About this project
This website is intended to be a collective resource for those interested in art museum education with the hope that it will foster greater reflection and research on the history and future of the discipline as people add their research to the site.
In June 2010, MoMA convened a symposium that focused on several key leaders in art museum education and considered historical case studies on ways popular media was used as a vehicle to reach broader audiences. Documentation from that event is the starting point for this site.
The J. Paul Getty Museum presented a subsequent symposium, Perspectives on Progressivism and the Museum, from November 4-5, 2011 at The Getty Center. Documentation of the proceedings will be posted on this site in May 2012. Participants were asked to share brief reflections on issues raised at the conference and their continuing questions.
A panel at the upcoming American Association of Museum’s Annual Meeting in Minneapolis will feature a panel entitled Early Museum Educators and the Directors as Muse on April 30th. Sarah Jesse and I will moderate the panel which will include short presentations about Louise Connolly and John Cotton Dana (presented by Carol Duncan), Albert Barnes and Philip Yenawine (presented by Rika Burham), Arthur Lismer (presented by Kelly McKinley) and Hilla Rebay (presented by Kim Kanatani). This will be followed by conversation about key themes, issues, and contradictions that arise from considering historical approaches to museum education from the early 20th century to the early 1970s.
I welcome you to explore the site and think of what you would like to add and share with others. This site will only be useful if it inspires others to continue to evolve with research and resources added collectively. I expect new navigation and categories will be needed as content is added.
This site is a work in progress, and it is our hope that the art museum education community will contribute research and oral histories here. Please email [email protected] for information about how to contribute.
Wendy Woon
Edward John Noble Deputy Director for Education
Museum of Modern Art