Educating the Museum’s Youngest Visitors – A Comparative Look

Sarah Wright, Gilcrease Museum

Lisa Incatasciato, Peabody Essex Museum

Susan Kuliak, The Art Institute of Chicago

Stacey Shelnut-Hendrick, Crocker Art Museum

2012 NAEA National Convention, New York City, New York

Salem, Massachusetts – population, approx: 41,000 Chicago, Illinois – population, approx: 2.7 million Tulsa, Oklahoma – population, approx: 390,000 Sacramento, California – population, approx: 466,000 2010 United States Census

Peabody Essex Museum

Peabody Essex Museum

Program Development

Goals

Getting it off the ground

Logistics

Current Evaluation and Research

• Evaluating participant expectations and goals

• Future programs for this audience

• What happens when this group graduates from PEM Pals

The Art Institute of Chicago

• Situated in the heart of downtown Chicago, across from Millennium Park

• Most recent museum expansion:

The Modern Wing, 2009

• The Ryan Education Center, also opened in 2009, enlarged space for education by 300%

• Programs in place for families with preschoolers for more than 25 years

Criteria for Program Development

No “one-size-fits all” programs! Programs must serve a broader audience: • First time visitors—both tourists and

Chicago-area residents visiting downtown and Millennium Park

• Museum members and other “veteran” museum visitors

Programs must: • complement other program offerings • provide a feeder into programs for older

children • be tiered to allow for increasing levels of

engagement • serve the needs of 21st century museum

visitors

Drop-in programs: The Artist’s Studio All ages

The Little Studio Under age 5

Registered programs: Stroller Tours—

6 children + caregivers

Mini Masters Workshop— 10 children + caregivers

Strategies for Continuing Program Development and Evaluation

• Utilize pop-up programs as formative evaluation

• Create short surveys on a regular basis to benchmark data and to monitor the habits and needs of the audience

• Document programs regularly with photographs and short narrative reports

• Meet with staff regularly to discuss their ideas and anecdotal audience feedback

Mini Masters Kids Dig Books Museum Babies I & II

Museum’s Youngest

Visitors – Ages 0-5

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Research and Development

Universal Pre-K in Oklahoma (Early Childhood Four-Year-Old Program)

Universal Pre-K in Tulsa

Universal Pre-K -

“available to any child in a given state, regardless of family income, children’s abilities, or other factors.”

Skills Studied–

Results -

Kids Dig Books Pre – K program for ages 3-6 year olds Partnering with Tulsa City-County Library Children’s Department

Mini Masters Pre – K program for ages 3-6 year olds

1st Thursday of the month Theme for each semester Librarians choose books (we narrow them down) First ½ hour – story time Second ½ hour – art project based on the stories Free book for each child

Twice a week Theme for each semester First ½ hour - children go into galleries to study a work of art Second ½ hour – art project based on the art work they studied Free art material for each child

Both programs are free to the public

Museum Babies I Ages 0-1 year old

Twice a month Designed for parents and children First ½ hour – casual tour for parents Second ½ hour – activity for infants (occupational therapist instructor, and early childhood students)

Museum Babies II Ages 1 and 2 year olds

Twice a month Designed for parents and children First ½ hour – casual tour for parents Second ½ hour – activity for toddlers (occupational therapist instructor, and early childhood students)

Review and Evaluations – Museum Babies I and II

•Logistics •Personnel •Misconceptions •Parental responses •Meeting demand •Goals for program •Goals for parents

Changes-based on evaluations

•Times of day •Frequency •activities

Crocker Art Museum

• Located in downtown Sacramento, California

• First public museum west of the Mississippi (1885)

• Collection is eclectic with a focus on Early California Art

• Recently opened the Teel Family Pavilion, which tripled the size of the Museum

Framework for Museum Education at the Crocker Art Museum

Role of Museum Education

• To attract, involve, and engage diverse audiences toward a deeper understanding of the human experience through art

• To create educational experiences that foster self-awareness and personal inquiry

Our Approach

• Committed to opening up the Museum experience for all

• Strive to ignite dialogue surrounding art

• Engage visitors in exploring their own creativity

• Use inquiry, dialogue and play

All About Families/Early Childhood Initiative

• Officially launched its AAF-ECI in June 2011

• Seed program was Wee Wednesday, started in 2008

• Key Program Components for AAF-ECI • Collection-driven

• Designed to support development of school readiness skills (especially literacy skills)

• Research-based

• Intentional about modeling for parents

• Programs for parents and/or children

Living Interpretation (Wee Wednesday, Baby Loves Art, and

Family Festivals for families with young children)

Story Trail • Families with young children can check out a “Birdy’s

Museum Adventure” from the Museum Admission Desk;

• Book and Trail markers lead family/groups through the Museum through a delightful story/narrative;

• Gallery Stops: 7 stops with “Tot Talk” labels, and cuddle spaces;

• Culminates in Tot Land

Tot Land • Thematically builds upon the notion of birds and “nesting” drawn from the Story Trail

book

• Three areas: 1) Interactive Living Art Wall, 2) Reading, and 3) Hands-on Art

• Includes collection pieces

Early Childhood Initiative

“A” is for Art (for Pre-K groups)

& Library Art

Packs (Ages: 3 – 5)

Family Workshops

Studio Classes

Camps

Stacey Shelnut-Hendrick Director of Education Crocker Art Museum T: 916.808.5780 F: 916.808.7372 sshelnut-hendrick@crockerartmuseum.org

Sarah Wright Associate Curator, Family and Youth Programs Gilcrease Museum T: 918.596.2774 F: 918.596.2770 sarah-wright@utulsa.edu

Susan Kuliak Interim Trott Family Director of Interpretive Exhibitions and Family Programs The Art Institute of Chicago T: 312.443.3930 F: 312.443.3066 skuliak@artic.edu

Lisa Incatasciato Family Programs Coordinator Peabody Essex Museum T: 978.542.1529 F: 978.741.8793 Lisa_incatasciato@pem.org