Creating the Visitor-centered Museum

Peter Samis, Mimi Michaelson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781315530994
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

What does the transformation to a visitor-centered approach do for a museum? How are museums made relevant to a broad range of visitors of varying ages, identities, and social classes? Does appealing to a larger audience force museums to "dumb down" their work? What internal changes are required? Based on a multi-year Kress Foundation-sponsored study of 20 innovative American and European collections-based museums recognized by their peers to be visitor-centered, Peter Samis and Mimi Michaelson answer these key questions for the field. The book

• describes key institutions that have opened the doors to a wider range of visitors;
• addresses the internal struggles to reorganize and democratize these institutions;

uses case studies, interviews of key personnel, Key Takeaways, and additional resources to help museum professionals implement a visitor-centered approach in collections-based institutions

Part One
Introduction

Setting the Stage

Replete with their own histories and missions, museums come with varied stories and metaphors. From treasure chest to learning lab, museums mean different things to different people. This is not a new story, nor a stagnant one. In fact, diversity of purpose and institutional change go hand in hand as natural parts of cultural evolution, leading to innovation in the field. It is not surprising that museums around the world are again changing, this time with many in transition toward a more visitor-centered future. What this visitor-centered change looks like and what the players reveal about the process provides the substance of our story. In the pages that follow we share a glimpse of some of the transformations we have witnessed and the voices of those leading the way.

I don’t think museums, as they have existed and existed for a hundred years are going to survive if they don’t make changes—even with billionaires on the board, even with some of the huge resources that some institutions have. ¹

These are the words of a well-respected museum director talking about the inevitability of change in today’s museums. Directors, many of whom have worked in the field for decades, spoke with us about dramatic transitions currently taking place. Talking about how museums need to evolve to stay relevant, the director continues:

I really do think that if they are going to be vital—you know, they may be able to survive financially, but will they truly be sustainable within their communities, as places that are really connected to their community? It’s going to be a reality that there are going to have to be some changes.

As the director notes, many of the transitions have to do with museums reaching out to the community—to visitors and potential visitors—in new and authentic ways. While the degree may vary, in some cases the modifications are dramatic, involving a fundamental reconsideration of mission and how the museum itself is structured. Everyone connected to the museum is potentially impacted—both visitors and staff alike.

These kinds of transformations inevitably give rise to a debate that places museum directors, curators, exhibition designers, and educators at center stage in a dialogue about audience. Ultimately, the debate is focused on bringing to life the notion of a visitor-centered museum: a museum where audience matters as much as collections. As one interviewee said: “We have to keep reevaluating: Who’s our audience and what do they need from us?” For a visitor-centered museum, these questions are the starting point of all museum business.

In this book we explore aspects of this ongoing debate. We begin with the premise that the debate is good, an inevitable part of a process that moves everyone forward. We don’t suggest that change is easy, but do endorse the idea that the challenge is worthwhile. We also believe that the current focus—a new audience-centered paradigm—is here to stay. This new vantage point carries other essential elements with it, including the need to honor multiple voices and multiple sources of knowledge. Furthermore, to meet the variety of needs that come with a more diverse public, an array of approaches or “entry points” is vital.

We understand that the term “visitor-centered” is sometimes highly charged. On the one hand, it can represent a banner and rallying cry for educators who interact daily with visitors and see missed opportunities for connection with the public. On the other hand, that banner can turn into a red flag for curators, who fear that it may mean they need to let visitors define the messages—and even the exhibitions—they present. That is not our intent here. What we do suggest is that understanding where visitors are coming from helps us understand how to engage them in a dialogue that is meaningful to all. It allows us to connect with our audience even as we honor the expertise of museum professionals, including curators, educators, designers, et al. We use the term “visitor-centered” because we believe visitors are a population that museums have historically been happier to speak to than to listen to—and that real two-way communication is what visitors deserve.

In the pages that follow, we present examples of innovative visitor-centered practice and museums in transition. These two threads—visitor-centered interpretation and museum change—form the foundation of this book.

The Study

What does it mean for a museum of art or history to really be visitor centered? With the generous support of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, five years ago we began a study to address this question. We visited twenty museums, studying ten of those institutions in depth: seven in the United States and three in Europe. The museums were chosen following a query sent to more than fifty colleagues in the United States and Europe soliciting nominations for examples of innovative visitor-centered practice. Colleagues were asked to nominate museums with exemplary interpretive practices regardless of size or type, and to highlight the criteria that informed their choice. In selecting our final set to visit we prioritized art museums because historically they have been underachievers in this area, and we wanted to see what examples those art museums that have taken this path could provide. That said, we kept in mind that other types of museums have been pioneering visitor-centered approaches for years—approaches from which all museum practitioners might have much to learn.

Table 0.1 Museums Studied

In-Depth: Site Visit + Interviews	Site Visit Only
Oakland Museum of California	Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam
Detroit Institute of Arts	Amstelkring, Amsterdam
Columbus Museum of Art	Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Ruhr Museum, Essen, Germany	Museum Insel Hombroich, Neuss, Germany
Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, NL	Riverside Museum, Glasgow
Kelvingrove Gallery, Glasgow, UK	Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow
Denver Art Museum	Nitshill Open Storage Facility, Glasgow
Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver^*	Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Minnesota History Center	Minneapolis Institute of Arts
City Museum, St. Louis	The Pulitzer Foundation, St. Louis

* Site not studied in depth; select interviews conducted only.

As much as possible, we tell this story through the voices of those interviewed, making plentiful use of excerpts from the thirty-two interviews we conducted—eleven with directors, and seven each with curators, educator-interpretive specialists, and cross-departmental teams. These quotes convey a sense of the drama, the stakes, and the dedication of the colleagues engaged in implementing a visitor-centered mission.²

The limited time spent in each museum’s galleries—one day—precluded conducting on-site visitor research ourselves. For this reason we gave preference in our selection process to museums that had already conducted extensive evaluations in their galleries. We are aware that it might seem ironic to be talking about visitor-centered museums without having taken the time to study the visitors within them, but our primary purpose here is to speak to museum professionals from the perspective of their peers. For a more detailed discussion of Methods, see Appendix A.

The Authors

This book is written from two points of view: one of the authors is a long-time museum professional; the other comes from social science research. Peter has worked in both curatorial and educational roles, and been a pioneer in the use of digital technology in museums. Over the years, Peter has observed an interesting dichotomy, particularly prevalent in art museums: on the one hand, museums are increasingly eager to embrace portable technology as a way to provide interpretive information without disrupting the visual field of the gallery; on the other, the majority of art museum visitors do not choose to use these technologies. For Peter, a primary research question that inspired this study was: What are museums doing for these visitors?

Mimi has a doctorate in Human Development and Psychology and studied creativity and cognitive development. As a former Project Zero manager, she has broad research experience, including as Senior Project Manager of Harvard’s Good Work project. Combining interests in moral action and creativity, Mimi’s concern is in how museums see their social mission and in their promise as centers of engagement. ³ For Mimi, a primary question that inspired this work was: How do museums see their social mission as the mission extends to meaningfully engage broader audiences?

Peter and Mimi have long held a joint interest in what kinds of interactions or experiences attract and stick over time—what we call Visual Velcro. ⁴

Each of us brings our particular background as lens and bias to the work. We hope these different perspectives are also a strength.

Documenting Two Types of Change

We started out looking for innovative visitor-centered interpretive practices, yet we discovered something more: a visitor-centered focus leads to organizational transformation. The two are so integral to each other that we found they had to be considered in tandem. This book grew out of the exploration of these two intersecting trails. Adopting a visitor-centered approach to exhibition development often leads to structural change in the museum itself, including new museum roles and forms of staff collaboration. The latter phenomenon was discovered en route, the former by design.

A Visitor-Centered Approach in Exhibitions

By our definition, a visitor-centered approach puts collections/exhibitions and visitor experience on equal footing. The museum cares about visitor experience in the galleries and solicits visitor input in crafting these experiences. From this vantage point, visitors matter as much as collections do—ideally, for everyone who works in the museum. In the museums we visited, there is a level of buy-in from the staff. While there may not be equal enthusiasm from all, staff commitment is not incidental, but crucial. Successful directors work to increase this level of commitment.

Collection care and research continue to be important, as do the many logistical and financial aspects of running a museum, but they are integrated with a visitor-centered goal. Furthermore, these museums often demonstrate a desire to reach beyond their traditional core audiences to a much broader community. Reaching an expanded audience is deemed central to the new museum mission.

As a baseline, a visitor-centered approach requires museum staff to find ways to welcome visitors in a wide variety of ways: offering plentiful and comfortable seating, clear and interesting labels tailored to audience interests, family-focused spaces or activities, and helpful staff. (See sidebar: Judy Rand’s Visitors’ Bill of Rights.) Such museums move beyond a focus on subject expertise. Significantly, the welcome remains present in the gallery even when no live programming or tours are happening. In other words, there are welcoming and engaging components even when a visitor is alone in an exhibition. The museum provides entry points for a broad spectrum of people to connect on their own terms. Ultimately, the forms of engagement—analog or digital, mobile or fixed—matter less than the sensitivity to audience needs that is evidenced in their design.

Judy Rand’s Visitors’ Bill of Rights ⁵

A list of important human needs, seen from the visitors’ point of view:

• 1) Comfort: “Meet my basic needs.”
  Visitors need fast, easy, obvious access to clean, safe, barrier-free restrooms, fountains, food, baby-changing tables, and plenty of seating. They also need full access to exhibits.
• 2) Orientation: “Make it easy for me to find my way around.”
  Visitors need to make sense of their surroundings. Clear signs and well-planned spaces help them know what to expect, where to go, how to get there, and what it’s about.
• 3) Welcome/belonging: “Make me feel welcome.”
  Friendly staff make visitors feel more at ease. If visitors see themselv...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Figure Acknowledgments
• Acknowledgments
• PART ONE Introduction: Setting the Stage
• PART TWO Case Studies
• PART THREE Conclusion: Varieties of Visitor-Centeredness and Change
• Appendix A: Method
• Appendix B: Adult Gallery Activities at the Denver Art Museum
• Appendix C: Make-Up of DIA Visitor Panels
• Bibliography
• Index