Dear Alicia,

During the time that I was Curator of Education at the Arkansas Art Center, we had numerous discussions regarding art making in the museum galleries and developed a series of compromises to protect the art work while allowing visitors and artists to do work.  In discussion with both curators, the deputy director of programming and the executive director we developed programming that involved an artist creating a work in the gallery over a period of some weeks, school groups, summer programs and students of our museum school creating work in the galleries, and an interactive, unsupervised space in an exhibition, with one hands on activity that involved drawing.  Since the focus of our collection was drawings, we felt it was important to have this component in the galleries, though we were careful to take measures to protect the artworks.  This involved extra vigilance on the part of the guards and other staff, attaching marking tools to interactive stations, or supervised activities with groups.

Hope this helps!

Erin Branham

On Dec 11, 2007 4:46 AM, Alicia Herman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hello,

I am a graduate museum studies student at Tufts University.  I am interested in learning more about what goes into the decision to have hands on interpretation / art making in museums galleries within close proximity of collections versus a separate space away from collections.  I am interested in programs for youths and adults (including non-professional artists), what is involved administratively, and key factors that make such a program plausible or implausible for a particular setting.

If possible, I welcome any thoughts from the field via this forum, direct email [log in to unmask] or phone 401-787-6920.

I appreciate any assistance you can offer.

Sincerely,





Alicia Herman, LICSW
5 Sheridan Street, Apt #1
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
401-787-6920
[log in to unmask]

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