At 12:55 PM 7/21/98 -0500, you wrote:

> With the
>exception of the Holocaust Museum, I have never seen a museum exhibit I
>have found to harsh for children.  Any thoughts?  Oh, safety is not a
>problem.

I would think that most museum exhibits would be fine for children if they
are well behaved and interested in the subject matter.  Obviously, very
young children (2-4) won't understand most exhibits but can have fun
picking out objects that they recognize.
Some exhibits just aren't written with children in mind, especially the
older exhibits so reguardless of subject matter, they'll be harder to
understand from the start.

I would think that the way the exhibit is designed and how interested the
child is in the subject matter of the exhibit would make the most
difference.  Some exhibits just aren't written with children in mind,
especially the older exhibits so reguardless of subject matter, they'll be
harder to understand from the start.  The Hirshhorn would probably not be
fun for kids because it has a lot of abstract modern art (like Rothko).
But there is a wonderful family guide to the Hirshhorn written for parents
to do with their children that makes the art a bit more understandable and
draws the kids into the pieces.  I've been seeing more children's guides to
exhibits along with the adult guides as of late.  The Calder exhibit at the
National Gallery had a nice one. Likewise, the Holocaust musuem has an
excellent children's exhibit called "David's World" (or something like
that) that presents the horrors of what happened in a child's view without
being overly graphic.  Then again, I wouldn't take a child or even a young
teen-age to a Maplethrope exhibit.

The only thing I can think of that I remember as a child that was scary are
the trains at the National Museum of American History.  When I was little,
the trains themselves didn't bother me but the very realistic audio of a
train whistle and a train pulling into a station did.  I though the trains
were going to start moving and run over me.  Then as I got older I thought
they were cool because they did sound like there were about to run over you.

Deb Fuller



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