Visitor Reception in Collaborative Museum Exhibits
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Date
2018-06
Authors
Schmith, Erin
Journal Title
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Abstract
As museums seek ways to attract wider audiences and increase their relevance to more
people, collaboration with community groups has become common practice. Museums are using
multiple models for these collaborations, which often include working with people whose
perspective has traditionally been left out of the mainstream museum narrative. While many
studies on these processes have been conducted, very few focus on visitor reception of
information about the process of collaboration that went into the exhibit. Those studies that do
exist show that the visiting public is unaware of this work and therefore a key opportunity to
engage the public around issues of decolonization, legitimizing worldviews outside of the
mainstream narrative, and democratization of museum processes is lost. This project focuses on
collaboratively designed exhibits at the Portland Art Museum and is an examination of the
processes involved, how the museum is communicating with visitors about their collaborations,
and whether those communications are effective.
Description
87 pages
Keywords
Museums, Museum visitor outcomes, Collaborative exhibits, Exhibit evaluation, Museum communications, Equity and access in museums, New museology