E n riching V i s i t o rE xpe r i e n c e sTh e Re i n s t a l l a t i o n o f t h e D e nve r A r t M u s e u m ’s

E u ro p e a n a n d A m e r i c a n C o l l e c t i o n sFunded by The Get ty Grant Prog r a m

A sculpture installation in the first gallery introducesvisitors to the floor’s thematic approach.

Designing Visitor-Friendly Galleries

“I liked the way that the resources seemed to appeal to every different level of person coming to a museum. There were things for little kids, and parents, and people who have a vast knowledge of art as well as novices.”

—Visitor panel participant

Since the late 1980s, the Denver ArtMuseum has been reinstalling the permanent collections with an eye tomaking our galleries and artwork moreinviting and accessible to visitors. Thereinstallation of our European andAmerican collection is only the latest inthis ongoing effort. Like our earlierinstallations, it builds on what we’velearned and experimented with todate—and hopefully will provide inspira-tion and insights for future projects.

Some of the museum’s most devotedand frequent visitors are people whohave a strong interest and background inart. But roughly seven out of ten of ourvisitors are “novices”—adults who definethemselves as interested in art but notvery knowledgeable. Many of our familyvisitors fit into this category, and they areoften most comfortable visiting withchildren. The challenge for our interpre-tive teams is to devise materials that helpall three audiences—more sophisticatedvisitors, novices, and families—get moreout of their experiences with art. (Our1986 research on novices and moresophisticated visitors has been central to

all of our reinstallations. The reportcan be ordered from the EducationDepartment.)

What we came up with for ourEuropean and American galleries was nota single strategy, but a deliberate range,including a hanging based on thematicgroupings, visual labels, a random-accessaudio program, and hands-on activitiestargeting adults. We also created a seatingarea in the galleries where visitors canlook at books and videos related to theartists on view; an orientation stand withpick-up maps;“connection cards” withtopics visitors can pursue at home; and“Eye Spy” games in which visitors huntfor details from works on view. Whilethe last is aimed at fa m i l i e s , we sometimesfind adults enjoying the games on their

“I’m not a person who goesto the museum a lot, simplybecause I don’t [have]enough information to keepme interested. I don’t knowhow to fill in the pieces,which is what this [floor] isdoing. . . . It just makes it somuch more accessible.”

—Visitor panelparticipant

The setting for the installation is roughly nine thousand square feet of gallery space. Visitors can pick up a laminated version of this map as they enter the galleries.

PLEASE RETURNAFTER USE

Funding provided by The Getty Grant Program.

RENAISSANCETRADITIONS

DISCOVERYLIBRARY

SCULPTURE

PORTRAITS&P EOPLE

PLACES

OBJECTS

DESIGNBEFORE 1900

TEXTILE ARTS

(CHANGINGEXHIBITS)

BRITISHART

“If you . . . provide somegreater method for people todive in deeper, you . . . dowonderful things for themuseum and for people toappreciate it.”

—Visitor panel participant

ow n . All of these interp re t ive materi a l swe re made possible by the generous sup-p o rt of The Getty Grant Progr a m . T h efloor also includes a Discove ry Library c reated with separate funding.

The interpretive team, led by themuseum’s master teacher for European and A m e ri c a nart, Melora McDermott-Lewis, included twocurators (one of paintingand sculpture, the other of modern and contem-porary art), an exhibitd e s i g n e r, a graphic designer,and a wri t e r. But as curatorGwen Chanzit points out,“We didn’t really worryabout departments. Wejust erased all thoseboundaries and all workedt og e t h e r. No decision wa smade without teamwork.”A freelance writer anddesigner and additional education, installation, and publicationsstaff supported this core team.

Dozens of visitors also helped shapeour interpretive strategies. Some gaveus formative feedback when we tested prototypes in the galleries. Othersparticipated in visitor panels—discussiongroups led by a moderator. (See VisitorPanels:A Handbook for Improving InterpretiveMaterials through Audience Input for adescription of this technique.) All gaveus valuable advice.

A video and reading area lets visitors pursue information about the artists whointrigue them.

“It’s far from stuffy.”—Visitor panel

participant

Keeping in mind visitor experiencesand the collection’s strengths, wereviewed our holdings. We wanted aninstallation that emphasized the pleasureof looking, so that visitors wouldn’t feelthey needed an art background toenjoy a rich experience. At the sametime, the installation needed to beequally exciting and intriguing to ourmore sophisticated audience. We feltthat a thematic approach would be lessdaunting to novice viewers than achronological arrangement and wouldgive them more confidence to maketheir own connections. And unexpectedjuxtapositions would help moreknowledgeable visitors see the art in a new light.

But our thematic solution was alsobased “on the nature of the collectionitself,” notes Timothy J. Standring,curator of painting and sculpture.“Our collection isn’t representativeof every school, nor does it work well chronologically. But we’ve gotgood selections thematically across theboard, both American and European.So there was also a very pragmatic reason for hanging the art thematically.”

A Thematic Approach

“I’ve never had any formaltraining. But it’s simple for meto make a comparison whenthey’re stacked like that.”

—Visitor panelparticipant

“When I go to a museum, I get overwhelmed. [With]this, I can feel like, okay, I’ve got a little control here.I can kind of figure this out all by myself.”

—Visitor panel participant

“By putting the two different types of grapes one over theother . . . you look at things that you might not look atordinarily,” one visitor points out.

“As a working artist Iliked the placement of contemporary artists’ workalongside known masters.”

—“Tell Us WhatYou Think”comment card

“I developed a method ofcomparing. . . . Once I gotit, it was like, oh, this isthe game.”

—Visitor panelparticipant

Looking at our holdings, wenarrowed the themes down to Places,Objects, Renaissance Traditions, andPortraits and People. To introduce visitors to the floor’s concept, we set up a gallery devoted to sculptures of womenin the floor’s lobby. This was a pragmaticdecision as well: the light levels were toohigh to display paintings.

In each gallery we juxtaposed worksfrom different traditions, countries, andcenturies in ways that a viewer mightfind surprising or intriguing. In theprocess of arranging the objects, newrelationships came to light. “We wereexcited by how much more we saw inthe works as we put them together,”notes McDermott-Lewis. We antici-pated that nontraditional arrangementswould encourage visitors to look longerand get more out of each work. “Wehope it’s not only easy to tell what twoor three works have in common,”McDermott-Lewis says,“but that it also becomes clearer what makes each one special.”

“You don’t think of whimsy in a mu s e u m ,” s ays a visitor, but juxtaposed paintings often carry on amusing visual dialog u e s .

Visitors want to know about the people behind a work of art—those whomade it and those who originallyenjoyed or used it. In our 1986 study ofvisitors’ memorable experiences, wefound that both novices and moresophisticated visitors are interested inunderstanding more about the artist andthe creative process—and that makingthis “human connection” can greatlyenhance their experiences with artworks.

With this goal in mind, we developed“human connection” labels with a strongvisual emphasis for thirty objects in theinstallation. Visitors felt strongly thateach label should be specific to an objectand should help them see and understandmore about that individual work orartist. “We included a lot of anecdotes,and quotes from the artist whenever pos-sible, because it can communicate topeople a lot better when artists say some-thing in their own words,” notes writerLisa Levinson. We looked especially forquotes that “said something about thespecific work that we have, or thatrevealed something about the artist him-self—his personality, what his intentionwas in making his paintings.”

Written in the form of short, conver-sational blurbs, the text allows readers to

The laminated pullout labels are placed beside the art-works in boxes painted the color of the gallery wall.

“It gives more meaning to the painting. . . . It drawsyour attention to things that you would otherwisenot notice.”

—Visitor panel participant

“Human Connection” Labels

“I think if you have n ’t studied it,you look at the painting and say,‘That’s attractive.’ But if you have some tidbits, it . . . makes you think about maybe what theartist was thinking about at thetime, or what was going on at the time. More t h a n j u s t ,‘ O h ,s o m e b r u s h s t r o k e s.’ ”

—Visitor panel participant

sample the information quickly and inany order. We avoided “words you don’tuse in everyday conversation,” explainsLevinson. The opening line of eachblurb is highlighted to give visitors asense of what’s coming.

Almost two-thirds of each label isdevoted to visuals, a definite plus formost visitors. The small bits of text lookmuch less daunting and, as one visitornoted, the play of text and illustrationsencourages “visual thinking.” For graphic designer Mary Junda,“The firstpriority was to underscore visually thepoint made in the copy. The main focus is always the painting that’s in themuseum’s collection. From there thelabels help viewers make comparisons,sometimes using other works by thesame artist.” The labels highlight detailsthat offer “inside information” about theartist. “It helps the viewer crack thecode, to see and enjoy the artist’s point.”Because details are highlighted and dis-cussed in the labels, one visitor observesthat “you’re spending a lot more timewith the piece and think about it a lotmore.” Highlighting details is also practical: it lets viewers look closelywhen they’re not allowed to get tooclose to the actual painting.

Rather than grouping the labels in asingle rack in the center of each gallery,we designed them to be pulled out ofwall boxes placed directly beside the artworks. That way viewers can findinformation about the works where andwhen they want it. The labels are meantto be clearly visible, yet unobtrusive. Designed in a two-fold format,the labels are made up of

small bits of text that can be read in any order, each illustrated by a different visual.

“I kind of liked the fact that they explain a little bitabout the artist and whythey were . . . painting a c e rtain way. . . . Not reallyputting an opinion in yo u rhead—just rather letting yo ui n t e rpret it your own self. ”

—Visitor panel participant

When the labels are in their wall boxes,onlythe titles are visible. Once they’re pulled out,the cover image helps visitors connect it withthe correct work (above).

A strong lead sentence draws the reader intoeach new topic (right).

“The titles were fascinating. They made you curiousbefore you got into it.”

—Visitor panelparticipant

Sample Pages from Pull-out Labels

Photos invite comparisons with related works(above),and give context to the painting’ssubject (right).

The first panel of each label provides a keyto pronouncing the artist’s name (right).

“This painting here—I’ve probably walked byit a hundred times andnever saw it. It’s kindof neat just to sit thereand read this and lookat the painting.”

—Visitor panel participant

Quotes—especially the artist’s own words—are used whenever possible.

Highlighted details (left) enable the viewer tolook more closely at the artist’s techniques.

The image on the back cover (below) ends thelabel on a more personal or whimsical note.

“You can look at thatdetail without getting tooclose to the painting andsetting the alarms off. . . .You can look right atthem right in your handand look as close as youwant to.”

—Visitor panel participant