Do you use museums' educational tools, such as interactive rooms and kiosks? What do you think of them?

Question

Also would you go to a museum's website to learn more about art and artists? And what would you like to see on that wesite that would keep your attention?

Answer 1

I'll tell you now - I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!

We have set ups like that in Dallas/Ft.Worth area museums, zoos, planetariums, etc... and even in my little town some 300 miles from D/FW - we have small set ups like that. I'm a 43 yr old woman - and I see the kids getting into using the Kiosks, and then I try them... and love the interaction and information!

I have visited the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and the Metropolitan Museum and Guggenheim in New York City in person - and it is still so exciting to peruse their websites to see the current exhibitions all these years later. (The Guggenheim actually lets you create e-cards of art on their site!!)

I enjoy "virtual tours" of visiting exhibitions... accompanying links to guide me to additional information, such as detailed bios of the artists - or official websites. I enjoy interactive side "games" that operate as teaching tools... links to the original lender's websites, etc.

I appreciate historical and cultural information to accompany art work to put it into perspective.

An Example of need: a painter myself, I know the sin of putting oil paint to raw ungessoed canvas... so when I walked into the very quiet, very respectable Dallas Museum of Fine Art... and turned into a gallery... and upon seeing raw petroleum on unprotected canvas... I litterally was so suprised and excited I shouted, "WOW! I GET THIS!!" Sadly a lot of folks there were walking around this smelly oily canvas muttering to themselves, "What on earth was he thinking??"

This gallery needed information of some kind to explain to visitors how oil eats canvas over time... and raw petroleum is severely corrosive to canvas (again, over time. ...This was a dissapearing exhibition by nature of it's materials... just as petroleum is a slowly dissappearing resource on earth... BIG light bulb over my head!! Yes, indeed!

Our local gallery has a floor dedicated to children that is simply a joy to behold. They host art from local schools, interactive arts of all forms - including a dark room with projection unit that puts your form in shadow on the wall with trailing forms in a variety of colors and patterns as you move.

Also, a website should always be more than a dry catalog of picture after picture... It should pull you in to explore more about the subjects that are available. ...I know... I'm talking about a lot of bandwith... but it's such a blessing to have a detailed resource.

Peace, hon.