What makes a great museum and why does it matter? Museums have their place in the long line of dying institutions–are they worth saving?
My gut feeling says yes, they are. Museums (I’m using the term here to include cultural institutions) have long been understood as a mirror of culture. They are a repository of information and a reflection of ideas. They are a center of learning, both in an object-based and program-based manner. While most formal education in museums is associated with elementary school students, adult education programs are growing and the opportunity for the museum as a cultural center, as opposed to just a picture gallery, is great. Museums provide a physical place not only to hold objects but also to host visitors and facilitate their experience with the objects.
I have a strong personal connection to museums. My mom claims I learned to crawl in the Impressionist wing at the Met (backwards, I think, though it doesn’t make for as good a story). She took me to museums often. She would shun the audio tours preferring instead to give me her own. She taught me about color looking at Henri Matisse, composition looking at Edward Weston, and the power of image by refusing to let me see a Francis Bacon exhibit (I later snuck in, got scared, and ran out). I go to museums today and remember her lessons about how to look at a painting or photograph. I am struck by how eager I am to read all those wall descriptions, how curious I am about the connection between the art on the wall and the history of various countries, people, and cultures, and how emotionally floored I can be by an image of sunflowers in a vase or a milkmaid by a window.
I also realize what an old fogey I can be. I understand not everyone has an art teacher for a mother. A changing culture requires a change in cultural institutions. This generational change, most people agree, is a familiarity with technology and, as Nancy Hechinger says, an expectation to participate. People are no longer satisfied looking at the objects in a museum, they want to hold the Grecian urn. Or at least write their own descriptions of them. As the ease of publishing increases, the interest in objects under a curatorial voice decreases. In addition, with the easy access of the internet, the appeal of education in person as opposed to online is changed, if not lessened.
I don’t believe these changes necessarily run counter to the intention and appeal of museums. The internet has not made people less curious–if anything, sites like Wikipedia have encouraged lateral thinking and provided an opportunity for people to satisfy (and further) their interests. The museum is in a unique position to provide a physical location to support a community that might develop online. The community is malleable and ripe for re-definition. The “First Saturday” parties have been a huge success and the possibilities for further inclusion of Generation X and Y is great. There is also an opportunity for the museum’s physical assets to be shared to a greater online audience, though I don’t believe the solution has been found yet (online galleries aren’t satisfying).
My research will focus on the history and future of museums (how they have changed and how they could change further), what is successful and what is unsuccessful in museum programming (what draws visitors of all ages), and what are future solutions (proposed exhibit and program examples). Specifically, I’m interested in how technology can help museum programs succeed and when it inhibits them. Which technology is best implemented and how can new media enhance interaction with exhibits and with other museum visitors? How can museums encourage learning promote curiosity? What cues can museums take from the changes in media and technology–namely, how can museums allow and encourage participation, interaction, and connection?
