Museums without walls: Breaking across the borders of organizational structure and preparing the next generation of museum professionals in the digital age - Museums and the Web conference, 2017, Cleveland, Ohio - Presentation April 21, 2017

1. MUSEUMS WITHOUT WALLS:
Breaking Across the Borders of
Organizational Structure &
Preparing the Next Generation of
Museum Professional in the
Digital Age
You can:
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WOWalls

2. Welcome to our gallery of ideas. I am a muse,
amusing, and always musing about art.
Somewhat
tangential
musings will
be HERE

3. Aerial view, The
Cleveland
Museum of Art,
11150 East Blvd,
Cleveland, Ohio

4. After the March
24, 1970
bombing by
leftist political
group, The
Weatherman,
Rodin’s last
cast modeled
“The Thinker”
at The
Cleveland
Museum of Art

5. Auguste
Rodin’s
“THE
Thinker”,
1880-1881 –
The
Cleveland
Museum of
Art

6. The
Metropolitan
Museum of Art –
1000 Fifth Ave,
NY, NY 10028

7. In 2016, 6.8 million
visitors came to the
met, 45 million
visited online.
200,000 K-12 school
groups came
physically and
thousands of others
wanted to visit but
could not. I said
“no” to 70% of those
that wanted guided
educational tours,
programming and
better self-guided
content.

8. McKim, Mead and
White 1907-1926
blueprint expansion
wings for The
Metropolitan Museum
of Art – 1000 Fifth
Ave, NY, NY
10028

9. MUSEUMS WITHOUT WALLS:
SMARTHISTORY AND THE
GOOGLE ART PROJECT—
A MISSION POSSIBLE
PROPHECY
By Adrienne L.
D’Angelo
Dissertation for the
Degree of Doctor
of Education in
Teachers College
of Columbia
University,
May 17, 2017

10. Given the similarities and differences between
physical art museums and digital resources such as
the Google Art Project and Smarthistory, what and
how do professionals in the fields of art history and
art museums who have traditionally managed
curatorial, educational, and collecting practices in a
physical museum think about the educational
potential and problems that digital art resources
present? What are the implications of their thoughts
for the fields of art and museum education as these
intersect with new technologies?
Digital technology and
the use of the Internet
exploded in the past
two decades. Mobile
phones makes it
possible for a majority
of the population to
have access to the
Internet; and thus, to
information.

11. Type of study:
Qualitative Interpretive Study
Talk to those in
charge! Museums
for the most part
operate from a
hierarchal model.

12. Methods:
Interviews, portraiture, and observation
Find out what they
think and how they
feel about releasing
and sharing images
and content. Informed
consent was granted
unanimously, thus,
institutional affiliation
could be discussed.
Portraits connect and
observation relays
information about
physical space.

13. Data collection:
When: June-October 2015
Who: 16 participants, 14 interviews (Museum
Directors, Curators, Educators, Digital Technology
Officers, Academic Art Historians, Founders/Leads of
Smarthistory and The Goolgle Art Project)
Where: Mostly in-person in the United States and
London or via Google Hangout/Skype, Observations
in Paris at The Google Cultural Institute Lab
Interviewing is part
verbal and mostly
non-verbal
communication, face
to face is best.

14. Google
offices, 8
rue de
Londres,
Paris,
France
75009

15. Google
offices Paris,
France
Interior
courtyard

16. THE MOST INTERESTING
THING ABOUT THE
STUDY, WAS THE ACT OF
LISTENING…
Choosing the
Methodology of
Interpretive study
seemed most
appropriate. Methods
of interviews, portraits
and observation reflect
the professional actions
of those whose purview
it is to set policy on how
visitors get access to
experiences with works
of art.

17. Study Findings:
1. Access: across distance, across time, cultural, economic,
knowledge, social
2. Authenticity: object history, space, syphoned knowledge
3. Educational criteria: generational divide, lack of digital
knowledge, means of knowledge including digital media, print
material and video projection
4. Evaluation: audience evaluative tools, credibility, question of
professional expertise
5. Experience: experiential value, sensory reactions
6. Modes of collaboration
7. Pedagogical
Findings of the
study pointed to
7 overarching
themes. This
coded data set
the framework
for the analysis
of the interviews
and educational
implications.

18. Implications:
Collaboration and job preparation of next
generation museum professional
What qualifications
are necessary for
the next generation
museum
professional?

19. ART IN THE AGE OF
MECHANICAL
REPRODUCTION MAKES IT
POSSIBLE TO SHARE ART
WITH EVERYONE
Reproduction of images
is common place across
the internet today. The
voice of authority and
opportunities for
educational content are
limited and standards of
practice are still being
explored across the
Internet. Why are these
being held in physical
space and not afforded
to the vastly larger
online audience in art
museums?

20. OPEN SOURCE &
CREATIVE COMMONS
THE IMPORTANCE OF SCALE…
Scale is a
philosophical
question that refer to
BOTH physical
engagement and
digital experiences
with objects and
works of art. Digital
visitors exponentially
are greater than
physical, so a focus
has to shift towards
increasing access to
content knowledge.

21. Digital technology affords the opportunity to create a museum of all
museums without walls in a space that is free and open to all. It will make
the prophecy of museum mission a universal commitment to education.
Developing the capabilities of digital technology to offer content
comprehensively, uniquely and openly. In this way we will meet the
demand and desire of audiences that are flocking by the millions to art
museum websites, in exponential numbers, and using digital resources
like Smarthistory and The Google Art Project.

22. HOW DO ART MUSEUM
AUDIENCES WANT TO
EXPERIENCE AND
ENGAGE WITH WORKS
OF ART? HINT: ONE WAY
ISN’T THE ANSWER.
Visitors to art
museums and
students of art
history, want to
learn and engage in
multi-modal ways
through various
tools. Learning can
be fun and
interactive. So
embrace web 2.0
models…include
your audience.

23. Organizational structure:
Academia > Museums > Audience
How do we merge
traditional roles and
operating models in
museums with digital
technology strategy?
Do we hire and
continue to work
siloed?

24. EVALUATION:
What if there was cross-institutional collaboration
beyond participation in digital aggregators?
What harm would there be if scholarly differences
were shared, aggregated and the public allowed to
make their own interpretations?
“The explanation
of how something
is known from a
collection and
analysis of facts
will help you Web
and museum
audiences to edit
their own content
and bolster expert
thinking.
~Deborah Howes,
2007

25. What next?
The future museum goers thrive in across
different worlds; physical, digital and very
soon…virtual. How are museum professionals
prepared to meet that growing audience?
The future is
unknown but the
opportunity to
impact it through
open-sources ,
creative commons,
collaborative
environments and
access to
education is
available now and
we must as
educators and
stakeholders foster
that potential.