Washington DC, is known for being home to the most museums within the Smithsonian Institution. Most people see the Smithsonian museums as the Natural History Museum, the National Zoo, and the National Air and Space Museum. However, the Smithsonian has many art museums in the DC area. Two of my favorite art museums are the National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum—these museums are in separate buildings connected by bridges and the garden atrium. The National Portrait Gallery is most known for having portraits of every President in history, along with portraits and busts of various important people from history.
The American Art Museum is most known for showcasing pieces from multiple art movements and their collection of religious art. There are no big interactives that involve large screens or games similar to the ones I see children playing with in exhibits at other museums. This article will explore how museums have created spaces that engage kids without big screens or interactives they can play with in the exhibits. Interactives do not always have to be large screens or games children run to in an exhibit; museums can create engaging interactives for children in other ways.
As I have discussed in previous articles, art museums have a history of being viewed as unsuitable for children. However, to debunk this myth, many art museums have been exploring ways to create exhibits, labels, and other programs/activities that inspire and engage children while staying true to their exhibits. In a world where everyone is connected to their screens, it is nice to disconnect and focus on the art pieces featured in the exhibits. This can especially be said for children when they enter an exhibit and immediately go for the touch screen or the screen interactives because they think they are cool, not necessarily because they want to engage with the content on the interactives.
In the National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum exhibits, I saw little notes next to the labels that asked visitors a question about the art piece. These questions are the start in helping to guide guardians in how they can make their visit more engaging for their children. The guardians who saw the questions and relayed them to their children had more engaging conversations with them. As I previously wrote in “How to Make Art Museums More Kid-Friendly to Inspire and Engage the Future Female Artist in the World!” guardians have to ask their children questions to help them engage with the art in the museum. These questions written next to the labels can help get the ball rolling in creating engaging and inspiring conversations between children and their guardians.
“Calling all Artists!” is written on a sign near the entrance of the Portrait Gallery for their Art Studio, a drop-in art program where kids can be creative with no bounds. There is no age limit for this program, but it is geared toward families with young children. This program is on the weekends and is in the Education Center, room E151. I could not visit as the program operates between 1-4 pm, I visited the museum in the morning before the large crowds came through. However, according to the museum’s website, the program features guest artists who will lead specialized workshops and share their expertise in various artistic disciplines.
Please visit the information desk for a rundown of the scheduled workshops at the Art Studio to see what your child(ren) would be most interested in attending at the museum. I view the Art Studio as a program similar to Wegmen’s Wonderplace and the SparkLab! at The National Museum of American History. These are ongoing children’s spaces that allow them to engage without bounds, being creative and engaging in the act of play that is best suited to their learning.
A museum does not need large screens and interactives that children immediately want to play with in an exhibit to engage children. The questions on the wall are smaller interactives that are not looking for visitors to hit a button to answer on a screen. Instead, these questions are written on the wall next to the labels to foster conversations among visitors about the art piece(s).
The Art Studio is not near the entrance, so kids are not easily able to notice and ask their parents if they can go into the program; however, similar to the questions on the wall, this program forces guardians to research what is offered at the museum for their children before their visit. My parents brought my sister and I to many family programs growing up that they also enjoyed just as much as we did.
-Lindsay Guarnieri
Intern, Curatorial
Girl Museum