Co-Creation as a Way of Life at the Wing Luke Asian Museum

     The Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, WA, has a well-documented, long-standing commitment to co-creative exhibition development. Their community process is based on a dedication to empowering community members to tell the stories that are most meaningful to them, and community members are engaged in every step of exhibition development, from conception to content development to design to programming. The Wing Luke has been recognized for its achievements in participatory exhibition development, but it has also received honors for producing exemplary audience-facing exhibition products. In 2002, the community-directed exhibition If Tired Hands Could Talk: Stories of Asian Pacific American Garment Workers was named best exhibition by the Western Museums Association. This is an institution that knows how to use a co-creative process to create high quality products.

     Former director Ron Chew's unusual background of as a journalist and community activist led him to initiate the Wing Luke’s unique exhibition model that focuses on oral history, hot issues, and personal stories instead of curatorial or authoritative content. As Chew put it in 2005: "There has always been an assumption that the work that we do should be guided by the community here and now. There is an assumption that the museum is a portal for reflection for the outside world rather than a fortress of knowledge that people enter. There has been an assumption that change and the development of the relationships that we need to do our work will take a long time. We are not about stuff and projects but about relationships and stories that rise up from the community. The story is more important than the stuff. The museum is more a place of dialogue than stated facts." 

     The result is an institution that has become "a people's museum" in the words of Velma Veloria, the 11th District state representative. As Velma put it, "Ron has given me a lot of pride in being Filipino. He's put forward the history and contributions of our people. We're no longer just a bunch of these people who went to the canneries every summer . . . we helped build this country." For Velma and others, the Wing Luke is an essential community institution, and its co-creative exhibition model is at the heart of that sense of belonging and ownership.

     The Wing Luke community process is simple to understand and hard to implement. Their handbook reads like a Zen koan: "The work is labor intensive. The work requires flexibility. We willingly relinquish control." Staff put top priority on relationships with the community, and exhibition projects involve extensive and sometimes contentious deliberation as community members from diverse backgrounds come together with staff to turn their stories into visitor experiences.

     The process begins with an open exhibition proposal model. Anyone can propose an exhibition, and proposals are reviewed yearly to select those that will be initiated. People proposing exhibition topics are asked to describe the topic, explain its significance and goals, and demonstrate how the concept relates to the museum's mission. Once exhibition topics are selected by staff and community advisors, a 2-3 year development process commences. The exhibit team is composed of staff, a core advisory committee (CAC) of 12-15 community members and more informally engaged community members. Staff recruit CAC members for their experience with the museum, diverse backgrounds and perspectives on the exhibition project at hand, and ability to form relationships with other potential contributors from the broader community.

     The CAC and staff have clear roles in the development process. The CAC is "the primary decision-making body within the Exhibit Team, and are charged with developing the main messages, themes, content and form of the exhibition and its related components." The CAC recruits other members of the community to contribute artifacts or stories, perform research, or do outreach and educational programming around the exhibition. The museum staff are the support mechanism for the exhibition process, serving as technical advisors, project administrators, and community organizers. Staff use their experience and connections to support the CAC's goals and to provide access to specific research and design resources.

     The exhibit development process is facilitated by staff but steered by the CAC. While the Wing Luke staff manage a foundational process facilitated by a series of meetings, the content, timing, and decision-making approach of each process changes based on the dynamics and needs of the particular community with whom each project is developed. The staff experience is highly labor-intensive, and staff can be pulled in multiple directions by the demands of different community and staff members. Staff strive to maintain positive community dynamics that encourage all to participate, which means they are often managing interpersonal relationships as well as shifting project schedules. [in grey, parts that could be deleted, because it's more or less explained already or don't add any significant info:)) CR]

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     The CAC is led by a community member, not a museum staff member. Once the CAC feels confident of the direction, message, and educational goals of the exhibition, the members focus their energy on research and outreach with secondary participating community members. Exhibit design and fabrication is performed by museum staff, with CAC members offering input and curatorial direction over artifact selection, multi-media story creation, and general design to ensure it remains in line with exhibition goals. CAC members are invited to drop by at any point during fabrication and installation, and are occasionally asked to help install particular artifacts or elements. There are special opening events for all participating community members, and community members are solicited both formally and informally for evaluation on the exhibitions. Community members often develop and lead educational programs alongside volunteers and staff during the run of each exhibition.

     The museum performs summative evaluation on all exhibitions, measuring audience numbers and impact as well as growth and impact of new community connections. As noted above, the Wing Luke's exhibitions have been consistently praised for design and content, and their public-facing programs and exhibitions are well-regarded both by visitors and industry professionals. Because the co-creation process is the only way that exhibitions are developed at the Wing Luke Asian Museum, the audience experience is not differentiated from that of other types of exhibits or programs. The audience is considered in exhibition design insofar as the co-creation process is set up to deliver a product that is meaningful and relevant to a range of diverse communities. The participating community members who contribute to the design process also serve as liaisons to other potential contributors and audience members, and the community experience of the exhibitions as creators and spectators is highly blended.

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     Because this co-creative exhibition model is so tightly integrated with the overall goals and strategies of the institution, the evaluation of participant experiences at the Wing Luke Asian Museum extends beyond summative exhibit evaluation to the overall criteria for success in the institution. The museums overall indicators of success include:

    •    “We observe significant community participation in museum programs.

    •    Community members return time and time again.

    •    People learn and are moved through their participation in museum programs.

    •    People see something of themselves in our exhibits and event.

    •    People become members of the museum.

    •    People contribute artifacts and stories to our exhibits.

    •    The community supports the museum’s new capital campaign.

    •    Community responsive exhibits become more widespread in museums.

    •    Constituents are comfortable providing both positive and negative feedback.”

Relatedly, the museum lists the following as critical to institutional success:

    •    “Developing deep relationships project by project with our community

    •    Assuring that the museum’s work is guided by the community

    •    Having a unified vision among key leadership

    •    Having staff continuity within the organization

    •    Transmitting knowledge and experience within the organization, advancing the mission

    •    The community-response approach, which keeps the museum close to the grass roots and relevant

    •    Dialogue, a practice that enlivens the organization and its constituents

    •    The involvement of multiple generations — necessary for the work to have depth

    •    The recognition that community-centered projects take more work

    •    Hiring staff for their relationship-building skills, not just subject-matter expertise

    •    Creating museum programs that are relevant to today’s issues and needs

    •    Treating diversity as an asset that strengthens the organization

    •    Making sure young people rise to leadership

    •    Investment in long-term relationships”

     These goals clearly demonstrate (Good to have the specific goals, and the quotes of success indicators. Is there a downside to this approach? Are the exhibitions of this institution compared and contrasted with other traditionally developed exhibitions? Can people tell that these endproduct exhibitions were put together in a different way? How does it show in the exhibition product? SB) how differently oriented a wholly co-creative institution is from a more traditional one. While many museums espouse several of the above goals, few use criteria like "relationship-building skills" to make hiring decisions across departments. At the Wing Luke Asian Museum, co-creation and community partnership is a way of life, and it infiltrates all aspects of their work, from exhibition design to board recruitment to fundraising.

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