Advocating for the Audience

After a week of refreshing the displays and signage of my own student artworks, what serendipity to find the Teacher Advisory Committee for the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago would be discussing wayfinding and requesting feedback on the audio tour for their fantastic new exhibit: The Living End: Painting and Other Technologies, 1970-2020. 

​We like to believe spaces are neutral, however ​not everyone feels comfortable in museums. Or in schools. Or just looking at art.

Where do I go?

What am I looking at?

Spaces can project warmth or warning. Comfort or confusion. How do staff navigate the space? Visitors? Students? The neurotypical or neurodivergent? Thoughtful reflection of user experience in an environment is an important act of inclusivity.

Classroom teachers not only consider our content and instruction, but also how to organize an optimal physical environment for those in our care. For arts educators, it's managing materials for art making in the classroom, but also displays of artwork in communal spaces.

Continuously changing hallway displays, a celebratory but dreadfully laborious task, is an inevitable part of art teacher life. Therefore, much like museums, I've begun considering how the audience experiences our shapeshifting spaces.

The day after hanging my students' new artwork, a colleague walked down the hall staring at the pieces. "Which one caught your eye?" I asked as we crossed paths. She headed back. "Actually, I was reading this," she said, pointing at the sign beneath the art. "I've started adding descriptions to explain the projects," I shared. "Are they helpful?" She gave an emphatic nod, "Yes!"

​The audience approves.