Artistic and educational possibilities abound when institutions open their doors to local artists and allow them to work within their confines. The following case study articulates how the often unrecorded and unseen discourse between cultural workers leads to a deeper understanding and application of strategies that encourage effective…

The Volkskundemuseum (Austrian Museum of Folklife and Folk Art) in Vienna considers itself to be a thoroughly democratic, polyphonic museum in which not only cooperation partners but also the interested public have their say. But what role does academically researched information play? In the project "Speaking of Objects" participants…

In this essay the author recalls the process of organizing and interpreting an exhibition of art and language made in response to a catastrophic fire that devastated California's Sonoma and Napa counties in late 2017. The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art invited a group of artists and writers to be part of its small exhibition planning team to help…

This paper presents an educational program for children with disabilities implemented in conjunction with a temporary exhibition of visual artists with disabilities in a museum in Greece. Through the description of the exhibition, the design and implementation of the educational program, and the creative activities offered, the authors identify…

Art has the power to activate learning and emotion in unique ways--this is true of humans generally, and museum visitors specifically. Yet art galleries are often overlooked in the museum field as forums for dialogue and sites of learning about climate change. This article investigates the significance of artist-led projects and art museum…

This article offers insights from an on-going research project titled, "Experimenting Interpretation," which explores pedagogical approaches to guided visits that enable visitors to encounter and interpret multi-sensory contemporary art through attunement to embodied knowledge and affective responses. The case study discussed here was…

This case study traces the initial investigations in developing a culturally responsive intervention in museum education and curation entitled Elusive Desires. I explore the ways in which curatorial and pedagogical work in an art museum may disrupt traditionally held notions of "Canadian art," the archive, and belonging. Embracing an…

In 2017, inspiration from the performing arts catalyzed the transition to more guest-centered gallery teaching at The Dayton Art Institute. To initiate this shift we hired three performing artists to lead training sessions for teaching in the galleries to illustrate that interactive strategies create livelier experiences for museum guests.…

With the onset of the pandemic, Philbrook Museum of Art's education department grappled with loss of staff, suspension of long-standing programs, and an unclear sense of identity and purpose. As the larger institution sought to continue a transformation towards more equitable and culturally resonant practices, we undertook a process of…

This article explores an education project in which artist Fred Wilson, poets from Lincoln Center's Poet-Linc program, and the Met Museum Education Department collaborated to produce a teen-led spoken-word poetry performance in the Met's galleries. Wilson drew from his own knowledge of the collection to facilitate a group dialogue about objects…

With today's fast-paced, ever-changing cultural, political, and social landscape, museums are in a unique position to provide visitors with the opportunity to connect and reflect on the world around them. From issues of social justice to immigration to reproductive rights, communities across the country are seeking spaces that allow and encourage…

The Young Artists at Work Program at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) recently shifted its model from an afterschool arts program to a young artists' residency. This decision arose from a desire to reposition the youth program as a priority within the larger organization, coupled with a commitment to deepening the pedagogical values of…

The Flipped Museum is an innovative model in which high school students engage in online learning before and after a museum experience at the North Carolina Museum of Art. This model, inspired by the "flipped classroom," inverts the delivery and application of knowledge in a museum setting. Beginning with an overview of the pedagogical…

Often considered places of solemn contemplation, quiet inspiration and personal reflection, art museums seem among the most reluctant to embrace early childhood audiences. Melina Mallos discusses action research at the Queensland Art Gallery [vertical bar] Gallery of Modern Art, Australia, as a means of gaining new insight into children's learning…

The article describes and discusses the use of focus groups and questionnaires to evaluate educational printed material for high school level art teachers prior to publication. The material consisted of "The Notebook of the Investigative Teacher," created by the Instituto Itau Cultural to help teachers develop critical skills in…