Exhibition Planning Template
Free editable exhibition planning template with a general project plan, a museum exhibition plan, and an art / community exhibition plan. Map phases, tasks, owners, and dates in three ready-made scenes.
Use this templateWhat you get
- Three scenes: general plan, museum exhibition, and art / community show
- Phase columns with colored bands and editable task cards
- Covers the full lifecycle from concept to deinstall and review
What this template is for
An exhibition planning template turns a vague idea — 'we should put on a show' — into a plan with phases, tasks, owners, and dates. Exhibitions fail in the gaps: the venue is booked late, the objects arrive without condition reports, the opening runs out of staff, and the deinstall is an afterthought. This template gives you three ready-made scenes to adapt. The general scene walks a full project lifecycle in seven phase columns — goal and theme, venue and budget, content and exhibits, design and production, promotion and audience, install and open, and deinstall and review — with editable task cards under each phase. The museum scene adds the curatorial layer: research and narrative, loans and rights, conservation and transport, labels and accessibility, install, and education and return, with a note to confirm conservation, insurance, and compliance with museum professionals. The art and community scene covers an open call or invitations, selection, wall measurement and layout, transport and framing, promotion and opening, and deinstall and artist feedback. Every phase band and task card is a replaceable placeholder, so you can keep the structure and swap in your own exhibit list, dates, and owners. Use the scenes at different moments: the timeline for deadlines, the floor plan for visitor flow, and the responsibility board for handoffs. Record dependencies such as artwork arrival before installation and label approval before printing, then update the plan after every curator, venue, or supplier decision.
When to use this template
- Plan a temporary exhibition for a gallery or community space from concept to deinstall, with owners and deadlines per phase.
- Run a museum exhibition plan with the curatorial layer — loans, condition reports, labels, and education programs.
- Organize an open-call art show, from the call brief through selection, hanging, opening, and deinstall.
- Coordinate a school or community art project exhibition with volunteers and a fixed opening date.
- Estimate a budget and schedule before committing to a venue, so the plan is realistic before contracts are signed.
- Hand an exhibition over to a new coordinator with a one-page phase-and-owner view instead of scattered notes.
How to use it
- 1Start with the goal and audience: why this show, for whom, and what success looks like. Write it before anything else.
- 2Confirm the venue, dates, and budget cap early — they constrain every later decision.
- 3List the exhibits or works with an owner and a deadline for each, and draft the labels and copy.
- 4Plan the design and production: floor plan, visitor flow, signage, lighting, and any AV.
- 5Set the promotion plan and audience channels, and keep an RSVP list for the opening.
- 6Build the install checklist — transport, crew rota, and the open-day run of show — with named owners.
- 7Schedule the deinstall and review as a real phase, so returns, cost settlement, and feedback do not get forgotten.
Quick example
Seven-phase exhibition plan
Related resources
How it compares to similar tools
Project board vs. checklist
A checklist is a flat list of things to do; a project board groups tasks into phases with owners and dates, so the dependencies between phases stay visible. This template is a phase board: each column is a phase, each card is a task with its owner and timing inside it.
Museum exhibition vs. trade show
A museum exhibition is narrative-led — research questions, loans, conservation, and didactic labels shape the plan. A trade show is logistics-led — booth booking, freight, staffing, and lead capture. The template's museum scene carries the curatorial layer, while the general scene works for commercial and community events.
Timeline vs. floor plan
A timeline schedules the phases across weeks; a floor plan maps the physical layout and visitor flow. Both are part of exhibition planning, but they answer different questions. Use the timeline to plan the process and a separate floor plan scene when the space layout is the bottleneck.
Common mistakes to avoid
Planning only up to opening day
A plan that ends at the opening forgets deinstall, returns, cost settlement, and feedback. Make deinstall and review a real phase with an owner, or the close of the exhibition turns into a scramble.
No owner per task
A task without a named owner is a task nobody is responsible for. Put an owner and a deadline inside each card, not just in the meeting notes.
Ignoring transport and install
Works arrive late, frames are wrong, and nothing is tested until the day before. Plan transport, framing, and install as explicit tasks with lead times, not as an afterthought.
Content and space disconnected
A list of works with no floor plan means the space does not fit the content. Sketch the layout against the exhibit list early, so the show is planned for the actual walls.
Skipping the retro
Without a review phase, the same mistakes repeat at the next exhibition. Capture what worked and what did not before the team disperses.
Frequently asked questions
What is an exhibition planning template?+
An exhibition planning template is a structured plan for putting on an exhibition — phases from goal and venue to content, design, promotion, install, and deinstall, with tasks, owners, and dates under each phase. It keeps the whole lifecycle visible instead of scattered across notes.
What phases should an exhibition plan include?+
A complete plan covers goal and theme, venue and budget, content and exhibits, design and production, promotion and audience, install and open, and deinstall and review. Museum shows add research, loans, conservation, labels, and education.
How is a museum exhibition plan different?+
A museum plan adds the curatorial layer: a research question and narrative, loan requests and rights, condition reports and transport requirements, didactic labels, and education programs. These shape the schedule far more than a general exhibition's logistics do.
How do I budget an exhibition?+
Set a budget cap per line — venue, build and design, production, marketing, transport, and staff — in the venue and budget phase. Keep owners and approval steps attached to the largest lines, and review the plan against the cap before signing contracts.
How long before the opening should planning start?+
Most exhibitions need several months: venue and loans first (they have the longest lead times), then design and production, then promotion, and finally install. The exact lead time depends on the venue and whether works are borrowed; a phase plan makes the critical path visible.
Where do volunteers fit in an exhibition plan?+
Put volunteers in the install and open phase — the crew rota for installation and the run of show for opening day — and in the deinstall phase if they help pack and return works. Name the volunteer coordinator as the owner of those tasks.
Start editing online
Open the template in CodePic, replace the sample content, and make it your own in a few minutes.
See examples: /templates/exhibition-planning/examples
