Image Florence Schechter at 2019 museum opening Party (Amelia Allen)
The ‘So You Want To Build A Museum’ guide incorporates some of the museum founder’s insights and direction
The former founder and director of the Vagina Museum has self-published a new guide for those hoping to create their own museum.
Florence Schechter took the Vagina Museum from concept to pop-up, and to several bricks and mortar locations between 2017 and May 2024, before leaving the role earlier this year to “step back and recharge”.
Having since launched museum and creative industry consultancy Florence Schechter Consulting, Schechter has today announced the self-published 100-page ‘So You Want To Build A Museum’ guide.
Taking to LinkedIn, Schechter wrote “After successfully setting up the Vagina Museum seven years ago, it’s now time for me to pass on the knowledge and experience I’ve acquired over the years.
“This toolkit is for anyone wanting to build a museum or further develop one that already exists. If you’d like to take your journey one step further, don’t hesitate to contact me to make your museum dreams a reality.”
Schechter writes in the guide: “Museums are hard. I know, I did it. I am the founder of the Vagina Museum, the world’s first bricks and mortar museum dedicated to the vagina, vulva, clitoris and whole gynaecological anatomy. From humble beginnings as a project on my living room table in 2017, just a few years later it was a world-famous museum averaging over 100,000 annual visitors.
The guide prompts budding museum founders to clarify and explore the reason for creating their museum, includes guidance for honing its purpose and model and introduces the concepts of programming, collections, the creation of exhibition briefs, and business planning.
The guide is available for download from Schechter’s website.
