Open Forum

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679

Jennifer,

My museum is currently in the process of re-imagining one of our museums (a smaller off-site specialty museum, the Alden B. Dow Office Museum) into a hybrid space. I would love to co-present with you on this topic!

We are creating a multiple-use museum area that functions as a community gathering space with room for gallery/exhibits, the "period room" of the building owner's office which is the heart of the museum, as well as a place to get a coffee, to meet with your knitting club, have a baby shower, play board games, or use the wifi for working or studying. That museum would then be a convenient "hub" for walking or biking tours of the town, as well. That little tiny museum is the "heart of the heart of Lake Jackson" and as we re-imagine it to function in a new way, we are responding to a community need and returning the little downtown museum to a vital part of the community, not just a building to be preserved.

Along with this project, we've participated in an Interior Architecture studio at the University of Houston where students studied the town (which is architecturally significant) and suggested ways to re-invigorate the building and its programme. Their suggestions were diverse and many of them are being used in the working plans. (they also made some great graphic rendering of their plans, too!) The professor for that project would likely be available to join in our session as my co-presenter.

Let me know if this would fit with what you have in mind and what you'd need from me.

Jodi Larson

Museum Experience Coordinator, Lake Jackson Historical Association, Lake Jackson, TX

assist@lakejacksonmuseum.org

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679

Jennifer,

My museum is currently in the process of re-imagining one of our museums (a smaller off-site specialty museum, the Alden B. Dow Office Museum) into a hybrid space. I would love to co-present with you on this topic!

We are creating a multiple-use museum area that functions as a community gathering space with room for gallery/exhibits, the "period room" of the building owner's office which is the heart of the museum, as well as a place to get a coffee, to meet with your knitting club, have a baby shower, play board games, or use the wifi for working or studying. That museum would then be a convenient "hub" for walking or biking tours of the town, as well. That little tiny museum is the "heart of the heart of Lake Jackson" and as we re-imagine it to function in a new way, we are responding to a community need and returning the little downtown museum to a vital part of the community, not just a building to be preserved.

Along with this project, we've participated in an Interior Architecture studio at the University of Houston where students studied the town (which is architecturally significant) and suggested ways to re-invigorate the building and its programme. Their suggestions were diverse and many of them are being used in the working plans. (they also made some great graphic rendering of their plans, too!) The professor for that project would likely be available to join in our session as my co-presenter.

Let me know if this would fit with what you have in mind and what you'd need from me.

Jodi Larson

Museum Experience Coordinator, Lake Jackson Historical Association, Lake Jackson, TX

assist@lakejacksonmuseum.org

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679

We just opened a space like this last week at the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, NC! The new, flexible space is called ART& and we're using it as an experimental community space that's part lounge, part program space. It already seems to be attracting students (for studying, chatting, etc), local professionals (as a co-working spot), and families (since there are interactive elements like a chalkboard wall). Some unique features: we've gotten coffee donations from local roasters so we can have a pop-up coffee bar twice daily, we commissioned local artists to add site-specific pieces to the space, and we're looking forward to hosting a variety of public programs in the new space. (Lots more here: ART& - An Experiment in Art & Community - Ackland Art Museum) 

Would love to talk more with you about co-presenting! ART& will be open through January and then we'll be analyzing what worked best--and what to bring back for the future.

Allison Portnow Lathrop
Ackland Art Museum
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679

Dear Colleagues,

As museums move to meet the demand for accessible, inclusive spaces where people feel at home, a category of museum space has emerged that is attempting to answer the needs of visitors of all ages.  Relaxed areas designed to promote conversation, connection to content in a low pressure way, and a re-charge space (that isn’t a busy café) are emerging.  As Trendswatch 2016  reports, organizations are increasing placing value on “Happiness” as a factor in profitability and this session will explore how these relaxed spaces are helping to establish more playful, warm, and comfortable experiences for museum visitors.

 Does your institution have such a space?  A cozy living room-type area, a lounge, a playroom, a place that is promoting open conversation, engagement with museum content, interactions between visitors and other museum-goers? We are open to family spaces or other spaces utilized by visitors of all ages. I’d love to hear from you!  Museum designers welcome!

Jen Maxcy

Head of Family Programs and Community Engagement

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

LA, California 90049

 310-440-4679