When the Mallya sisters visited Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, they couldn’t stand still. Maya, 9, and Meghan, 11, zoomed from exhibit to exhibit, tapped on touch-screen computers, and cooed at the sight of newly hatched chicks in an incubator. Throughout the trip, they remained physically, intellectually and emotionally engaged.

“Some people think museums are boring,” said Maya, whose family resides in Dallas. “They think of just walking and reading. They don’t think of doing activities, pressing buttons and finding out what happens.” Meghan agreed, saying, “People should change that thinking.”

Museums couldn’t agree more. The Museum of Science and Industry has invested $59.5 million in less than two years to produce two new permanent exhibits that emphasize action and participation. You! The Experience opened late last year, and Science Storms launched in March.

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Another exhibit called Explore: Blue Planet • Red Planet is slated to open in the next couple of years, with no exact timetable set. Planned features will enable users to “visit” the farthest reaches of the Earth and to experience the reduced gravity of Mars.

“It’s very clear to us that we must be forward-thinking when we engage our audiences,” said Andrea Ingram, the vice president of education and guest services of the museum. “It’s not just about somebody telling you how something works. It’s about participating in the discovery yourself.”

The Art Institute of Chicago is following suit, a new direction for many art museums. Public affairs representative Chai Lee said that the Art Institute has procured computer kiosks to help visitors navigate the exhibit wings and that plans are underway to produce an iPhone application to give visitors instant information about exhibits, artists’ lives and their works. He said he doesn’t have a specific release date.

A new study by the Cultural Policy Center of the University of Chicago states that such modernization efforts are crucial and that museums should be more proactive in addressing the needs of future museum audiences. After interviewing museum planners and conducting a series of focus group discussions, the researchers concluded that millennials in particular are looking for more engaged participation.

Interaction is key, said center executive director Betty Farrell who led the research for the report, Demographic Transformations and the Future of Museums.

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“Young people are not passive audience members. They want to really be immersed,” said Farrell, who was also the lead author of the report. “Museums in the future are not going to be able to rely on the standard assumption that interested people will simply come because they have wonderful exhibits.”

In the report, Farrell notes that art museums in particular have lagged behind when it comes to offering these new participatory experiences. Lee, however, points out that there are differences between science and art museums that make the issue of adopting hands-on elements more complicated.

“Science museums are naturally more interactive. There’s something to look at and there’s something to touch,” he said. “With an art museum, not everything is spelled out for you. It’s a different type of engagement.”

Still, Farrell believes younger audiences have come to expect these technology driven features and that museums should adapt accordingly.

“These younger people are digital natives. They grew up with computers, the Web and social networking,” she said. “Technology is a given for them.”

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Two millennials on a recent visit to the Art Institute seem to agree. Eighteen-year-old Kelsey Dickerhoof and her 15-year-old brother, Ross, of Mason, Ohio, said they would “definitely use” computers that display in-depth artist information if they are installed in art exhibits.

“When we go to art museums, we usually jot down the names of artists that we enjoy to find out more about them when we get back home anyway,” Ross said. Kelsey noted that such high-tech features may lead to another benefit, saying: “It would definitely help more people enter the art world and make it a little bit more interesting.”

Parents as well as kids are eager for more of these museum innovations. “The difference between traditional and newer exhibits is so vast,” said Meghan and Maya’s mother, Neeta. “It’s like reading about a beach versus actually going there. It’s extremely valuable to learning.”

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By Smooroalilt
Posted: 04/30/2011 3:43 AM

be happy and love. kiss