This front-end evaluation is part of an initiative for the Henry Art Gallery to develop an understanding of the demographic range of visitors, their inspirations for visiting the museum, and what visitor expectations are. Key findings are summarized below. Overall, these findings have three major implications. Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays have the highest rate of visitation. Most visitors are not aware of The Reed Collection Center and the Digital Interactive Galleries (DIG) that are resources provided by the Henry for members, visitors, students, researchers and University of Washington
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art's Mobile Guide program will offer visitors a new way to interact with the Museum's collections by creating audio and visual content that will be delivered through a mobile-optimized Web site (www.naguide.org). The program, available through a user's own mobile device or via iPod Touch players made available, reflects the Museum's commitment to digital interpretation and its larger goal of broadening public accessibility to its collections. This evaluation is part of the larger Mobile Guide project funded through an Engaging Communities grant awarded from the
The Language of Conservation was a collaborative project between libraries, zoos, and poets nationwide to replicate a project originally undertaken by the Central Park Zoo. The project model built zoo, library, and poet-in-residence partnerships in five host cities: Brookfield, Illinois; Jacksonville, Florida; Little Rock, Arkansas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and New Orleans, Louisiana. One aspect of the evaluation was to assess the collaborative process within each of the five partner sites, across the project as a whole, and with project leadership to determine the strengths and challenges of
The Language of Conservation was a collaborative project between libraries, zoos, and poets nationwide to replicate a project originally undertaken by the Central Park Zoo. The project model built zoo, library, and poet-in-residence partnerships in five host cities: Brookfield, Illinois; Jacksonville, Florida; Little Rock, Arkansas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and New Orleans, Louisiana. It was anticipated that the zoo exhibits would result in positive outcomes for zoo visitors who encountered the poetry, including increasing the conservation thinking and language used after a visit and creating a
The Denver Art Museum (DAM) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to study its young adults. The study, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), provides a profile of the young adult audience, including their demographics, behaviors, perceptions, and values. The DAM intends to use the results of the study to inform future programming and communication with DAM's young adult visitors. RK&A employed two data collection strategies: standardized questionnaires administered online at Surveymonkey.com to program participants and telephone interviews with core program
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Denver Art Museum
This report describes the findings of an evaluation of the K-5 school tour program at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington. These school tours observed in this study are based in the methods of the educational model of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), but take place during hour-long tours in the galleries, rather than repeatedly over longer periods of time, and are integrated with other questions, information, and activities developed specifically at the Frye. The findings reveal positive correlations between the use of VTS questions by gallery guides and desired student participation
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Valerie GrabskiLauren LeClaireAmanda Mae BomarFrye Art Museum
Our study at the Frye Art Museum examined the use of the gallery guides by visitors in Tete-a-Tete, the salon-style hang of the museum's founding collection. Our goal was to see who was using the guides, how, what effect this had on their experience, and what they expected from the guides. We discovered that the average gallery guide user was female, over 35 years of age, previously been to the Frye Art Museum but had not yet seen Tete-a-Tete. Although gallery guide users spent more time in the exhibit and were able to recall art historical information more readily, the use of the guides did
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Valerie GrabskiLauren LeClaireFrye Art Museum
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This evaluation looked at one set of visitor behaviors - taking and using photographs - in the whole of Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM). It was conducted between April 30 and May 6, 2010 by collecting semi-structured interview responses from 58 EMP|SFM visitors during their visits. We sought to identify 1) whether visitors were taking their own photos in the galleries; 2) how they planned to use those photos; 3) whether they planned to use visitor-generated material (in the form of the Taking Aim Flickr site) after their visit; and
This report discusses a front-end evaluation that aimed to determine what physical and perceptual barriers affect visitors’ use of the Henry Art Gallery, and how visitors currently interact with museum spaces and staff. These findings will support guest service training and changes in the museum’s physical infrastructure. This study utilized three main questions for exploring the visitor experience at the museum: 1) Are there barriers affecting visitors’ use of the Henry?; 2) What motivates visitors to use certain spaces at the Henry?; and 3) What experiences are visitors having with Henry
Westchester Library System, in partnership with Lifetime Arts, ALA's Public Programs Office, and AARP Foundation, will improve, expand, and sustain creative aging programs in public libraries and position libraries as community cornerstones for positive aging. Built on Lifetime Arts' capacity-building model, this initiative reflects new scholarship on the benefits of social engagement and creative expression for healthy aging, employs nationally recognized best practices in arts education, and promotes partnerships between librarians and arts and community organizations. Through the new Lifetime Arts Affiliate Network, up to 150 librarians will participate in in-depth training, receive ongoing technical assistance, participate in a national peer network, and receive support to implement programs in their communities. The program will provide a practical, replicable, and sustainable approach for transforming library services for older adults to align with new knowledge, societal priorities, and collaborative practice.