Guerilla marketing for museums

I read this post on http://www.museummarketing.co.uk/?p=404 and it really made me think. In what ways can museums get the attention of visitors? What does a good advertising campaign need? How do you attract new visitors and other target groups? This Post doesn't directly connect to my issue , except from being about museums, but I think this way of marketing is really interesting and I was wondering if something like this would also work with educational museum projects?

" Guerrilla marketing for museums

Yesterday I wrote about the need for museums to be more creative with their advertising campaigns and I thought I’d continue that theme with a couple of interesting guerrilla marketing projects which got people talking.

Museum marketing for $2

Seatle Art Museum used $2 bills for a beautifully simple promotion which capitalizes on the fact that the picture of the declaration of independence in an upcoming exhibition is also depicted on the banknote.

The museum used the notes as change at it’s ticket desk, shop and café. Each $2 had a sticker promoting ‘Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness’ featured a painting which was illustrated on the reverse of the note.

This is a low cost campaign which used an imaginative gimmick to get people talking about the museum and the exhibition.

Naked museum marketing

In 2005 The Leopold Museum in Vienna certainly got people talking with it’s promotion for The Naked Truth, an exhibition of early 1900s erotic art.

The museum let anyone who came to the exhibition naked or in a bathing suit get in free. Many people took the museum up on its offer including 52-year-old Bettina Huth who visited the museum topless. Huth didn’t understand what all the fuss was about saying, “I go into the steam bath every week, so I’m used to being naked.”

Peter Weinhaeupl, the museum’s Director said the goal was to offer people a means to beat the sweltering heat and to create a mini-scandal the way the exhibited works of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and others did a century ago.

The idea got people talking about the exhibition, attracted large visitor numbers and got attention from international press. "

Questions being asked about the use of digital media

"Why and in what ways do digital media tools such as multimedia tours, podcasts, interactive tours, intelligent tours, and remote Internet-enabled tours improve the learning potential of a museum visit?"

"What inherent weaknesses are embodied in personal or handheld technologies?"

"Is there evidence for how such technologies affect visitors learning when compared to more traditional media?"

Digital technologies and the museum experience: hand-held guides and other media by Loïc Tallon and Kevin Walker.

Chapter 2 Enhancing visitors interaction and learning with mobile technology by John H. Falk and Lynn D. Dierking

What do we expect from a museum visit?

Quotes from :
Digital technologies and the museum experience: hand-held guides and other media by Loïc Tallon and Kevin Walker.

"Ask a visitor about his or her expectations for a museum visit and you find that whether visiting as part of a family, an all-adult group, or alone, she or he agrees on a few aspects:

1. The best museum is the one that presents a variety of interesting materials and experiences that appeal to different age groups, educational levels, personal interests, and technical levels.
   
2. Whether visiting as a group or alone, visitors expect to be mentally, and perhaps physically, engaged in some way by what they see and do; in other words they expect to be able to personally connect in some way with the objects, ideas, and experiences provided.
3. People visiting in groups, either families with children or all-adult groups, expect to enjoy a shared experience, as the members of the group with their varying interests and backgrounds collaborate and converse together ".

Chapter 2 Enhancing visitors interaction and learning with mobile technology by John H. Falk and Lynn D. Dierking

Why the use of digital technology in museums??

Quotes from :
Digital technologies and the museum experience: hand-held guides and other media by Loïc Tallon and Kevin Walker.

"Mobile digital technology offers museums, zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, and art galleries many valuable and unique opportunities to increase access to their collection and to enhance their visitors' learning and enjoyment".

"Key to the success of mobile digital technology in a museum is a detailed understanding of the visitors' needs, wants, expectations, and behaviors. Research into visitors' reactions to and use of mobile digital technology-supplemented by simular research into fixed kiosk-based computer exhibits-is beginning to shed light upon these issues and to provide useful guidance as to how to develop genuinely effective mobile digital interpretation for museums".

Digital technology-in the form of static kiosk exhibits or as hand-held mobile devices-offers museums many opportunities that traditional print-based or live interpretation can not provide. It offers visitors access to vast resources of information from which they can search and select items of interest, providing museums with the opportunity to cater to people with different learning styles seeking very different types of information.

Chapter 3 Designing mobile digital experiences by Ben Gammon and Alexandra Burch

"Digital media, well designed and wisely used, are important tools that can enhance visitor interaction and learning in the museum, ensuring that these environments inspire and provoke curiosity and further understanding among visitors with varying backgrounds, interests, and knowledge levels".

Chapter 2 Enhancing visitors interaction and learning with mobile technology by John H. Falk and Lynn D. Dierking

How do you use museums in your classroom??

There are different ways how you can use museums in your classroom.

You can visit a museum with your class.
When you visit a museum you have different options:

• You develop a handout yourself so your students have something to work on during their visit.
• You use a hand out developed by the museum
• You book a guided tour in the museum
• You book a workshop in the museum

After your visit you can use the things you have all learned in your classroom. Spend a lesson talking about it or create a piece of artwork that is influenced by something you have seen during your visit. Or maybe teach your students a technique they have seen like collage, printmaking, oil pastel, painting etc.

You invite an educator from the museum into your classroom.
Sometimes museums offer special programs/projects that take place in school settings. So if you don't have the chance to take your students to the museum you can let the museum come to you. For some schools it is hard to find the transportation possibilities or the money to visit a museum so this is a good alternative.

You lend an object from a museum and teach your students about it.
Some museums offer the possibility of lending objects from the museum or you get a teaching kit specially developed for using in your classroom. These kits have lesson examples in them and have extras information about the artifact that you can teach your students.

You can use museum resources for your lessons.
On most websites museums offer teachers resources. These can come in very handy when you need more information about some subject/painter/technique etc. The are being created for teachers to use so make use of them!

You can create your own museum in the classroom.
You divide the class into small groups and every group gets assigned a different role/task like: curators, exhibit designers, technicians, educators, graphic designers, production chief etc. You make an exhibit of work the students created or an exhibit with a theme.

Make use of a virtual museum tour.
Today some museums even offer virtual tours. This is very new way of visiting a museum but worth looking at.

Information for Zine assignment

The beginning:
The first museums were private collections of wealthy people, families, or companies. These collections consisted out of rare or curious natural objects and artifacts. These objects were shown in rooms they called wonder rooms or cabinets of curiosities. These museums were only accessible for the wealthy people.

The first really public museum was opened in europe in the 18th century (the Louvre).

1928 First educational classes for children
1932 Founding of childrens art center
1938 Young people gallery in NY (by MOMA)
1947 Founding of NAEA

At the beginning of the 19th century museums were seen as places where you could experience art and be impressed instead of being taught about art. In the second half of this century museums started to experiment with didactic labels, public lectures, school programs, and educational exhibitions. At the beginning of the 20th century the goal of education in museums was to improve the society. Educational programs were about delivering correct information. There was only one meaning possible.Later interpretation (personal) became more excepted.

Today education in constantly changing because of all the changes taking place in our world. We now live in a visual world in what borders are being crossed and technology is being used in almost everything we see around us. The world of today is based on images. "The visual culture is in a continual state of becomming and should be taught as such". (K. Freedmand and P. Stuhr)

Today a lot of museums use digital media in their museum like:
Websites
Online discussion forums
Educational websites
Blogs
Podcasts
User generated content
PDA's
Mobile phones
Camera's
Audio tours
Touch screens

Quotes

"Having access to museums at an early age sets the tone for further exploration of ones culture by developing skills to interpret visual language".
(Wolf-Ragatz 1996)

"Paris &Hapgood (2002) described museums as informal learning environments where objects and experiences stimulate curiosity that can be extended to the classroom and beyond".

"A visit to the art museum places students in a new position to contemplate art, to ask questions about art, artists, and to discuss art and art making, and to learn about art history, art critisicm, aesthetics, various cultures, the museum and a host of other subjects".
(Bolin & Mayer 1998)

Museums and the web by Caroline Dunmore

The chapter museum and the web is from the book The Responsive museum: working with audiences in the Twenty-First Century what talks about the development in the museum world in the UK.

This chapter looks at what has been happening in between 1999 and 2004 in the museum sector if we look at the use of new technologies.

In the UK the department for education and skills sets the agenda when it comes to the use of technology in education. Museums must make sure they fit in with the agenda

The UK Office for Library Networking (UKOLN) and The Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) came up with a Good Practice Guide for Developers of Cultural Heritage Web Services >>

Different developments

Culture online >>
" The purpose of this website is to develop interactive online projects that will engage new audiences, that are not traditionally interested in arts and culture, and encourage them to participate".

The 24-hour museum >>
The 24 hour museum is essentially a marketing website for publicly funded museums and uses the web to encourage people to visit actual museums, galleries and other heritage attractions.

The knowledge web
It's main purpose is to provide access to online resources.
The main components are:
* Cornucopia >>
* MICHAEL >>
* People's network discover service >>

Cornucopia is a database that shows you all the Phisicel held collections in the UK at cultural intsitutes.

MICHAEL is a online database of digital cultural resources.

The People's network discover service delivers 3 online services: enquirer, discover and read.

The leading museums in the UK on exploring the use of new media are:
Tate >>
The National Gallery >>
The British Museum >>
Victoria and Albert Museum >>

Things that have to be more developed:
* Despite the knowledge of the power of the Internet and the ability of this medium to reach remote users the majority of web-based resources produces by museums are still intended to enhanced, and not replace, the actual visit to the museum.
* Not enough research has been done into how people use and want to use the available digital resources online offered by museums.
* " There has not jet been a unified approach to developing a pedagogy for museums' digital learning resources" .

Research that has been done:
Learning journeys: using technology to connect the four stages of meaning making by Morris Hargreaves. This report has never been published.

Museums, Galleries & web 2.0 >>
Museum Next >>
Museum 2.0 >>

What ways can we use to communicate with visitors in a museum

Guided tours, audio tours, Downloadable audio files from museum website, Podcasts, Vodcasts, Website, Flyer's, Text in the exhibition, Catalog, Magazines, Posters, Pictures, Video, DVD, Cd-rom, MP3 players like I pod, Games, Online resources for students/ teachers, Books, headphones in the exhibit, Lectures, Courses, Animations, Television programs, Interpreters, Database, Virtual tours

Literature

* Digital technologies and the museum experience: hand held guides and other media >>
by Loïc Tallon and Kevin Walker

* Exhibit labels: An interactive approach >>
by Beverly Serrell

* Learning from Museums: visitor experiences and the making of meaning >>
by John Howard Falk and Lynn Diane Dierking

available technology

Quia
Quia is a create-your-own tool and classroom management service, Quia has 16 unique activity templates, quizzes that offer 10 different kinds of questions, surveys, class pages, a sophisticated electronic gradebook with analysis tools, and much more. >>
How does it work? >>
Quia video tutorial >>

Tate gallery

What does Tate do for educational programs and what technology do they use?

Tate has different websites for different targetaudiences
they have tate >> for general information and for adults
they have tate young >> for students
they have tate kids >> for kids
the also have a whole part on their website for schools and teachers >> where you can find free educational resources, teaching resources you can buy online, information about planning a visit and more.
Next to all this the also have a online learning section >>

What I really like about the Tate websites is that the all have very different information and the materials are very extended. When you open a particular website you instantly see for which audience it is made.

Victoria and Albert museum

What does the Victoria and Albert museum do with technology in their educational programs?

The V&A offers guidance notes for running a digital event for museum educators >>

What do they call a digital event: "a digital event is any activity where visitors use digital equipment to produce an outcome". >>

You can also listen online to audios from curators, design tutors, students and others and they are working on audios you can download from their Website >>

website media education UK >>

Interesting publications on use of technology in museums I want to research more

* Varisco, R.A., & Castes, W. M. (2005)
Survey of webbased educational resources in selected U.S. art museus.
Unpublished manuscript see here >>

"Varisco and Castes identify 11 types of educational resources that focus on the delivery of
information".

* GeeGuides

Source: P. Villeneuve. From Periphery to Center: Art Museum Education in the 21th Century. M. L. Buffington. Six themes in the History of Art Museum Education (p 17)

Different kinds of technology that are being used in museums

- online discussion forums
- mobile devices
- educational websites
- blogs
- podcasts
- user genarated content

Six Themes in the History of Art Museum Education by Melanie L. Buffington

This chapter explores six important themes in museum education:
1. experimenting and responding to society
2. educating to improve society
3. delivering appropriate content
4. meeting school curricula and collaborating with teachers
5. improving practice with theory and research
6. developing and implementing emerging technologies

Experimenting and responding to society
In the second half of the 19th Century museums start to experiment with didactic labels, public lectures, schoolprograms, and educational exhibitions.

Educating to improve society
Museums start to develop educational programs that allow contemporary social trends. Also the educational offerings for adults start to grow. Because of the growing amount of leisure time for the middle class museums offer ways to spend time like gallery talks, lecture series and classes for this particular target group. Museums used exhibitions to teach about good taste. Museums who did this are Victoria and Albert (london) and The Toledo (Ohio).

Delivering appropriate content
At the beginning of the 20th Century museum educators believed that the goal of education was to improve society. During this time you see that the educational programs focused on delivering correct information about museum objects and their philosophy. Relating to school curriculum was not a priority during this time.

Meeting school curricula and collaborating with teachers
As the field grew teachers and museum educators started working more closely to make museum experiences more meaningful for students. A lot of research has been done to explore the ways museums and schools work together. Not all museums use the knowledge of teachers out of the field but use curriculum guidelines when developing museum programs.

Improving practice with theory and research
Before the 1970s little research has been done on museum education. After this time not much changed until 1992 when The Amarican Association of Museums published Excellence and equity: education and the public demension of museum. After this museum educators started communicating about ways of learning in a museum.

Developing and implementing emerging technologies
More and more programs are being developed that use interactive devices or the internet. Research on this subject is just developing.

Book: P. Villeneuve (2007). From Periphery to Center Art Museum Education in the 21th Century. National Art Education Association.

Curriculum Changes for the 21th Century: Visual Culture in Art Education by K. Freedman and P. Stuhr

In this chapter the writers talk about the changes that have taken place in our world. We now live in a visual world in what borders are being crossed and technology is being used in almost everything we see around us. The world is based on images. Because of this change art education has to change. As the writer says: ‘visual culture is in a continual state of becoming and should be taught as such’.

The things discussed in this chapter are very valuable for my research. The whole chapter is about how the world is changing and what it is changing in to. I can definitely use this to put some things I will read during my research in perspective. I am looking forward to reading more articles/books about this.

Book: Eisner, E.W. and Day, M.D. (2004). Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

20th-Century Art Education: A Historical Perspective by J.H. White

In this chapter White talks about the development of Art Education, the establishment of different art organizations, museum education, research, and the ideas people had trough the whole 20th century about education. He starts with handwork and craftwork and the introducing of manual training in the schools at the beginning of the 20th century and discusses the whole development from that point on. He discusses the use of advertisement in the 1920s and the use of technology from the 30s and on like film and television.

This chapter is helpful for my research because it gave me insight in the developments in Art Education. It gave me a base of knowledge that I can use trough the rest of my research.

Book: Eisner, E.W. and Day, M.D. (2004). Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

Changing subject

I have decided to change my subject to museum education.

Because of the research I am already doing on this subject outside of this class I think I can use the blog as a way to explore ideas in museum education and research the relationship between museums and education. I am also interested in the way museums use technology in their exhibitions as a way of learning.

I will start with posting a number of summaries I wrote of texts I have been reading.

Los Vocalino brothers

Los Vocalino Brothers
"Turista"

"The tourist is, for us, a man who knows that is on the way, who enjoys every moment and every place he walks by. The tourist is someone who lives the present very consciously. He is a person who is lonely and connects to the places through his look. In this first period, the tourist has travelled around places from our own lives, for instance our parents’ apartment, our club, or downtown in Buenos Aires. These are situations that for everybody seem common but for us, and for some reason, catch our attention. This is how we introduce these things to people: through the tourist." http://www.yatzer.com/1547_los_vocalino_brothers

Identity is

personality
social
individuality
unique
character
behaviour
traditions
cultural

can be:
rituals
confusing
process
influenced by others

often associated with
image
religion
family
social background
roots
society
feelings

Ed van der Elsken

Photographer Ed van der Elsken films Amsterdam-->

Hans Eijkelboom

Kara Walker

Kara Walker
"Negress Notes"
1996, Watercolor, ink and pencil on paper, 9 x 6 inches
Collection George Lindemann
Courtesy Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York

"My project is about many things...but it’s also about trying to examine what it is to be an African-American woman artist. It’s about how you make representations of your world, given what you’ve been given." - Kara Walker

"Cut"
1998
Cut paper and adhesive on wall, 7 feet 4 inches x 4 feet 6 inches
Collection of Donna and Cargill MacMillan
Courtesy Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York

Janine Antoni

Janine Antoni
"Lick and Lather"

Interview with Antoni
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/antoni/clip2.html

"I wanted to work with the tradition of self-portraiture but also with the classical bust...I had the idea that I would make a replica of myself in chocolate and in soap, and I would feed myself with my self, and wash myself with my self. Both the licking and the bathing are quite gentle and loving acts, but what’s interesting is that I’m slowly erasing myself through the process. So for me it’s about that conflict, that love/hate relationship we have with our physical appearance, and the problem I have with looking in the mirror and thinking, ‘Is that who I am?’"
- Janine Antoni

Identity

Identity: The condition of being oneself or itself, and not another.

My subject

This is my blog for the MAT graduate Seminar
I am interested in the subject of Identity and how ones identity influences the process of making art.