celebrate ALL forms of service: people and groups committed to serving their communities, places where people naturally gather, and intrinsic local talent and resources.” — Congressman Brian Baird
The process: step-by-step guide
The toolkit serves as an operational recipe book, dividing the creation and maintenance of a community service exhibition into simple steps. Resources designed as plug and play, or get creative and follow a format that works for your community.
- Getting started – understanding your why
Clarifying core motivations to guide exhibit design, volunteer recruitment, and venue persuasion.
- Picking & collaborating with partners
Assembling a core community working group, assigning specialized team roles, and executing written partnership agreements
- Picking places for your museum:
Identifying high-foot-traffic community venues (such as libraries, senior centers, or public spaces) and securing conceptual approval early.
- Prep work and planning
Constructing a reverse-engineered project timeline, a line-item budget, and visitor outcomes.
- Selecting service stories
Curating inclusive, diverse, and captivating local narratives focused on unsung everyday heroes rather than traditional high-profile award winners.
- Design and fabrication
Sketching floor blueprints and formatting uncluttered mockups that favor impactful visuals over dense blocks of text.
- Digital storytelling
Planning, interviewing, capturing, and editing smartphone-based oral histories and video testimonials from service providers and beneficiaries.
- Publicity and community engagement
Launching multi-channel promotional campaigns (via press releases, email lists, digital flyers, and local business posters) to generate public buzz.
- Launching your museum & measuring impact
Executing an organized “run of show” opening reception while systematically gathering success metrics via daily attendance tallies and comment cards.
- Sharing and sustaining your stories
Rejuvenating physical setups over time, structuring annual committee successions, and registering the finished display with the national NMCFS database.
“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve… you only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Key content elements
The “Remove the Glass” model: Rejects conventional ten-inch-thick glass artifact display cases in favor of tangible, interactive elements that visitors can approach and manipulate directly.
The five-part exhibit typology: Provides an evaluation metric for matching service stories to five distinct presentation methodologies:
- Standard exhibits: Minimal text styled at a 6th-to-7th-grade reading level paired with high-quality graphic layouts.
- Tangible/hands-on exhibits: Manipulatives that allow visitors to physically experience local service challenges (e.g., carrying heavy weights to simulate clean water scarcity).
- Storytelling exhibits: Digital video interfaces or photo arrays showing real faces and lived community experiences.
- Interactive exhibits: On-site programming opportunities prompting direct actions like building care packages for those experiencing homelessness or registering for future volunteer slots.
- Reflective exhibits: Safe, quiet processing spaces equipped with written prompts that culminate in a concrete volunteer call to action.
Technical Layout Tools: Directs amateur creators toward low-cost template applications including Canva, Adobe Express, and Kumu for visual asset mapping.
Photon factory experiential design checklist: Integrates a professional 14-point framework evaluating accessibility, post-experience user cycles, and material sustainability.
Included community worksheets: Includes a complete practical workbook containing a partner layout matrix, customizable operational budget sheets, interview script guides, and formal non-legal exhibition agreements.