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Below is a blog entry about a new study commissioned by the James Irvine Foundation that shows that museum visitors have a strong desire to engage in interactive activity. The old model of wandering the halls passively looking at objects doesn't work for people who are addicted to touch screens, tweeting and all forms of spontenous social media.
Here is the link to the fascinating blog. The report by the James Irvine Foundation charts three levels of desired interaction: In 'crowd sourcing,' museums provide some essential input or selection for the creative process (photos, paintings, voting, and so on). In 'co-creation,' participants contribute in a meaningful way toward an artistic effort by a professional artist or team (participatory theater, storytelling, and such). In 'audience-as-artist,' participants actually create and direct the outcome themselves. Our new Creativity Center will be an opportunity for the Bass Museum to experiment with creating those new active experiences. This space, which used to be the museum's gift shop, will be officially inaugurated in January of 2012, Here the museum's education department will have the opportunity to create wonderful hands-on activities, such as inviting visitors to to explore our permanent collection online and create their own collection or a virtual exhibit. This space already hosts the weekly Adult Art Club, which includes hands-on art classes taught by local artists, as well as workshops for school teachers and families who want to make art with their kids. In the future, any visitor to the Bass Museum of Art will be able to walk into theCreativity Center at any time of the day and choose from a variety of project kits. Adults and kids will be invited to sit down and paint, draw or construct things that are inspired by our art collection and rotating exhibits. The source of the text below is: "Arts organizations and arts funders have long been discussing the rise of a more 'participatory' interest among arts audiences. Beyond 'butts in seats,' this emerging interest suggests that audiences increasingly engage in expressive activity throughout their lives (online, at home, among friends), and they value a similar engagement in other cultural consumption. The James Irvine Foundation has just released a new report that seeks to define and document this part of the arts universe. Getting In On the Act: How Arts Groups are Creating Opportunities for Active Participation is essentially a field guide to participatory arts practices -- offering definitions to help you recognize the genus, and then specific examples to identify the species. It's a very handy guide for those who know they want to increase or enhance the participatory elements of their creative work, but need clarity and strategy (and examples) to do so. The underlying model suggests that people can engage with artistic activity in many different ways. One way of slicing those experiences is by the relative control arts participants have over the art or the experience itself. Beyond the more traditional 'receptive' roles of Western cultural experience (spectating quietly, or spectating alongside some enhancement effort like a talkback or prep session), the report offers three levels of participatory practice, defined by how much the participants influence the outcome of the work.
In 'crowd sourcing,' participants provide some essential input or selection for the creative process (photos, paintings, voting, and so on). In 'co-creation,' participants contribute in a meaningful way toward an artistic effort by a professional artist or team (participatory theater, storytelling, and such). In 'audience-as-artist,' participants actually create and direct the outcome themselves. The report is careful to state that participatory practice isn't the 'new normal,' and that even traditional forms of audience participation have active components. But for artists, arts organizations, and cultural communities seeking new ways to connect their friends and neighbors to creative endeavor, this report offers a useful map." |
