Please Touch! Prompting Visitors’ Interactions with Each Other

During our trips, as WPAMC Fellows, we are not the typical museum visitors. We are often granted privileged access to objects and museum staff. In other words, we often are allowed to touch objects and openly discuss ideas in spaces that traditionally do not encourage this type of behavior. While I appreciate this type of access, during our class trips to museums, especially the summer Northern Trip, I noticed and appreciated instances where museums broke down stifling barriers and invited visitors of all ages to touch something—though not the artifacts!

Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont is a remarkable museum that preserves and displays the collection of buildings, art and Americana accumulated by Electra Havemeyer Webb. After spending time as a group with some of the curators, we were given a chance to explore the 39 buildings and extensive collections on our own. One of my fellow classmates, Allison, joined me in exploring the steamboat Ticonderoga. We walked through the many floors and the interpretive staff answered our questions, but the most memorable interaction occurred when we took a break and sat in the reproduction chairs provided on the second deck. While we rested our feet, a guide came over to chat and another couple joined us. The conversation turned to our reasons for visiting Shelburne. This conversation prompted Allison and me to perform an informal survey of other visitors as we continued to explore the museum. This experience would not have occurred without the museum providing a comfortable space to relax and chat.

Guests are invited to walk through the various levels of the steamboat Ticonderoga at the Shelburne Museum. Convenient places to sit, relax, and enjoy the view are also provided. 

Another memorable social interaction on the Northern Trip was instigated by other visitors to the museum and not by me. The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA hosted one of the most fun temporary exhibitions I have ever visited called, “It’s Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammet Collection.” This exhibition had multiple interactive elements including a place to create your own horror poster. Side by side with a stranger, I created a poster, and we discussed our choices and process with one another. Not only was this interactive fun, but also it encouraged visitors to appreciate the artistry and design of the posters displayed throughout the exhibition.

Allison, WPAMC 2018 Fellow, designs her own horror movie poster at the “It’s Alive!” exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum. 

In another space in the exhibition, a midcentury style living room complete with a TV and sofa was set up. Here visitors were welcomed to sit and read the exhibition catalog. The TV played clips from the Cold War that instructed individuals on how to respond to a nuclear attack. As I sat there, a guest regaled me with her educational experiences and personal memories of this period. The informal layout of this space allowed for a relaxed conversation that was fascinating and engaging. I learned as much from this woman’s oral history as I did from the exhibit.

Seated view of the TV and coffee table from the couch that was part of the “It’s Alive!” exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum. 

These types of interactive elements and settings allow guests to be comfortable within museum spaces and prompt social interaction. Inviting individuals to “play” in the museum seemed to make them more comfortable to interact with others. Thus their visit became less isolated and more openly social with fellow visitors. This certainly proved to be the case for me! While I expect to interact with the people I came to the museum with, rarely, as an anonymous visitor, do I anticipate talking to those who I do not know. Some of my most memorable experiences on this trip involved the conversations I had with other visitors as we jointly made sense of the museum in a tactile fashion. Hopefully the other visitors enjoyed their experiences as much as I did mine!

 

By Sara McNamara, WPAMC Class of 2018