Creating the Visitor-Centered Museum

Book Launch Event with Lori Fogarty • OMCAFriday, Feb. 3, 2017

Museums.We look like this on the outside:

For some people, the trouble starts when they walk through our door!

Too often, museums see technology as a way to sidestep…

the larger issues we’re not prepared to face.

The Big Questions• Why would anyone make this?• What’s it doing in this big important museum?• (aka: What’s remarkable about it?)• What does it have to do with the other works around

it?• What would I be doing if I made this— or were in this

historic person’s boots?In a word: Why should I care?

The elephant in the room is that:The vast majority of American visitors do not use technology during their museum visit.

So how do we reach them?

That was a question we set out to find answers to…

• 10 sites nominated by colleagues as innovators in the field

• Mainly art museums, with some history and multi-disciplinary museums (e.g., OMCA)

• Site visits followed by in-depth conversations with museum leadership and creative staff

• Case studies from the USA and Europe

Co-written and co-researched with Mimi Michaelson, Ed.D.

Denver Art Museum, Colorado

Denver Art Museum, ColoradoHistoric Precedent: From Gallery Seating to Maker Spaces

Denver Art Museum, ColoradoNot to mention Kids Bingo Treasure Hunts… journaling, music

City Museum, St. Louis, Missouri

City Museum, St. Louis, MissouriImmersive Experience… Thrills & Wonder

Ruhr Museum, Essen, Germany

Ruhr Museum, Essen, GermanyArresting visual design that also tells a story

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul

Prototyping to make sure they get it right.Minnesota History Center, St. Paul

Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan

Detroit Institute of Arts, MichiganAnalog didactics that explain what’s special about the artworks

Richard Long, Stone Line

A video projection that sets the table for French decorative arts.

Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio

Columbus Museum of Art, OhioConnectors

“Wonder Room” creativity studio for kids and families

The museum has produced jigsaw puzzles based on the art

“Any strategy that connects people to the art, besides the art itself.”–Merilee Mostov

More family activities in the Impressionist galleries

Oakland Museum of CaliforniaCalifornia Portrait Gallery: Draw Yourself

Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland

Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, ScotlandTeen interactives

Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The NetherlandsRole Playing for Adults… Gallery Guides as Game Masters

Museum of Contemporary Art • Denver

Museum of Contemporary Art • DenverStretching the bounds of normal behavior in mind and body

Art Meets Beast

Two takeaways from our researchVisitor-centered innovation goes hand-in-hand with museum change.

“We have to keep reevaluating: Who’s our audience and what do they need from us?”

For a visitor-centered museum, these questions are the starting point of all museum business.

Thank you.