The physical plan is simple and conservative. Two exhibit galleries, one in the main building and another in the education building, provide the advanced collector with food for thought. The gallery for textiles and furniture is rectangular. The objects are arranged around the walls, with another rectangular staging of objects in the central area. Raised white platforms and standard Plexiglas covers recede from emphasis as the viewer is drawn to the objects themselves.
Signage is minimal.
In the education building, Shaker ephemera is simply hung on the four walls. Photographs and old prints depict the Shakers as outsiders viewed them. Kirk admits that many have contributed to our distorted image of the Shakers. The Shakers themselves kept alive and exploited an image of their past that was inconsistent with the facts of their present day existence. The Shaker World, both book and exhibit, strives to capture the real past.