Tipsheet: Make the most of your next museum experience
Freshman Interest Groups peer instructors take a tour of the SoFA Gallery to get ideas of campus attractions to share with freshmen students.
There are several ways to get more from a museum experience, according to Liz Kryder-Reid, director of museum studies and associate professor of anthropology at IUPUI. The best way is to plan your visit ahead of time, especially when going to large museums like The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Use the museum's Web site as a pre-visit resource to ensure the most from seeing an exhibit. Resources on the site vary, but most contain a variety of educational resources like formal lesson plans and educational programs providing artists' biographies or background to the history of the pieces in the exhibit. Look for blogs, or Web logs, which are often written by curators or museum employees. Judy Kirk, assistant director of the Mathers Museum of World Cultures at Indiana University Bloomington, said blogs often offer behind-the-scenes day-to-day journals about what is happening and how objects are selected for inclusion in an exhibit. "Whetting your appetite before the visit can be a great way to make the visit more meaningful," Kryder-Reid said.
Make the most of resources at the museum. Families can learn much from various exhibits, and museums can be good for more formal instructional school-based learning. While at the museum, take advantage of curator talks and scheduled tours that can help explain the significance of the exhibit, Kryder-Reid said. Most museums provide educational literature such as brochures, guidebooks or catalogues, which can provide insight into the curator's thoughts about why certain pieces were included and the meaning behind the exhibit's organization. Many museums also have education centers where you can find additional references and participate in hands-on activities. For example, the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis has "inquiry boxes" with objects, stories and other materials to explore topics from the museum's exhibits in a deeper way. Museum stores can also be a great source for resources such as books, musical recordings and prints of artworks -- as well as a chance to buy a souvenir to remember the experience.
Make the museum experience fun for the entire family. When Kryder-Reid took her children to the Indianapolis Museum of Art recently, they saw a couple of exhibits and then strung beads to make African-style necklaces. Let children choose what they want to do, she said, especially if they're in a familiar museum. Be sure to avoid museum fatigue by selecting a few exhibits to see rather than attempting to see the entire museum. "One of the great things about museums is you don't have to follow the chapters in the book," Kryder-Reid said. "You get to craft the experience in your own pace and direction."
Take advantage of audio tours. One of the most common tools is the audio guide, which is sometimes provided with exhibit admission and sometimes available for rent for an extra charge. An audio guide can provide a number of enhancements to the museum experience. The audio guide provides a personal narrative guide to the exhibit that goes above and beyond what is on display. In addition to audio tours, an increasing number of museums are offering audio guides to provide a visual description of items for people who have no or low vision, Kirk said. People who don't have disabilities benefit from audio descriptions also. "With audio description there are certain approaches to describing the object in front of this person that is in a way lyrical, poetic and helps this person who can't see the object very well to visualize the piece in their head," Kirk said. "It is quite an art form, but it is becoming more and more available with audio tours."
Technology has changed the way people experience museums, according to Kirk. Now, many offer technology-based tools that enrich time in the gallery, providing in-depth information about the artifacts or additional points that go beyond the exhibit topic. Some tools that may be offered include audio guides and headsets, handheld devices and MP3 players with downloadable podcasts. Each tool provides a guide to the exhibit and typically allows the user to push a series of numbers that correspond with the pieces in order to learn more about them. Kryder-Reid said there are even numbers for cell phone users to call in order to hear information recordings. The newest technology available is the podcast, a Web feed of audio or video files placed on the Internet and made available to anyone. "You go to the museum's Web site, download it and have your own personal tour," Kirk said. Individuals walk through the exhibit with the devices and mark objects they like and later retrieve more information about the objects on the museum's Web site. Kirk said the use of virtual reality is being explored in exhibits to find ways to recreate certain experiences with virtual reality tools. "We are trying to figure out how we can use mobile computing to enhance the access to information and services museums can provide," Kirk said.
Jenny McComas, curator of Western art after 1800, looks over an aisle of stored paintings at the Indiana University Art Museum.
