Elspeth McEachern

Applying the Awesome Principle
to Museums and Galleries
Elspeth McEachern
Senior Cultural Heritage Officer
September 2019
Our heritage Our stories
Cultural Heritage Levy

Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners
2
I would like to acknowledge the
Traditional Owners of the land upon
which this event is being held and pay
my respect to Traditional Elders – past,
present and emerging.

Session outline
3
The session will:
• Set the scene
• Revisit Kaplan ‘Attention Restoration Theory’
• Check statistics – how Australians spend their leisure time
• Discuss ‘The Awesome Principle’ (a phrase coined by me)
• Understand how to apply the Awesome Principle - case
studies
Aspects of psychology and marketing will be also discussed
The basis of this talk is this: ‘For every action there is a reaction’ just keep
this in mind as we go through this session.

Setting the scene
4
A quarter of Australia’s population is experiencing moderate to
extremely severe stress (Dec 2018 Stress and Wellbeing Survey -
Australian Psychology Society)
Reasons for stress (Medibank Survey 2016-2017)
• lack of sleep - 62%
• work pressure -39%
• juggling too many things – 36%
• housing affordability – 17%
• social media pressures – 12%
• global political climate - 11%
People can become fatigued when the brain is too focused
for too long

Revisiting Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory’
5
• The brain’s action of focusing is called ‘Directed Attention’
• Directed attention is an important part of the brain’s function, but
if there is no rest for the brain, it can lead to fatigue
• Psychologists Stephen and Rachel Kaplan (1995) looked at
experiences that led to the recovery of fatigue and the
restoration of the brain. They found…
o nature provided true benefits for aiding restoration
o that an integrative framework creates the best results

Kaplan’s restorative environments…
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• create a sense of ‘being away’ – frees the mind of old and possibly
stressful thoughts
• create a ‘whole other world’ - rich and coherent (not endless stream of
stimuli that consist of unrelated impressions)
• offer sufficient scope to engage the mind and offer enough time to see,
experience and think about what is there - called ‘Fascination Attention’
the result of being absorbed in content (soft fascination)
• involve the ‘extent of space’ which creates a sense of being in a whole
new place – doesn’t have to be large, could be miniature
• are compatible between the environment and a person’s purpose for
going there.
Apply the theory to museums and galleries

7
How Australians spend their time – cumulative number of activities in 12
month period 2016 to 2018 (showing % increase or decrease)
• Eating or drinking out – 1,335 million (increase 6.4%)
• Playing sport or doing formal exercise – 886 million (increase 1%)
• Visiting or hosting family and friends – 835 million (decline 1.3% )
• Playing video, computer games or board games at home – 704 million
(increase 6.5%)
• Going to the beach – 183 million (decline 3%)
• Going to clubs – 118 million (decline 4.8%)
• Going to movies - 96 million (increase 1%)
• Attending art galleries and museums – 86 million (increase 14.6%)
Research by Roy Morgan - https://www.bandt.com.au/marketing/aussies-spend-leisure-time-eating-playing-xbox-apparently
From stress and restoration to leisure
Setting the scene

8
How do we create a
restorative environment
that competes
with
limited leisure time?

9
Apply
The Awesome
Principle

10
Aware (of the)
Whole
Experience (that is)
Stimulating
Original
Meaningful (and)
Elevating
The Awesome Principle
E. McEachern 2019

11
Aware - internal and external influences
Whole Experience - from start to finish - everything
Stimulating - offers ‘soft fascination’, answers a question
Original - authentic and lives up to expectation
Meaningful - makes sense, easily understood, context
Elevating - takes us to another level
The Awesome Principle

12
Revisiting how people spend their leisure time.
What can museum and galleries offer to attract these audiences?
Leisure activities increased
from 2016 to 2018
What to offer
Eating or drinking out Refreshments / café
Playing sport or doing formal exercise Participation in an activity
Playing video, computer games or board games Interactive technology
Going to movies Theatrette – films and documentaries

The key is an integrative approach
(putting on the marketing hat)
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Everything you do should create new marketing opportunities
• Involve new clients (drama groups, musicians, sponsors)
• Get the media’s attention – hold a publicity event (enactments,
dress-ups, performers)
• Keep the place alive - new activities give you new information for
promotion on website, social media, fliers, eNews, community
announcements, media releases
• Participation in events and festivals – piggyback on their promotion
(film, music etc)
• Regular curated exhibitions – large or small scale (artist corner)
changing themes, coinciding with community celebrations
The result…new audiences

14
Horsham Regional Art Gallery – experience as
past Director
Expanding exhibition offering – old, new,
mixed media, local input (Artist’s Corner),
fascination – German heritage, Koori
Range of activities - openings, talks,
residencies, workshops
Venue hire –concerts, conferences, fundraising
Aim of events – to get publicity (e.g. Rocky
Horror), Philip Quirk exhibition
New audiences – Artists Corner, local business
sponsorship, fundraising events (e.g. cult film
nights) – soft fascination
Marketing –regular radio segments, TV, press,
newsletters, media, catalogues, posters
The Awesome Principle - Galleries

15
Caloundra Regional Art Gallery
Activities of colleagues at Sunshine Coast Council
Programming – mixing and matching experience

16
Founders Heritage Park, Nelson City Council, New
Zealand – experience as past Coordinator/manager
Whole experience – external orientation map
New spaces - new tenants and/or exhibitions
Inclusion - Jazz Festival, Nelson Arts Festival
Increasing venue hire – book fair, antiques event
and other roadshows, weddings, conferences,
meetings
Promotion - green spaces, café, brewery, bakery,
cooper, chocolates, artisans
Case study – grabbing opportunities – starting with
conservation enquiry and finishing with Teddy Bear
exhibition (3 months), Teddy Bear Safari competition
(2 weeks), Ted’s Talk, publicity - marketing success
through creating soft fascination
The Awesome Principle - Heritage

17
The Awesome Principle - Case Study
Bankfoot House Heritage Precinct

18

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Bankfoot House Heritage Precinct – step by step
• Developing an Interpretation Plan, undertaking Preservation Needs
Assessment, Significance Assessment and Conservation Management
Plan
• Identifying stages
o Preservation Housekeeping – cleaning, identifying essential needs
o Conservation – the shed project
o Interpretation
o Promotion
• Taking a broad approach – including and recognition – of First Nations
Peoples and role of the Friends of Bankfoot House

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o Information panels
o Films in small theatrette (documentaries)
o Interactive model and floor maps
o Guided heritage house tours (every 30 minutes)
o Self guided tour of precinct (shed, wagon and grounds)
o Temporary exhibitions programs and associated public
programs
o Interactive games
o Education program
o Events – celebrating community/national occasions
o Inclusion in festivals (Horizon Festival)
Bankfoot House Heritage Precinct -
an integrated approach to visitor experience
Applying The Awesome Principle

21
Bankfoot House - offering a variety of interactions and
experiences
Soft fascination – miniaturisation Theatrette showing local heritage documentaries
Information – offer meaning and context Soft fascination – interactive maps

Tours – made it easy to
understand
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• Use visual clues to tell the story
• Keep lines clean, but at the same
time, purposeful
Authentic place and items Information - context
Soft fascination – context

23
Bankfoot house - self exploration experience
Soft fascination – interactive Authentic – soft fascination – context

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL 24
Enabling visitors to explore – self guided tour

Opportunities to relax, find out more…
25
Shed exhibition – the film, on loop, outlines the Shed Restoration
Project including time-lapse vision
https://heritage.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Stories/Bankfoot-House-Stories/Memories-
Restored
Mary Grigor Centre theatrette – one of the many films on loop tell
the stories of Bankfoot House
https://heritage.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Stories/Bankfoot-House-Stories/Bankfoot-
Mary-Grigor
• Tea/coffee
• Talks
• Films

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL 26
Create a ‘keep-sake’ – returning visitors

27
mixing and matching experience
Participation in festivals – Horizon Festival 2019
Hosting talks and events
Events Special occasions

28Our heritage Our stories
Evaluation analysis of all theories -
AWESOME
PRINCIPLE
Meaning Kaplan
Theory
Leisure time BANKFOOT HOUSE
HERITAGE PRECINCT
Aware Understanding
influences
Restorative
Theory
Limited time Aware of other activities that
compete for time and social
pressures
Whole
Experience
Start to finish Compatibility
between the
environment
and person’s
purpose
Café
(increase
6.4%)
Signage, orientation, tour
schedule, self-exploration,
ambience, cleanliness,
timing, WiFi, toilets,
tea/coffee/water, public
programming (inclusion in
festivals, events, films, music)
Stimulating Fascination Soft
Fascination
Attention
Theory
Video,
computer
games
(increase
6.5%)
Interactive 3D model and
floor maps, changing
exhibitions, public programs,
(soon VR experience)
Original Authentic,
unique
Extent - space
creates sense
of being in a
whole new
place
Sport or
exercise
(increase 1%)
Authentic and unique story,
heritage tour, self-guided
tour, heritage games, kids’
activities, miniature 3D
model, interactive maps,
views of natural environment
Meaningful Context, easily
understood,
makes sense
Rich and
coherent,
information
connects
Films
(increase 1%)
New interpretative panels
(context), theatrette (films),
guided tours, self-guided
brochure
Elevating Another level Reflection and
recovery
Museum
gallery (incr
14.6%)
Expanded experience –
reflection and a keep-sake

29
“Brilliant display and an incredible history preserved”. “What a treasure!”
Evaluation
Visitor comments:
• Local history celebrated and shared
with such pride is lovely to see.
• Thank you for preserving for future
generations to learn.
• Wonderful step back in time.
• Very informative and well presented.
• Our second visit, everything is much
more orderly.
• Thanks for the time travel.
Graph showing visitor numbers and the outcome since
the new exhibitions from October 2018.
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Total Visitation by Year
2015 - 2016 2016 - 2017 2017 -2018 2018 -2019

Sunshine Coast Cultural Heritage Levy
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The Bankfoot House Heritage Precinct Project was made possible
through the following groups:
Friends of Bankfoot House
Volunteers
Consultants
Cultural Heritage Services

31
Remember…
For every action there is a reaction
Thank you

Elspeth McEachern

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