Engaging the Community: Empathizing with Refugees through Art Museum Interpretation
Loading...
Date
2019-04
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ohio State University. Office of Outreach and Engagement
Abstract
How do you engage with communities without in-person facilitation? How can text and other forms of engage-ment appeal to the community? How can you allow the community's voice to permeate in your organization? In this session, we will explore strategies to increase accessible community engagement. Through the lens of art museum interpretation to support an exhibition about compassion for refugees, participants will learn about multiple modalities to empower community voices. Through my scholarship at Ohio State, in conjunction with Dublin Arts Council, I created new models for working and learning with community audiences and local school groups. To effectively partner with the community, organizations need to use inclusive language, vary learning modalities, and promote multiple perspectives. For any student, faculty, staff, or other community member interested in social justice and education, I will present a model for inclusive engagement.
Description
For sustainability of museums, they should partner with communities to draw in their voices in exhibitions, replacing the one-way, authoritarian museum voice that views the community as receptor of knowledge. With equal authority between museum and community, exhibition themes manifest as relevant to community issues. In this Ignite Session, I will discuss partnering with Dublin (Ohio) Arts Council (DAC) as a Master's student in the Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy at Ohio State. I designed and implemented the interpretation for the DAC exhibition The Columbus Crossing Borders Project, on view May 1-June 8, 2018. The organizers partnered with Community Refugee and Immigration Services (Columbus, Ohio) to exhibit works by 34 artists who encouraged deeper understanding and empathy for refugees. I will explain how I added interpretation, which consists of tools to help visitors reach an understanding of the art (Anderson et al., 2017). Specifically, I employed inclusive interpretation that equalizes and empowers voices (visitor, community, and the institution) in the museum, encouraging a new way of experiencing art (Anderson et al., 2017; Reid, 2014). The methods and materials sought to break down barriers between community visitors and the museum, as well as to present and allow for multiple perspectives. My presentation will explore how interpretation creates more accessible, inclusive, and worthwhile experiences. My interpretation strategies, including a video feedback booth, an interactive "web" with which participants could connect with one another, and an iPad app to create related digital artworks, will convey how interpretation can provide for meaningful engagement. By trusting members of the community to apply their own backgrounds to the art, the works become more accessible through the application of their own points of view. I will demonstrate how encouraging free choice learning and multiple perspectives supplies an optimal, inquiry-based learning environment. In all, 75 percent of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed the exhibition inspired them to learn more about the refugee experience and consider further action, revealing how the opportunity promoted social change. This presentation will appeal to Ohio State students, faculty, staff, and other community members interested in social justice and education as museum interpretation is a model for inclusive engagement in any setting. Through my work at DAC, I encouraged graduate students and faculty to visit DAC and contribute to Crossing Borders. The interpretation at DAC in turn promoted a partnership with the local community by providing a platform to add the community's voice. The exhibition successfully reached the local community: 74 percent of public visitors and 100 percent of school groups live in Franklin County. Through my scholarship at Ohio State and work with DAC, I created new models for working and learning with community audiences and local school groups.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Hilary Katz, master of arts student; Ohio State Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy; former Education Fellow at Dublin Arts Council, katz.390@osu.edu (Corresponding Author)
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Hilary Katz, master of arts student; Ohio State Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy; former Education Fellow at Dublin Arts Council, katz.390@osu.edu (Corresponding Author)
Keywords
art museum interpretation, accessibility, refugees, inclusive engagement
Citation
Engaged Scholars, v. 7 (2019).