The Museum Outside In Silvia Filippini Fantoni, Indianapolis Museum - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Museum “Outside In”

Silvia Filippini Fantoni, Indianapolis Museum of Art

The Collection

User-centred Approach

Visitor-Centered Approach

• Implementation of a

new exhibition development model

• Creation of an

audience research and evaluation team

• Development of

participatory projects

Visitor-Centricity at the IMA

New Exhibition Development Process

Principles

• Make the exhibition development process more

collaborative from the start by including representatives from various departments, who contribute different perspectives.

• Include representatives of Evaluation and Interpretation

who are charged with prioritizing the needs and interests of visitors and who ensure that learning theories are applied to the process.

• Identify early in the process the exhibition’s main thesis

(big idea) and learning outcomes and use these as a reference to develop interpretive material, gallery design and layout, criteria to evaluate success.

• Incorporate testing and evaluation at the various steps of

the exhibition development process, to guarantee that visitor feedback is taken into account.

Objectives

• Make exhibitions more accessible to visitors,

particularly those that have little or no previous knowledge of art or art history.

• Increase visitors’ engagement with artworks and

the institution, as well as their understanding of art.

• Increase visitors’ satisfaction with their

experiences.

• Attract new audiences and increase repeat

visitation.

Exhibition Proposal Process

Preliminary Proposal*. Curatorial meeting discussion. Proposal is presented by curator. Exhibition Committee vet and approve.** Front-end evaluation: Test visitors’ interest in topic/concept (if appropriate) Approval by Exhibition Committee and scheduling.

Staff from various depts. Senior management or exhibition committee Core team Curatorial staff

Core team is established

Big idea Document ** Exhibition Committee vet and approve Exhibition Layout Formative evaluation with visitors* Evaluation Plan Graphic Design (cont.) Content develop- ment

Interpretation Plan***

Checklist finalized

Exhibition Development Process

Department staff Core team Senior management or exhibition committee

Activity develop- ment

• The landscapes and rich

cultural traditions of the Southwest fueled the imaginations of early 20th century artists like Georgia O’Keeffe. The evocative still life paintings produced by these artists provide a fascinating example of art’s capacity to document the essence of a place.

Big Idea

• The Southwest art scene: Visitors will learn about the

early 20th century phenomenon of artists visiting the Southwest

• Southwestern culture: Visitors will learn more about

the context and culture of the Southwest

• Artistic approach/style: Visitors will explore the varied

approaches to still-life painting employed by Georgia O’Keeffe and her contemporaries

• About O’Keeffe: Visitors will explore Georgia O’Keeffe’s

life, career, and fascination with the Southwest

• Defining still life: Visitors will expand their

understanding of what a still-life is and what it can convey.

Learning Outcomes

Interpretive Plan

Text Content Development Process

Interpretation Plan & Layout

Revision by Editor Production by Design Revision by Interpretation First draft by Curator

* This includes labels, wall-graphics, didactics, other text-based interpretation.

Installation Proof review by Editor Test sample labels with visitors (if appropriate)

Audiovisual Content Development

Interpretation Plan

Interviews

• r filming

Editing by Media Producer Revision by Curator Interview questions by Interpretation Revision by Curator Upload content into technology tool Installation Test with visitors (if appropriate)

Participatory & Hands on Experiences

Interpretation Plan

Approval by Core team and Conservation Concept Proposal by Interpretation Development or Fabrication Installation Test prototype with visitors Test with visitors (if necessary) Specification & Design Review by core team

Benefits

• Increased visitor satisfaction
• New ways of measuring

success

• Key messages are

communicated more effectively

• Better integration and

usage of interpretative and participatory experiences

Challenges

• Resistance mostly from

curatorial staff

– Fear that exhibition is dumbed down – Fear that interpretation tools might distract the visitor from experiencing art

• Resistance from other
• rganizations (canned

shows) that are not willing to modify their show

• More time-consuming
• More contentious

Audience Research & Evaluation

n=576

21% 21% 27% 31%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Art Deco Automobiles Duesenbergs Automobile Masterpieces Concept Cars

Front-End: Automobile Design

Formative: Robert Indiana

Visitors’ interests:

• Artist’s life (30/40)
• Inspiration (30/40)
• Process/technique

(26/40)

• Artist’s or other’s

explanation about the meaning behind the work (7/40)

Formative: Star Studio Focus Group

www.imamuseum.org/autoportrait

Remedial: Prototype Testing

Summative: Exhibition Evaluations

• Assess if learning
• utcomes have been met
• Assess if expectations

regarding level of satisfaction, and use of interpretive tools have been met

• Identify problems that

might be addressed in future exhibitions

• Audience demographics

& psychographics

Snapshot Exhibition Observation

Elements Used

• Gallery 2 had the highest percentage of observed element usage in the exhibition
• The biggest drop in the percentage of elements used is after gallery 5, this is

particularly true for extended labels and artworks

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 % Usage of Exhibition Elements Gallery # Extended Labels Simple Labels Artworks

Creating Participatory Experiences

• Engage visitors in

innovative ways

• Develop new

audiences

• Reinforce the

perception of a museum as a more inclusive

• rganization

Participatory Experiences: Why?

MY SNAPSHOT

Browse by popular tags Search for topic, photographer, title View entries by:

• Most popular
• Most recent
• Most viewed

Comment using Facebook account Embed, Share, Flag Vote View related photos

Onsite Component

Key Numbers

• 2,681 photos submitted
• 552 photographers
• 33,000 visit to the website
• 11.3% of photos with

comments

• Most Popular: 2,897 votes

Inspired by Matisse

IMA: https://www.imamuseum.org/inspiredbymatisse/

• 3,922 drawings

submitted

• 30,709, visits
• Most popular: 1,457

votes

• 3% of drawings with

comments

Key Numbers

Create Your Autoportrait

http://www.imamuseum.org/autoportrait

• # of autoportraits made:

3,706

• Survey:

– 40% of exhibition visitors have created an autoportrait

• 4,132 visits online by 1,248

visitors

Key Numbers

Pointillize Yourself

Questions?

sfantoni@imamuseum.org