i

Family Art Adventures at the Montclair Art Museum

By

Luned Palmer

Museum Education

Mentor:

Dr. Sean OShea

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of

Master of Science in Education

Bank Street College of Education

2015

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Table of Contents

Abstract ................................................................................................................................2

Family Art Adventures .........................................................................................................3

Why Museums? ...................................................................................................................7

Why Families? .....................................................................................................................9

Structure of the Program: ..................................................................................................12

Why Inquiry? .....................................................................................................................12

What is Inquiry? .................................................................................................................14

Why Activities? ..................................................................................................................19

What are Activities? ...........................................................................................................20

Goals of Family Art Adventures ........................................................................................23

Create a Sense of Museum Ownership ..............................................................................23

Achieve a More Realized Self ...........................................................................................25

Build bridges between the museum and family life .......................................................... 25

Embrace and leverage the unique and distinctive ............................................................ 26

Collaborate and build community ..................................................................................... 27

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 29

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 31

Appendix I: Family Art Adventure Lessons ..................................................................... 32

Appendix II ........................................................................................................................54

Works Cited........................................................................................................................55

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Abstract

Luned Palmer

Family Art Adventures at the Montclair Art Museum

Family Art Adventures is a monthly program at the Montclair Art Museum in

Montclair, New Jersey. It is targeted at families and comprised of inquiry and

discussion in the galleries. Each program has a theme and visits three to five

works of art relating to that theme. The programs strive to create a sense of

ownership in visitors to the museum, build bridges between museum and family

life, help visitors achieve their most realized selves, embrace and leverage the

unique and distinctive objects in the museum and build inter and intra family

community. This essay answers the questions: why offer programs for families?

and why have those programs in the art museum? It will discuss the purpose of

inquiry and activity in family programs and how these tools help the museum

reach the educator’s goals. The appendix contains all the lessons used in the

Family Art Adventures program. Most of the activities can easily be transferred to

other works of art in other museums. The lessons may be used as templates and

are provided to be used and built on.

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Family Art Adventures

Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is still located in the same, though now thrice-

expanded, building in which it opened in 1914. Its home is Montclair, New Jersey, a

cultural hub outside of New York City. The Museum focuses on American and Native

American art- it was a pioneer institution in the collection of American and Native

American art at the turn of the twentieth century. To this day, it remains on the cutting

edge, its reputation well-established for the high quality of its exhibitions, its family

and public programs, and its art school. The education department offers a range of

programming under a constructivist approach. “Programs designed to encourage

children and families to explore, understand, and enjoy the Museum’s collection and

exhibitions. These programs provide a variety of approaches for looking at, talking about,

and interpreting art that create rich learning environments for audiences of all ages to

experience and enjoy art together” (Montclairartmuseum.com).

In the spring of 2013, I was invited to fulfil my Bank Street Museum Internship

requirement with the education department, headed by the inimitable Petra Pankow.

Petra gave me the assignment (among other facets of my work there) to design a family

program which would take place entirely within the galleries. Most museum family

programs are comprised of a period of gallery conversation followed by a studio

workshop. Petra’s concept of allowing families to work actively while in the galleries is a

relatively new experiment in museum education.

I had spent three years designing family programs for the Noguchi Museum in

Long Island City. They followed the workshop/gallery conversation model. This work

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introduced me to how families function in the museum, and gave me a chance to learn

about how to work with groups of visitors of multiple ages simultaneously. At the

Noguchi Museum, having trained with Rebecca Herz in inquiry-based education with

a focus on interpretation of art, I also conducted public tours for adults, school groups

and led special programs. All of these programs primed me to think about how activities

might enhance an individual’s experience with the art works, and trained me in the skill

of gallery conversation.

The first step at MAM was to familiarize myself with the artworks through close-

looking and research. In planning a program at any museum it helps me to be able to tour

the museum in my mind looking for connections and matches. With the bank of MAM’s

collection in my mind, I was able to sort through and think about what themes might best

support learning about these objects, through an art and artist-centered lens. The theme

and artwork choices did a lot to drive my ideas about what activities to include. Activity,

for the purposes of this discussion, is broadly defined as something people do. Talking,

looking, making, puzzling, drawing, acting, improvising, singing, dancing, remembering,

telling, playing, etc. all are potential activities. Although there is a huge pool of types of

activities to choose, my goal is for each activity to further engage the group in the process

of interpreting, understanding and knowing a specific work of art. Not just any activity

will work for any artwork. Activities are actions that deepen inquiry.

The format that I have used for Family Art Adventures is designed to meet the

goals I have for families in the museums. 1) to foster comfort and ownership in the

museum, 2) to build bridges between museum and family life and 3) to embrace the

uniqueness of objects in the museum by questioning, listening, discussing, playing

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and drawing in a group setting. With access to museums at an early age, children can

experience impressive images, explore cultures and develop skills to interpret visual

language. I will describe the purpose of these goals further below.

In order to meet these goals, I use a simple tour format in the galleries (which

is completely flexible and leaves room for tailoring). The program is one hour long,

which leaves time for three to five artwork stops in the galleries, with a discussion and

activity at each stop. First, I pick a theme that I think will appeal to all ages and family

styles. Then, I pick four objects that fit nicely into that theme (although the objects often

change as I hone the plan). With the theme in mind, I then design the stops. Each stop

is composed of a time for silent close looking (or free exploration, if the “object” is a

gallery space), followed by authentic conversation, drawn from the object itself and

personal experience.

The conversation is kicked off by a variation on the question, “What do you

notice?” that is derived from the Visual Thinking Strategies model of asking participants

to first collect what they see in the work of art. This opening is inspired by Munley’s

(2012) observation that “museum experiences that were frequently recalled by young

children as among their favorites were those when open-ended discussion was used to

direct children to look closely at a work of art and contribute to their thoughts about

what they saw, how the elements were put together and what meaning they ascribed to

the piece”(p. 10). Following the conversation, I introduce an activity which deepens

our relationship with the object. The activity and conversation are both object-centered

because

traditional museums are distinguished from other learning and recreational settings by the

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presence of real objects. Graham (2008) describes the process of object encounter for adults and children of all ages as including: “1) investigating; 2) communicating (talk about it); 3)representing (creative expression - draw, play game, sing); and 4) recalling (provides basis for later conversation)”(Munley, 2012, p. 8).

My role and goal is to facilitate the object encounter. At each stop we repeat the

process of looking, talking, and doing. This creates a spiraling experience bringing us

closer and closer to the theme. Bank Street founder Louise Sprague Mitchell’s (1921)

“intake and outgo” is thus repeated at each stop, and it becomes familiar and rhythmic

like breathing. My theme choices include pattern, story-telling and mixed media (see

appendix). Having written and carried out the programs, I realize how specific and

systematic my choices are, and am interested in what theories and pedagogies I apply. I

am interested to see if my strategies are in line with my beliefs about learning, and if I

am creating “conditions for further growth”(Dewey, 1938, p. 29) within family groups.

This article examines why it is important to have programs for families in museums, and

then further analyzes my use of the inquiry/activity model. Although not one of a kind,

this program is significantly different from the family programs offered in most museums

in New York City. Currently, the standard family program is comprised of a period of

gallery discussion followed by a period of workshop or art making time in a separate

artist’s studio. Sometimes gallery activities are included, but Family Art Adventures is

different in that all of the activities happen in front of works of art. Spending the entire

hour in the galleries is the essence of this program. Hopefully sharing these lessons will

make programs like this easy to replicate in the future.

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Why Museums ?

A museum is an open or public space where people can come to new truths and

understandings within a socio-historical context; the museum provides the experiences

that make learning a reality. According to education philosophers John Dewey and

Lev Vygotsky, the museum is a place to learn something “new”. New truths and

understandings must be within a socio-historical context in order to be truly educative.

Museums provide a place for the mind to be at play, where the individual is “a head

above himself”. Museums are an ideal environment for family programs to take place:

“research suggests that traditional museums provide an effective environment to

encourage and support learning by young children. An investigation of museums from

an educational psychology perspective found that museums inherently foster intrinsic

motivation to learn and the desire for sustained engagement with objects and content”

(Munley, 2012, p. 6).

Decades away from Dana’s view of the “gloom of the museum” we now see

museums as lively places where communities can be built and hands-on engaging

learning can take place. Public sentiment about museums is quickly changing: “research

suggests that the image of traditional museums as too ‘adult’ and off-putting for young

children may be changing” (Munley, 2012, p. 7). Unlike schools or nurseries, they are a

place where grown ups and children can hang out together. There can be no knowledge

or education in isolation. The museum provides a social place where these interactions

can occur. It is a child’s right to grow up to become cultured as well as skilled and

knowledgeable: “The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children proclaims

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that children should have free and full access to cultural life from birth..the authors

argue that art museums, in particular, are ideal institutions for taking the lead to make

the idea of child cultural citizens a reality” (Munley, 2012, p. 5). Parents and museum

education departments are looking for ways to expand children’s cultural learning, and

museums are perfect places to do that. Research has found “that introduction to the

disciplines of art, history and science at a very young age contributes to the development

of a child’s identity and builds a foundation of continued and increasingly more complex

learning in school and everyday life” (Munley, 2012, p. 6). Museums can provide that

introduction.

Unlike parks or libraries, museums are filled with unique objects from which

to learn. In Vygotsky’s developmental-interaction theory, interaction between people

is essential, and so is interaction with the physical environment. There is a great power

in observing and learning from real objects, “this is especially true in museums, where

objects are specifically highlighted to draw attention” (Wing & Debree, 2002, p. 1).

Learning is not possible without the actual objects. “In developmental-interaction,

people’s interactions with each other and with their physical environment provide the

critical situation without which no growth or education is possible” (Nager & Shapiro,

2000, p. 23). As one parent participant in Family Art Adventures noted, her favorite

part was “walking around looking at different materials.” In museums, the actuality and

materiality of real objects matters.

Museums also can provide educators who are not only expert in the pedagogy

of object based learning, but often possess knowledge about the objects themselves,

that they can use to invite discussion: “the immediate and direct concern of the educator

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is with the situations in which interactions take place” (Dewey, 1938, p. 43). The

educators the museum provides remember that “museums of all kinds...are about the

construction of ideas, processes, and context, that what museums offer as the known is

often surrounded by a more inviting unknown, by ambiguities and great questions” (Carr,

2003, p. 136). Families are often looking for a person to help shape their experience at

the museum, and model what sort of interactions they might want to have.

Museums are also moving away from being a storage facility for precious

objects, only on view to the elite from time to time, to being more of a community living

room, where all people can come to feel comfortable. Inviting families to participate in

programming in museums is part of what museums are doing to “expand community

engagement” (Hein, 2012, p. 79).

Why Families?

Collaborative family learning is rare in our society. Most days, adults go to work

and children go to school to learn. Sometimes, families participate in activities together,

such as going to a movie, or going to the zoo. Even conversation between family

members has become more rare in some families. This has not been lost on the program

coordinators at museums: “museum visits for young children, at their best, are negotiated,

collaborative experiences. Wold & Wood (2012) observe that a ‘movement away from

child-centered experiences and toward family-centered experiences has slowly permeated

the collective attention of leaders in...museums.’”(Munley, 2012, p. 17).

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Family programs, supported by research about the importance of “the nature

of social interactions, particularly the interdependence of adult and child engaged

in mutually created collaborative activity within the specific social environment”

have sprung up in many museums (Nager & Shapiro, 2000, p. 26). The new attitude

in museums, which has dramatically expanded education departments and family

programming in the last few years, is heavily influenced by constructivist practices

and the theories of Dewey and Vygotsky . What an individual can do with help today,

she can do on her own tomorrow. “In actuality, there are highly complex dynamic

relations between developmental and learning processes that cannot be compassed by

an unchanging hypothetical formulation” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 90). It is impossible to

separate learning from society- learning is necessarily a social process. Families are

ideal groups in which learning can take place. As one participant said in response to her

experience in Family Art Adventures, “I loved that adults and kids were encouraged

to contribute and do activities.” In family programs the “distance between the actual

development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of

potential development [diminishes]...under adult guidance” (Vygotsky , p. 86 from Nager

& Shapiro, 2000, p. 26).

The family group is a wonderful breeding ground for new ideas, discoveries

and conversations. Families working together can come to new understandings.

Communication through conversation is a key component in family programs and

families could be said to be microcosms of society. Dewey says, “society not only

continues to exist by transmission, by communication, but it may be fairly said to exist

in transmission, in communication... to be a recipient of a communication is to have an

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enlarged and changed experience”(Hein, Educational Theory, p. 33 from Dewey, 1916,

p. 4-5). Not only are young people changed by what they hear from their parents but

parents’ attitudes can change through family discussion and activities, too, “one shares in

what another has thought and felt and in so far, meagerly or amply, has his own attitude

modified. Nor is the one who communicates left unaffected” (Hein, Educational Theory,

p. 33 from Dewey, 1916, p. 4-5).

Not only is it a good way to learn, but families working together in museums also

support a child’s social competency.

Adults in museums support learning by teaching young children to observe, imitate and repeat actions and words. The verbal and nonverbal guidance provided by adults is called scaffolding. Adults also share basic information; interact with artifacts in basic ways, use artifacts to explore topics in more depth and work together with children to collaborate and solve problems. Researchers have found that children who interact with adults in these ways show evidence of learning at higher levels of cognitive capacity (Munley, 2012, p. 18).

We have moved away from seeing children as little vessels to fill with

information. “Traditional psychology...treated the growth of mind as one which occurs

in individuals in contact with a merely physical environment of things” (1991/1936, 206

Dewey from Nager & Shapiro, 2000, p. 24), not taking into account the importance of

social interaction. Museum education departments are aware of the importance of social

interaction are fostering new models of it within their programming. MAM’s initiative

and desire to build one of these programs demonstrates this shift in psychology- the

importance of families working together in museums is becoming established in museum

programming.

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Structure of the Program: Inquiry and Activity in the Galleries

Why Inquiry?

Conversations in the museum, in front of real art objects, enliven the museum

for visitors, while also strengthening group bonds and providing opportunities for

interpretation and surprise. Wandering through a museum, barely pausing at a particular

label or artwork is a shallow experience. Once visitors have experienced the satisfaction

and delight of sustained inquiry in front of an art object, they can’t go back. One

participant in Family Art Adventures exclaimed, “I really forgot how great it was to truly

look at pieces of art!” The art object becomes a friend, “works of art are mere things until

we begin to carefully perceive and interpret them- then they become alive and enliven us

as we reflect on, wonder about and respond to them” (Barrett, 2003, p. xv). The museum

changes from a strange place with foreign objects into a familiar place.

Conversations in front of works of art, in which close looking and evidence based

statements are encouraged, is more than learning about a particular artwork. The act of

“inquiry engages students in the rich mysteries of art and offers them the opportunities

to understand how deep, confusing, ambiguous, multi-layered, and wonderful a work

of art can be, and to become expert in the act of art viewing” (Herz, 2010, p. 12). Not

only is the visitor’s relationship to the artwork deepened and enriched, but also his or her

relationship to the world, his or herself and his or her family. “A new way to look at art!”

one Family Art Adventures participant voiced in a post-program evaluation.

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The educator’s role in an inquiry based conversation is to invite visitors to have

a conversation and to investigate. She empowers the group to explore, often starting with

open ended questions like, “What do you notice?” or “What do you see?” Importantly,

she is not the authority, or expert, “it is not the educator, but the authentic situation for

conversation created and sustained by the educator, that educates, by inviting the learner

to go beyond the limits of previous knowledge ” (Carr, 2003, p. 69). The educator’s job

sometimes includes repeating what has been said so that everyone has heard, and to

affirm the comments and questions heard. In inquiry-based learning, there is also time

for silent looking. Sustained quiet in front of an artwork is a unique experience. The

educator’s role in the silence is to sustain it, to model close looking and trust that the

visitors are thinking, seeing and processing what they are seeing, “this authentic situation

comprises more than skill, more than research, more than practice; it also comprises

mystery, and an invitation to the unknown possibilities of inquiry” (Carr, 2003, p. 69).

Trust within the group is also important, and the educator must be “aware that

the person listening also has something to say” (Freire, 1998, p. 105). In inquiry the

group has the opportunity to be together in the “continuation of the process of discovery”

(Freire, 1998, p. 105). Adult participants love that “the kids saw things in the art that

I didn’t see” and the process was characterized as “a fun intro to art for everyone!”

Keeping the conversation open but directed towards a deepening of interpretation is

balanced by the educator’s goal that the visitors “recognize themselves as the architects

of their own cognitive process” (Freire, 1998, p. 112).

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What Is Inquiry?

Employing a process of inquiry, artists and teachers can harness the power of

human curiosity. Lucy Sprague Mitchell, founder of Bank Street School for Children,

believed that education should consist of “input” and “outgo”- both learning and

producing. In the museum, input takes on the form of discussion, questioning and adding

information (Mitchell, 1921). Through these processes, visitors create new meanings for

themselves.

A tour at the museum focuses not on didactically presenting knowledge to the

visitor in an authoritarian manner, but rather on thinking about how the visitor learns.

Metaphorically, it is not about filling a bucket but about lighting a fire. Knowledge is not

dispersed from the top down, rather we recognize that knowledge is constructed socially

among a community of learners. “Inquiry based museum education approaches are rooted

in constructivist educational methodology, which holds that individuals do not learn by

memorizing a static body of knowledge, but rather by creating new meanings through

the intersection of what they already know and believe with new ideas and knowledge”

(Herz, 2010, p. 1). Rather than pushing information on the learner in a lecture, inquiry

extends an invitation to learn. Freire (1998) expresses it nicely: that “to teach is not to

transfer the comprehension of the object to a student but to instigate the student, who

is a knowing subject, to become capable of comprehending and of communicating

what has been comprehended” (p. 106). Questioning is instigating- it is the spark that

begins the thought process. So the educator “pose[s] questions that engage students in

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careful observation and interpretation of a work of art. Questions are crafted to help

students contextualize the work of art within a theme” (Herz, 2010, p. 1). Though Herz

was speaking of school groups, the same can be applied to family tours. One Family Art

Adventures participant liked “the idea that my children could learn about art in terms

that they understand.” A well crafted question beckons to the visitors. Questions ask the

visitor to do the hard work of investigating.

Questions also lead to answers, conversations and discussions (and of course,

more questions). In discussion it is important to get to the known truths about the

artwork, but also to strengthen broader skills. Conversations encourage give and take, and

in conversation, observations and ideas build on one another. In a conversation visitors

are given the opportunity to “think for themselves as well as listen to others” (Herz, 2010,

p. 2). Carr echoes Vygotsky in his assertion that

human learning is a social enterprise...intelligence, in this model, instead of being held to reside in the individual, is held to reside in the group. Working together, the group can produce a brilliant collective product that no individual could have been expected to produce along. Human learning, the accumulation of the knowledge that has produced modern civilization, is a social enterprise (Carr, 2003, p. 84 from Sylvia Farnham-Diggory).

Museums were once considered (and still are by some) places of silent contemplation.

The lone wanderer drifts by paintings- judging and absorbing the art. Current thinkers and

educators have changed this model, envisioning the museum as a lively forum in which

visitors discover and argue and look together. Rika Burnham, Head of Education at the

Frick Collection, has been a dedicated proponent of gallery conversation, championing

dialogue before works of art. She has the last word about inquiry and conversation:

talking in museums allows us to think together about works of art, in order to see more and know more. The dialogues we share with visitors flow toward shared understandings of each artwork we examine in a cooperative, reciprocal enterprise based on trust and respect. In our gallery teaching,

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we learn as much from the visitors as they learn from us. Our dialogues are charged with urgency, because in the very activity of the dialogue, works of art reveal themselves in ways that often remain hidden from a solitary viewer (Burnham & Kai-kee, 2011, p. 95).

Burnham’s hour long sessions about single artworks are prime examples of the power of

inquiry in the museum.

Questioning and conversation are not the only component of successful inquiry

based learning, however. The educator must also know when to add information. Herz

reminds us that “information helps to deepen one’s understanding of an artwork, but the

ultimate goals of these conversations is less to learn in depth about a specific work of art

than to learn how to look at and make sense of art more generally” (Herz, 2010, p. 7).

The artwork was always created in a specific time and place and sometimes it is essential

to let the visitors in on secrets and facts about the work, the artist, and the greater context.

“Information is shared in order to further students’ ability to interpret a work of art for

themselves, or in order to answer questions that they have posed” (Herz, 2010, p. 1). This

idea is supported by other theorists. For Vygotsky, learning is a social-historical process.

There is no such thing as learning or development in a vacuum (Dewey agrees, see

Experience and Education, p. 34). Learning is related to everything that has come before,

both for the individual and for society. When families come to a museum, they must first

get beyond the “sniffing out” stage, and construct their own meanings about what the

museum is and what it means. The museum and each artwork must be put in a personal,

historical and social context. There is a balance between when to let visitors construct

meanings out of close looking and conversation and when to add information that they

could not divine. If, for example, when looking at an artwork depicting the Queensboro

Bridge, visitors come to the conclusion that it is the Golden Gate Bridge, it is the role of

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the educator to provide the information that will lead them back to the truth.

Added information can also be thrilling and titillating. It is exciting, for example,

to see a photograph of the exact building that Hopper painted in Maine, or to know that

there is a steel rod running inside of one of Noguchi’s marble sculptures. Behind the

scenes information about how the artwork ended up in the museum, why the curator

chose to put it there, and stories from people related to the artwork also add depth

and richness to the conversation. “One of the goals of art museum education is to

engage visitors in experiences with art that are surprising and memorable- experiences

that involve looking, association and analyzing ”(Herz, 2010, p. 1). Information and

conversation can make the museum visit fun.

Inquiry based learning helps museums and educators strengthen visitors’

interpretive skills and comfort with discussing works of art. After leaving the museum,

visitors’ looking and interpreting skills should be strengthened. Close looking and

conversation are muscles that need to be exercised. Barrett (2003) holds that “anyone

can engage in meaningful interpretive thought and in meaningful interpretive talk about

works of art and that multiple interpretations are better than single interpretations” (p.

1). So each visitor who walks in should have the opportunity to exercise their thoughts

and speech and improve cognition, critical thinking and the “quality of thought in the

museum” (Carr, 2003, p. 138). Information, relationships, theories, clues, patterns,

problems and reasons are among the concepts likely to be affected by a critically thinking

person’s engaged mind.

Developmentally, museums play a role in growth of cognitive function. Again,

learning in context is the machine that spurs this growth: “growth of cognitive function...

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cannot be separated from personal and interpersonal processes”(Nager & Shapiro,

2000, p. 21). In a study done at the Gugghenheim Museum, it was “found that the

Learning Through Art program did indeed produce students who were better able to think

critically when looking at works of art and when reading texts than their peers” (Herz,

2010, p. 3). For children in public schools who are in contact with the common core

curriculum, art inquiry also encourages participants to hypothesize and use evidence. The

questions used in the Visual Thinking Strategies model (which is often incorporated into

inquiry based learning in the museum): “What do you see?” and “What do you see that

makes you say that?” are proof of the importance of using evidence to support hypotheses

while looking at art. Thinking and talking about art improves thinking and talking

generally. This has been shown in other studies as well: “children who collaborated in the

discussion and activities of the [artwork problem solving experiment] showed an increase

in mental activities and concentration” (Carr, 2003, p. 87 from Barbara Rogoff). One

participant in Family Art Adventures called the activities, “mind stretching”.

Art inquiry also builds empathy. Artworks come from a variety of places, cultures

and time periods, “in observing and sharing interpretations of a work of art, students

practice attention to detail, inference and the ability to consider multiple perspectives”

(Herz, 2010, p. 2). Herz explains that art inquiry can “promote curiosity, a willingness to

puzzle through a question or problem, and the ability to hypothesize and give evidence”

(Herz, 2010, p. 2). Artists hold a mirror up to the zeitgeist, and what they create allows

us to understand the world more deeply. Museums collect artworks with the goal in mind

that they will help visitors uncover truths and explore mysteries. “[Museums] allow the

inquirer to express possibilities and create speculations while immersed in the presence

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of rich and visible evidence” (Carr, 2003, p. 61). The museum- a treasure chest of

precious and unique explanations and reflections on nature and culture, is especially well

positioned to help visitors think about the world. It is not there to provide answers, but

rather to start the process of questioning. “The...museum is less about explaining objects

than it is about giving form to the logics of discovery and knowledge - including the

cultures and processes of arts, social sciences, sciences, and information” (Carr, 2003, p.

141). The process of inquiry in front of works of art extends beyond the art museum to all

other realms of civilization.

Why Activities?

It is not enough just to converse and learn about art. It is also important to actively

interact with the artwork, or the themes the artwork presents. Interaction between people

pairs with interactions between people and objects. Acting out and physically engaging

with complex and abstract topics adds another level to learning about and interpreting

artworks. Museums provide the platform in which people can engage with art with

their bodies and minds: “the institution is responsible for creating a circumstance-a

surrounding situation- where meaning are performed and intelligence is evoked into

action” (Carr, 2003, p. 71). Activities can clarify a concept, make an idea concrete and

provide tools for understanding, but, also, as Carr says, “it is important to me as an

educator that the tasks I create for learners invite authentic risk and trust, and lead them

toward surprises, and are different from other experiences in their lives” (Carr, 2003, p.

70). Activities can be the catalyst for fun, excitement and a sense of ownership for family

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visitors to the museum.

What Are Activities?

If inquiry represents Lucy Sprague Mitchell’s concept of “input”, activities are

her concept of “outgo”(Mitchell, 1921). She asserts that learning requires active making

or presenting of things learned. Of course there are many forms outgo can take- and

therefore many types of activities. Activities provide multiple entry points for a multitude

of learning styles. Conversation may not reach every visitor- the vast problem that is

interpreting an artwork must be tackled on many fronts. Why aren’t we disseminating

information from a position of authority? Because there are many ways to learn and many

ways to know. There are many opportunities with children to use kinetic intelligence

(Can you make a shape with your body that mimics this sculpture?), visual intelligence

(We’re going to spend a couple of minutes sketching this piece), naturalistic intelligence

(How is the shell I have given you to hold similar or different to this artwork?), et cetera.

Activities provide engaging experiences that make art accessible for all ages. Activities

can be experiences with multiple entry points for different skill sets and interest levels.

Some activities involve manipulating materials. Materials which are highly

engaging encourage visitors to use their fingers and hands, eyes and ear, brains and

emotions. Simplicity of activity can lead to profound experiences for families. Material

activities allow different generations to work side by side. Different levels of complexity

within activities can be incorporated, with simple examples for the youngest and

complexity that spirals upward.

Some activities involve games, or broader uses of play because a “child’s greatest

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self control occurs in play” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 99). Perhaps this is true for adults as

well. As visitors play- either with each other in an improvisation game, or with objects

in a treasure hunt, puzzle or object activity, they make new discoveries -“in play a child

always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior; in play it is a though

he were a head above himself”(Vygotsky, 1978, p. 102). Visitors feel rewarded when they

use “sensory input and construct meaning out of it” (Hein, 1991, p. 2). Play and games

display “the union of motives and perception...every perception is a stimulus to activity...

the child is constrained by the situation in which she finds herself.” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.

96). Games offer further constraints, to bring out complex truths related to artworks.

Some activities involve the use of narrative or storytelling. They are important

inclusions because “involvement with story, meaning the creating of narrative for sorting

and constructing the contexts of the world. This is a life-skill of the highest order. With it,

a human being is engaged with narrative, with the idea of life unfolding and the potential

for change and variation” (Carr, 2003, p. 60). Stories can be an entry point into the world

that an artist has created. Humans are primed to use stories to understand the world, “it

is not difficult to suggest that the sense of story allows emotional possibilities as well,

where the mind senses feelings in the presence of events, not just as they happen in the

moment, but as they happen in culmination of sequence and pattern” (Carr, 2003, p. 61).

Families also often have personal stories that allow them to make connections between

themselves as a group and the artwork.

By using activities in the galleries, several goals and objectives of a museum’s

education department are met. Families can make personal connections through story and

action and “cultural institutions allow us to experience an involvement with story, the

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creation of a narrative for sorting and constructing the multiple contexts of the world. In

order to live life not constructed by chaos or defined by the whims of others, we depend

on the logics of narrative” (Carr, 2003, p. 65).

Families have the opportunity to explore materials, much like a practicing artist

does. They are able to collaborate and build community (both intra and inter family).

Families are able to come to the museum to become better families. “Children are

interested in learning about context and are capable of understanding many concepts at an

early age” (Munley, 2012, p. 7), and activities allow that learning to happen. Activities

are another way for families to understand the world and to grow.

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Goals of Family Art Adventures

What does it take to be a good teacher in the museum? Part of it is passion,

curiosity and a need to be part of it all. The need to have conversations, to pick up strings

and follow them to the end, to ask questions and listen closely. Listen, of course, but

also taste, feel, smell, and see fully and deeply. This program is part of a new tradition

of museum education practices that draw on theories and language about how to be a

good host in the museum. Being welcoming and friendly, listening closely and planning

developmentally all have pedagogical roots. In order to create a truly constructivist and

progressive family tour at the museum we “need to think about our work in relation to

theories of learning and knowledge” (Hein, 1991 , p. 1).

How do we take the valuable knowledge of collections in the museum and

make them valuable to visitors (and to those who don’t feel like visiting)? How can we

make every person feel at home in the museum- how can we extend ownership? We

are currently at an exciting time in museum education where even the museums on the

fringe of cultural hubs, who may otherwise be trailing have made huge changes towards

reaching outward. It is exciting to work in a time when we are finding the potential

similarities between museums and community centers, and about what role museums

can play in the community. The following sections discuss some of the goals of family

programs in museums. Programs like Family Art Adventures meet these goals.

Create a Sense of Museum Ownership

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Families can feel the same way about museums as they do about parks, libraries

and other public spaces designed for people of all ages to play and learn. Welcoming the

youngest visitors and their grown-ups to what may have been an unfamiliar environment

builds their comfort, invites them to visit again and creates family memories. The

museum should be a place where everyone feels comfortable- a community living room.

And, in the words of one child participant in Family Art Adventures, a place where

“you can look at different art”. By “making friends” with the artworks and artists in the

museum, families can feel more at home visiting. After all, “the purpose of the museum

was to enable people to gain firsthand acquaintances with works of art” (Burnham &

Kai-Kee, 2011, p. 31). If these acquaintances blossom into affection and attachment, so

too will the visitor’s relationship with the museum. In relationship to looking at art in

the museum, “Ivans suggested that ‘it is much like making the acquaintance of another

man or woman... No one, not even the most learned or the most sympathetic person in the

world can do more than...introduce them to one another’”(Burnham & Kai-Kee, 2011, p.

31).

Many parents question whether art museum visits are age-appropriate for young

children, so museums have to work harder to make them feel welcome. Children who

grow up in the museum will become adults who feel connected to the institution, and

“when a caring adult introduces a child to something that is special to the adult, the child

associates the artifact with that adult, remembers it, and requests to revisit” (Munley,

2012, p. 9). Not all contemporary adults had the opportunity to go to museums as

children, however, so parents and caregivers must be actively welcomed, too. Museums

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should provide situations that produce comfort in engaging with objects that may be

unfamiliar, and model ways of talking about art with their children.

Achieve a More Realized Self

Once a feeling of ownership and comfort in the museum has been established,

museums can provide a wonderful forum for visitors to achieve their most realized self.

Museums, more than parks or other public spaces, offer the opportunity to explore the

human condition and history. The richness of the museum experience can hold a mirror

up to the visitor. As Carr says, “As educators, our task is to assist learners to ask the

questions that only they can ask, in order to become the strongest, most aware people

they are capable of becoming” (2003, p. 96). Museum educators can model the language

and processes that might allow the visitor’s most realized self to emerge. “I believe

that the center of an educator’s definitive purpose, no matter what the institution, is to

construct a situation where questions can find form” (Carr, 2003, p. 94).

Build Bridges Between the Museum and Family Life

Objects in the museum are complexly interwoven with culture, history and place.

As Dewey believed: education must be entirely based on experience. He rejected the idea

of a “final goal” and instead focused on the importance of process and personal meaning

making. He felt that teachers must take into account local, physical, historical, economic

and occupational conditions in order to make a place of learning which is built on ideas

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instead of custom or routine.

The strategies of inquiry and activity learned in a museum can be transferred

to other family situations. “In a constructivist approach, the meaning of the objects is

treated not as being inherent in them but as created when observers interact with them,

generating and assigning meanings to them. A teacher will try to stimulate curiosity

and imagination, provoke thought, and connect the viewers’ prior experience with the

objects” (Burnham & Kai-Kee, 2011, p. 46). The constructivist approach used in Family

Art Adventures can apply to interactions at home, in nature, and in the city. “Young

children make personal connections to what they see in the museum” (Munley, 2012, p.

8) and personal connections made in the museum are often linked to family memories

and are remembered for future thinking and problem solving. Family Art Adventures

starts conversations at the museum that can be continued over the dinner table. It can

inspire families to wonder about art that they encountered at the museum, and create a

culture of wonderment that extends beyond the museum.

Embrace and Leverage the Unique and Distinctive

Family programs in museums are important because museums are homes to actual

artifacts. One child participant’s favorite part of the Family Art Adventures program was

simply, “looking at the quilts.” In museums, visitors can encounter the real. Adults and

“young children delight in being in the presence of ‘the real thing’, they are especially

drawn to artifacts and specimens that are familiar to them from experiences at home, in

their neighborhoods and in school” (Munley, 2012, p. 8). In the museum it is possible

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to exploit the uniqueness of the materials and techniques used by artists to create

opportunities for shared family exploration and discovery. It is important that these

experiences are something families can’t do at home.

Family Art Adventures is grounded in the story, context, history or creation of a

one-of-a-kind work of art. The program begins and ends with the object, dissecting and

unpacking it for everything it can reveal, from the creative process to why it was made,

who made it and how it was displayed. “Although children and adults may spend many

hours during everyday life reading about things, noticing them in pictures or on clothing,

and playing with toys and replicas, it is only in the museum that they can attach their

knowledge to the authentic object” (Munley, 2012, p. 16). Mining each object to find the

nuggets that will resonate with families is what makes the activities authentic.

Collaborate and Build Community

Finally, Family Art Adventures is a great opportunity for families to learn more

about each other and also to interact with other families. In the program families can,

“work corroboratively to make meaning and learn more about one another, while sharing

opinions in a supportive environment” (Herz, 2010, p. 2). When adults are present while

children interact with real objects and the environment, “the child is able to do more

than he can understand”(Vygotsky, 1978, p. 100). In Family Art Adventures programs,

parents are often struck by what their child is capable of in their presence. Also, it goes

both ways, since children, “motivated to learn, they ‘invite’ the adult to participate” thus

regulating an appropriate amount of collaboration between child and adult (Miller, 2012,

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p. 177). Intra-family interaction is rewarding in itself, and allows both children and

adults to grow and learn, but it is also essential to build a larger community. Family Art

Adventures brings family members together, and also brings family groups together who

might otherwise not interact at the museum. Friendships and communities are born in

programs like Family Art Adventures.

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Conclusion

In Family Art Adventures programs at the Montclair Art Museum and in all

museum programming, I want to share the magic of interacting with art, and “as

experienced in a museum, the magic might take the form of ‘things to wonder about,

‘unfinished thought.’ or ‘ideas to pursue.’”(Carr, 2003, p. 140). Working with children

in the museum is especially rewarding because as Csikszentmihalyi explains, children

are, “born with a desire for knowledge and...find the process of making sense of [their]

environment pleasurably rewarding” (1995, p. 77). Families make sense of their

environments together.

Family Art Adventures is the brainchild of Petra Pankow, Director of Education at

the Montclair Art Museum. Since she began at MAM she has been working to strengthen

the ties between the museum and the community. She recognized that Montclair

families wanted a place to talk together, and also to get to know other families in their

communities. MAM has programs for school groups, seniors, adults, teens, home-school

groups and others, but did not yet have a program specifically for families. I was lucky to

be able to collaborate in creating this program and bringing it to life.

The program is an opportunity to look closely and make discoveries. Engaging

activities are meant to draw families into fascinating conversations where they can learn

about the art and about each other. Because of the nature of family time in the museum,

after family programs I’ve heard statements like: “I didn’t know my son/daughter was

thinking on that level” or “s/he never says things like that at home.” My goals for Family

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Art Adventure align with my over-arching goals as a museum educator: to create a

welcoming, comfortable place where people can come together to talk about art. I want

visitors to feel a sense of ownership and empowerment when they enter the museum. I

want them to feel heard, and also inspired.

I imagine that as I continue to learn more about the participants, and what they

want out of the program, the program will mature and change. I hope that through play

and conversation we can learn together. Outside of this program, parents can encourage

children to enjoy art, understand it and create it. Parents who understand and create art

have children who will as well. There is no substitute for good modelling. Pull out the

markers and do some drawing yourself, immerse yourself in a painting, take your time

and flex your imagination! But it’s not essential to create, understand, or even enjoy art in

order to visit a museum. Museum going is a social experience, and the museum can be a

great space to relax as a family and take some time to talk.

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Acknowledgements

Graduate students receive unwavering and enthusiastic support from the

professors and staff at Bank Street College of Education and I benefitted greatly from

their attentions and cheerleading. I would like to thank all my professors and the entire

Department of Museum Education. In particular, my advisor and the leader of the

Seminar in Museum Education, Marian Howard, helped me to befriend the great theorists

of museum education, and to begin to think of myself as an educator who deserves to

have a voice in the field, as well. Thank you, Marian. Once I had an idea of what I wanted

my Integrated Masters Project to look like, my thesis advisor, Sean O’Shea provided

thoughtful responses, high expectations and generous and positive feedback. Thank you,

Sean.

Family Art Adventures was created by the head of education at the Montclair

Art Museum, Petra Pankow. Petra’s faith in her lowly intern empowered me to create

the Family Art Adventures program and to lead it with minimal supervision. Her sharp

intelligence and plentiful goodwill have made it a success. Thank you, Petra.

My late and darling Grandpere and my aunt, Nicole Halbreiner, made Bank Street

a reality for me, and they have my love and appreciation. Thanks and lots of love also to

my sister, Rosamund, and my parents, Thomas and Dominique.

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Appendix I: Family Art Adventure Lessons

Introduction to the Appendix

Certain art concepts are recognized to be present in so many artworks that

understanding and having a feel for them is essential. Among these are pattern, texture,

color and line. These are the tools that artists use.

It is recognized that certain themes are pervasive in art, because they are pervasive

in the human condition. Among these are place, family and memories.

For each program, once I picked a theme, I then picked four artworks that would

best match the theme. This appendix takes a close look at programs in which I focused

on art concepts and programs in which I focused on humanist themes. These lesson plans

are specific examples of how artworks, inquiry and activity interact at the Montclair Art

Museum, but I emphasize that these types of activity and inquiry are endlessly adaptable.

The same questions, stories and activities could work at artworks (and even science or

history stops) at any museum.

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What Would that Feel Like?Texture

Welcome! Today we’re going to talk about texture, or how might an artwork feel if we could touch it.

Materials:paper green pencilsboardstouch pieces

Native American GalleriesPass out touch piecesWhat words would you use to describe the texture of your object?Look around the room, where in the artwork can you find a texture like yours?

Yvonne Wells, “Rosa Parks”What do you notice?Let’s look at our touch pieces. Are there similarities between your pieces and parts of this quilt?

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Feel your clothes. Are there any similarities between your clothes and this quilt?What kind of cover do you have on your bed? What does it feel like? What might it feel like to be under this quilt?

Chaikaia Booker, “External Constraints”How is this the same or different from the other textures we’ve seen?“Painters have a palette of colors that give their work energy,” she says. “My palette has textures.” -BookerWhat textures are in her palette?A curator (Bill Lowe) said: “The rubber’s softness, its reptilian textures, and all the non-Euclidean shaping suggest some complicated life form” Do you agree? Does it look like a life form?

Asher B. Durand, Morning at Cold SpringWhat do you notice?Even though this is 2 dimensional it still has visual textures. What textures do you see?Here is a colored pencil and paper. Can you create any of the textures that we’ve talked about? How can you draw bumpy, or rough?

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What Goes Where?Composition

Welcome! Today we’re going to talk about composition- or how artists decide where to place things in their art. Here are 3 stickers each. Place them inside your circle. When you’re done compare with your families. How are your “artworks” different?

Materials:circle sheetred circle stickersblack shapesgray paperwhite shapescar cards - various sizes

Edward Hopper, “Coast Guard Station” 1937What is the very first thing you notice when you look at this painting?What are the second and third things you notice?Here is a bag with white shapes and black shapes, and a gray piece of paper. Use the shapes to create your own composition.

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Andy Warhol, “Twelve Cadillacs”How is this different or the same from the other art we’ve seen?Why might he have chosen to repeat the car over and over?Here is a bag of the cars for each family. How can you use this same image to create a different feeling? Share with the group.

Will Barnet, “Celebration”What do you notice?So far we’ve been looking at realistic art, but here is an abstract piece. What do I mean when I say abstract?Composition can be changed by “cropping”. Using this viewfinder, crop a small piece of this artwork to make a different composition. Talk about what you see with your family.

George Inness, “Delaware Water Gap”Now using cropping, we’re going to make a realistic work abstract. Let’s look at this George Inness Work together. What are some things that you recognize?Here is a reproduction of his work. As an experiment, we’re going to cut a rectangle out

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of the piece in order to create an abstract work of art.Shapes Make Things

Shapes

Welcome! Today we’re going to look at how artists use shapes to show things and even places. I brought an object here with me- what shapes can you see in this thing?

Materials:3 dimensional object (box, water bottle, tool)assorted shapes of colorful paperlong string for each familypaper in colors of Innes paintingviewfinderslittle notepads (or paper and boards)pencils

Quilt ExhibitFree explore. The artists who made these quilts loved to combine shapes to make a larger piece. Here is a piece of paper and pencil. By writing or drawing, make a collection of all the shapes you see in this room.

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Jacob Lawrence, “Tools”, 1987What do you notice?Jacob Lawrence used simple shapes to create things- here he used shapes to make tools. Here are some pieces of colored paper. Go around and have everyone name one of the shapes they have in front of them. What things/objects can you make with these shapes?

Share.

Elsie Driggs, “Queensborough bridge” 1969What do you see in this painting?There are lots of lines and those lines make shapes. Give a piece of string to each family. Ask them to pick a shape in the painting to make. Tell them to experiment with the string to create different shapes. Share.

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George Innes “Delaware water gap”What do you see here?Choose a small section of the painting with your family and draw the shapes you see in it. Rip paper to make the shapes. What things or places do these shapes make?

As you walk back through the galleries look for shapes. Stop with your families to identify them.

possible extension:

Rothko, “Implements of Magic” 1945What geometric shapes can you see here?What organic shapes?If you could give this any title, what would you call it?He called it “Implements of Magic”. Do you notice anything different now that you know that?

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Stripe, Square, Polka dot...Patterns

Welcome! What is a pattern? [write group definition on big paper] Where do you see patterns in your life? Can you see any on your clothing or in this room?

Materials:11x17 paper and thick pencilpaper clipboardspencilsblack and tan popsicle sticks (at least 10 per family)bag of fabric scraps

Native American Gallery: This room is filled with patterns!Find a pattern and sketch it to bring back to the group

Share patterns with larger group

BasketsWe’ve seen so many patterns in this room. Now we’re going to focus on these baskets. What do you notice about these patterns?Using black and tan popsicle sticks, create your own pattern inspired by the baskets. Is there anything you’d like to add to our definition now?

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Marie Watt, “Northern Woodland, Seneca”What do you notice about this piece?How is this the same or different from the patterns we’ve seen so far?Here is a bag full of fabric scraps. Use these to make your own fabric pattern. We’ve seen a lot of patterns. Is there anything you’d like to add to our definition?

possible extension:

Warhol, “12 Cadillacs”This is a different kind of patternWhat do you notice about this? How is it different or the same from what we’ve just looked at?Is there anything you’d like to add to our definition now?

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Iron, Basket, Drill...Everyday objects

Welcome! What are some objects/tools you have at home?

Materialsplaner, pliers, hand drill, drill bits, wrenchjarstool sketch sheets

Jacob Lawrence, “Tools”What objects do you see here? Make a list. Hold a tool. What could you do with this tool? Share within family.

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Native American Gallery- canteens/jars. “olla”How are these the same or different from Lawrence’s tools?Hold a jar. What could you use this for? Share within family.

Willie Cole, “Mother and Child”What do you see here?Cole transformed this every day object by making it much larger. Think of an object in your house. Draw the object. Now make a change- how might you transform that object?Cole called this transformed iron “mother and child”. What would you call your transformed object?

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Find the Tools

Look in all the galleries for tools. How many tools can you find? _____________________________What can we count as a tool?

Sketch one of the tools you find

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Once There Was a... Stories and Memories

Materials:paper and pencils

Chaim Gross, “Three Acrobats” What do you notice about this piece? It’s called “Three Acrobats”Storytelling game:Let’s all play the storytelling game together. One person says a sentence, and then the next person adds on. Let’s use these acrobats as our starting off point. “Once there were three acrobats and...”

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Gordon Parks, “Fort Scott, Kansas, (Family Living Room)”What do you see?What are the people doing?What is your house like in the winter? What do you do inside? Share with your family.

Romare Bearden, “Late Afternoon”What do you notice?What are the people doing?Bearden is showing people beginning to relax. What is a time you have been outside together as a family? What is your memory? Share with your family.

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possible extension

Robert Henri, Jimmie O’DBoy in 1925Everyone write down three words that come to mind when you look at itAs a family put your words together to make a haiku- 3 lines

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What Makes a Portrait a Portrait?Looking at People in Art

Welcome! Today we’re going to look at art that is all about people. Where are some places where you see images of people?

Materials:big paperbig pencilclipboardspaperpencils (colored pencils?)bags of objects

Robert Motherwell, “Ulysses”What do you notice about this artwork?Why do you say that it is a person?It is a portrait: let’s make a list of the attributes of a portrait together. What makes a portrait a portrait?

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William Merrit Chase, “A tambourine girl”We’ll stand over here now. Can we have a couple of volunteers? The volunteers will stand in front of the painting without looking at it. Everyone else (seated), can you direct them into the pose you see in the picture? Now posers, what do you think you’re doing?Why might the artist have painted the woman in this pose?

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Portrait WallEach of the people on this wall have their own story and lived a life. In your family pick one of the portraitsHere is a bag of objects (per family?) pick one or two objects that either represent the person you are looking at or that they might be holding. Share. Why did you pick that object?

Here are some portraits of kids and grown upsLet’s talk for a minute about what we notice. How can you tell if the people are kids or grown ups?Let’s draw each other! Pass out clipboards, paper and pencils. Look at your family member and draw their portrait. What makes them look different from everyone else?

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New York to Maine...Talking about Places

Welcome! Talk within your family: What is a place you have all been together? What did it look, sound and smell like? Would anyone like to share?

Materials:photographs of Coast Guard Station and Queensboro bridgequote from lighthouse family memberpencilsclipboardspaper

Edward Hopper, “Coast Guard Station”What do you notice about this painting?Show the picture of coast guard station. Can you see any differences or things that are the same? Listen to sounds from the coast guard stationDo the sounds help you notice anything new about the painting?Just like you have memories of the place you talked about with your family, someone lived here once and they talked about their memories of when they first moved there. Read the memory.

We crossed the bridge from Portland to South Portland then on to Cape Elizabeth. Just before going down over the hill into the village of Two Lights, a dirt road branched off the highway which we followed. We passed a couple of houses, a short stretch of woods and came to a fenced-in enclosure with an open gate, the other side of which stood a lighthouse tower and a dwelling. Nobody was around so we continued along the road past a house, barn and three-car garage, up over a hill past another house and then on to the second lighthouse dwelling and tower...Thus began our life at Two

Lights. Willie, Arthur, and Clif divided the watches and liberty hours. On good days they did various chores around the station, on foggy days or during snowstorms they stayed in the whistle house down over the

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hill on the shore. Light-up time at sundown meant climbing the stairs to the top of the tower, taking the protective curtain off the lenses and pressing a switch to turn on the electric light which was then set in a revolving motion sending 6 flashes in each direction at 30 second intervals. The light was white and could be seen some fifteen miles away.

Imagine Shirley (Morong) and family are inside this house. What might they be doing? What is happening inside of the house

Elsie Driggs, “Queensborough Bridge”We just listened to the sounds from Maine, what do you think it sounds like here?Listen to sounds from the Queensboro Bridge. How do the sounds change what you see?Show the picture of the bridgeHow is this different or the same as the painting?

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George Wesley Bellows: “In a rowboat”We are so good at talking about places now, we’re going to try a different sort of activity. In pairs (or threes if necessary) choose one (or two) person(s) who will be the Drawer and one person who will describe. Drawers, close your eyes, Describers, bring the Drawers safely to this side so that they are facing away from this painting. Give the Drawers clipboards and pencils and paper. They can now open their eyes but they can’t turn around! Describers, face the painting. You’ll spend the next 10 minutes describing the painting in detail so the Drawer can draw it as accurately as possible.Share about the experience.

possible extension

Asher B. Durand, “Early Morning at Cold Spring”What is going on in this painting? Where are we?Durand was thinking about this couplet from a poem by William Cullen Bryant when he painted this: “and o’er the clear still water swells/ the music for the sabbath bells”What else do you notice now that we know that Durand was thinking about church bells?

We’ve seen a lot of different places in art. I’d welcome you to stay at the museum and talk about other places in art. You may want to head up to the family learning lab where we have a whole room where you can think more about places in art.

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Appendix II: Evaluation

Family Art Adventures

How did you find out about the program?__Museum website__Other website (what site? _________________)__Word of mouth__Museum Programs Guide__Email from MAM__Other (please explain ____________________)

What was your favorite part about the program?

What did you like least or think we should change or improve upon?

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Works Cited

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Bruner, Jerome (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge: Harvard Press.

Burnham, R., & Kee, E. (2011). Teaching in the art museum: Interpretation as experience. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.

Carr, D. (2003). The promise of cultural institutions. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

Csikzentmihalyi, M., & Hermanson, K. (1995). Intrinsic motivation in museum: why does one want to learn? The educational role of the museum By Eilean Hooper- Greenhill, 146-160

Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York: Macmillan.

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: The Macmillan company.

Freire, Paulo (1998). Pedagogy of freedom. Chapter 4. Rowman and Littlefield.

Greene, M. (1984). The art of being present: educating for aesthetic encounters. Journal of education.

Hein, G. (1991). Constructivist learning theory. Institute for Inquiry, 15(22)

Hein, G. (2012). Progressive museum practice: John Dewey and democracy. Left Coast Press.

Herz, R. (2010). Looking at art in the classroom: Art investigations from the Guggenheim Museum. New York: Teachers College Press.

Hetland, L., & York, N. (2007). Studio thinking: The real benefits of visual arts education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Miller, P. H. (2012). Theories of developmental psychology. (5th ed., pp. 165-221). New York: Worth.

Mitchell, L. (1921). Here and now story book: Two-to seven year olds : Experimental stories written for the children of the City and Country School (formerly the Play School) and the Nursery School of the Bureau of Educational Experiments. New

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York: E.P. Dutton & Company.

Montclair Art Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved December 22, 2014, from http://www.montclairartmuseum.org/

Munley, M. (2012). Early Learning in Museums: A review of the literature. Smithsonian Institute.

Nager, N. & Shapiro, E.K. (2000). The developmental-interaction approach: Retrospect and prospect. In N. Nager & E.K. Shapiro (eds.), Revising a progressive pedagogy: The developmental-interaction approach (pp. 275-290). Albany: SUNY Press.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society (pp.92-104). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wing, L., & DeBree, J. (2002). Breathing in Museums. Fieldwork: Notes from Expeditionary Learning Classrooms, X(2), 1-2.

All images courtesy of Montclair Art Museum