This is an illustrated summary of a report of a research trip to the USA funded by a GEM research travel grant to examine developments in the presentation of interactive art exhibitions designed for children and families. The full article entitled "Interactive art exhibitions: an overview of developments in the USA" can be read in Issue 22 of the Journal of Education in Museums (2001). Please note that all of the exhibitions described and shown here were temporary exhibitions and will have been replaced since the time of my visit. Contact the museums directly or refer to their websites for current exhibition details.
Child-oriented, interactive exhibitions are still relatively uncommon in the art museum sector but they are growing in number and popularity, following the lead of science centres and children’s museums in their creative approach to the presentation of exhibitions. The concepts which underlie the children’s museum movement – multiple levels of interpretation, interaction with exhibits, learning through entertainment, objects that can (sometimes) be handled - may seem anathema to traditionalists in the fields of art history and art curatorship, but these techniques have created exciting and engaging museum experiences for children and are now being applied in art galleries.
My interest in this subject had first been aroused by ‘START’ an interactive art exhibition and associated conference presented by Walsall Museum and Art Gallery in England in 1995. These events attracted a great deal of interest amongst museum educators and have undoubtedly been a significant factor in the development of a number of interactive art exhibitions in the UK during the part few years. There have also been an increasing number of interactive art exhibitions appearing in other European countries, an in North America, Australia and other parts of the world. During a GEM-sponsored research trip to the USA in 1998 I visited a number of art exhibitions which had been designed for children, in order to examine the approaches and techniques being used. This article gives a brief description of some of these.
The exhibitions displayed a variety of styles of presentation, conceptual approaches and educational philosophies but all incorporated a variety of sensory experiences and interactive elements to attract the interest of children, encourage creative thinking and enhance learning about visual arts. Some exhibits examined the processes of art production, the tools and techniques of artists; others explored the formal elements such as pattern, line, colour, or the subjects which fascinated the artists. A travelling exhibition on the work of Chagall enabled visitors to learn about the life history, artistic interests and technical developments of a single artist, with each art work accompanied by an activity conceived by exhibition developer Mary Sinker and devised to address specific cognitive or motor skills. ‘Art Venture’ a temporary exhibition at the Art Museum of Western Virginia, explored the concept of vessels, with unusual examples drawn from the museum collections and questions posed about their form or purpose. A thematic approach was used in the temporary exhibition ‘Stable Environment: The Horse in Art’ at the Arizona Museum for Youth. Here, play activities related to saddling, stabling, grooming and feeding horses were combined with displays of artworks of horses in a variety of media and styles, with accompanying artistic activities for children.
Children sitting on model horses in ‘Stable Environment: The Horse in Art’ Arizona Museum for Youth 1998.
In most of the exhibitions, interaction by visitors was a major component. One or two of the art exhibitions used sophisticated technology such as computer graphics, video graphics, or interactive sound and light either as art works or as a means to explore art forms in more traditional media such as painting. This enabled children to see animated versions of paintings or explore the effect of colour. For example, what does Chagall’s painting ‘The Green Violinist’ look like with a blue face … or pink … or yellow?
In others, simple practical activities engaged the children: trying on clothes and posing like people in portraits hung nearby; taking rubbings of textured reproductions of art works; deconstructing and reconstructing two or three dimensional jigsaw versions of the art works; or arranging magnetic shapes to explore pattern.
The entrance to the ‘Stable Environment’ exhibition, Arizona Museum for Youth 1998, showing art works by various artists all depicting horses. In the case to the far left is a sculpture by Jerry Barrish titled ‘A Horse with No Name’ made from recycled plastics, and nearby is a life size bronze foal entitled ‘Wide Awake’ by Cynthia Rigden. The painting on the wall to the right is titled ‘Celebration of Old Times, 1978’ in acrylic and mixed media on canvas, by artist R. Lee White. A large horse and rider can be seen in the painting but when examined close up, there are many other smaller horse images painted or scratched into the surface which children are invited to search for.
In most of the exhibitions, interactive elements – including practical art activities - were incorporated into the display of exhibited art works enabling children to study and respond directly to them. In ‘Telling Stories: Images in Art’ at the Kraft Center in the Art Institute of Chicago, strong links were made between the art works and the narrative content in an exhibition that was more text-heavy than the others but was aimed at an older age range of junior teens. The activities involved observation and analysis of the images, rather than creative activities. Most of the other exhibitions were designed to suit children aged under twelve years of age and placed a strong emphasis upon practical and creative activities.
In the illustration above, you can see part of the exhibition ‘Stable Environment: The Horse in Art’ at Arizona Museum for Youth, 1998. Drawing stations were arranged around a mixed media sculpture by William Barnhart entitled ‘Colt’. On the left is an oil painting by Maggie Keane. Other work stations included ‘Horse Drawn’ which used articulated templates to aid in the drawing of horses in different positions; ‘Heads and Tails’ where children could match two halves of a drawn or painted image of a horse; and ‘Horse Tails’ where magnetic horse parts could be arranged in different combinations by children.
All the interactive art exhibitions were designed to be accessible to children by using colour and design features to attract the children. ‘Stable Environment’ cleverly used the structure of fencing as a design element linked to the theme of the exhibition and as a means of protecting some works from being approached too closely. The exhibits included contemporary drawings, paintings, prints and sculptures as well as older historic pieces.
In the ArtQuest exhibition in the Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, artists had been commissioned to produce works which would appeal to children and encourage interaction. The exhibits were therefore both art works and work stations for creative activities.
Fiber Space area of ArtQuest with woven clock tower by basketry artist John Skau.
In the Fiber Space area of ArtQuest at Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, in Greensboro, North Carolina (1998), a weaving loom, overhead flying shuttle and wall-mounted yarn winder enabled visitors to try the technical processes involved in preparing and weaving yarn, while a tall woven structure demonstrated the basket weaving artwork of John Skau.
ArtQuest contained a range of activities including a magnetic wall board with pattern shapes, a light box, a petroglyph display with rubbing board…..
Petroglyphs and Pictograms activity in the Art Quest exhibition.
…… simple printing with rubber stamps, and ‘The Book Corner’ relating to lettering and books where children could draw and write and design illustrated letters or make their own books.
Art Quest also had an art studio where children could paint, make clay models, or construct sculptures using recycled materials.
‘My Studio’ provided a long wall-mounted easel, aprons, and visual resources.
A child painting in the ArtQuest art studio.
A child painting in the ArtQuest art studio.
Practical art activities are always popular with children – and adults. In fact, interactive exhibitions often appeal as much to adults as they do to children.
In the photo above, you can see a woman practising weaving on a large upright loom in the ‘Fiber Space’ section of the exhibition at ArtQuest in the Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art.
Ideally, interactive exhibitions should encourage intergenerational communication and interaction , with adults and children exploring, conversing, and completing activities together.
Adult and child explore patterns by arranging magnetic shapes.
WAM for Kids, Wichita Art Museum,
Wichita, Kansas, USA.
(Gallery closed December 1999, new one opening 2003).
Adult intervention assists children in engaging with the art works and the practical activities. Some staff have noted that parents are not always too sure how or whether to participate in children’s galleries. In some of the exhibitions staff were on hand to facilitate activity and help direct the child’s attention to the intended activity.
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Links to Interactive art exhibitions:
The exhibitions viewed during the 1998 research trip were: ‘Telling Stories: Images in Art’ at the Kraft Center in the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; ‘Chagall for Children’ a touring exhibition which originated from the Kohl Children’s Museum in Wilmette, Illinois and was developed by Mary Sinker; the ‘WAM for Kids’ gallery at Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas; ‘Stable Environment: the Horse in Art’ a temporary exhibition at the Arizona Museum for Youth in Mesa, Arizona; ‘Art Venture’ and ‘Art in Action’ at the Art Museum of Western Virginia, in Roanoke, Virginia; and ArtQuest at Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Some of these exhibitions were part of a programme of temporary exhibitions; others, although in ‘permanent’ galleries, have been remodelled or replaced since my visit in 1998. Intending visitors should contact the museums or refer to their websites for details of current and future exhibitions.
ArtQuest at Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, Greensboro, North Carolina.
http://www.greenhillcenter.org/artquest/about_artquest/about.html
Kraft Center in the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
http://www.artic.edu/aic/kids/familyexhibitions.html
Kohl Children’s Museum, Chicago, Illinois.
http://www.kohlchildrensmuseum.org/
WAM for Kids gallery at Wichita Art Museum, Kansas. (temporarily closed for expansion).
http://www.wichitaartmuseum.org/
Arizona Museum for Youth in Mesa, Arizona.
http://www.ci.mesa.az.us/amfy/default.htm
Art Venture gallery at the Art Museum of Western Virginia
http://www.artmuseumroanoke.org/ArtVenFamPro.html
Other useful links
The Group for Education in Museums (UK)
engage – the international membership body for educators, artists, curators, teachers promoting understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts by gallery education and mediation programmes
Hands on! Europe, Association of Children’s Museums.
http://www.hands-on-europe.net/
Association of Children’s Museums (formerly the American Association of Youth Museums) http://www.childrensmuseums.org/all-about-acm.htm
Moira Simpson, E-vocative Consulting,
moira@e-vocative.com