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9781629581903

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Samis and Michaelson thoughtfully explore the changing attitudes towards museum visitors and the tensions between traditional, old-guard mindsets and newer, audience-focused approaches. Creating the Visitor-centered Museum is fascinating and beautifully written, and the authors' passion for museums shines through. --Dana Mitroff Silvers, Designing Insights Peter and Mimi's book offers a window into how staff are negotiating the power between what visitors bring to their museum experiences and the traditions that their own organizations are wedded to--a challenge indeed. Change is afoot in the museum world. --Randi Korn, Founding Director, Randi Korn & Associates I am sure that this book will serve as a catalyst for important conversations about the mission of our galleries, the roles within it, the audiences we intend to serve and how we would go about doing so .The book does a very good job of articulating the wide possibilities of visitor-centered museums and the nature of museum change. I liked the way the book began with transparency of its goals and a basic analysis of the visitor-centered approach and I loved reading about the diverse case studies. --Susan Rome, Public Programmes, Vancouver Art Gallery

Creating the Visitor-Centered Museum draws together a number of international examples of successful visitor-centred museum making and explores what it is that makes them so successful. The case studies at the heart of the book provide insight into the experiences and aims of Directors, the function and purpose of multi-discipliciplinary teams, the emergence of experience designers and the changes that many curatorial and other staff feel themselves move throughas a result of what are often large-scale transformation projects. Providing a summary of some of the key issues, processes and arguments involved in so many large scale transformations in museums and galleries, the book places an emphasis on the words of those professionals involved in the projects and as such offers much needed insight into the creation of visitor-centred museums. The book is a must read for professionals involved in the remaking of museums and galleries and will provide students of museums with valuable insight into the realiies and possibilities of building truly visitor-centred museums. - Dr Suzanne McLeod, Director and Head of School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, UK The book serves to encourage or remind current art museum professionals and to instruct and inspire future generations of practitioners. - Diane VanderBeke Mager, The Museum Scholar

I am sure that this book will serve as a catalyst for important conversations about the mission of our galleries, the roles within it, the audiences we intend to serve and how we would go about doing so .The book does a very good job of articulating the wide possibilities of visitor-centered museums and the nature of museum change. I liked the way the book began with transparency of its goals and a basic analysis of the visitor-centered approach and I loved reading about the diverse case studies. Susan Rome, Public Programmes, Vancouver Art Gallery

Author Information

Peter Samis is Associate Curator of Interpretation at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He has a BA from Columbia University and an M.A. in art history from U.C. Berkeley. Samis served as art historian/content expert for 'American Visions,' the first CD-ROM on modern art (1993-94), and then spearheaded development of SFMOMA’s award-winning Interactive Educational Technology programs. He has served as Adjunct Professor in the international graduate program for Technology-Enhanced Communication for Cultural Heritage (TEC-CH) at Switzerland's University of Lugano and on the advisory boards of numerous museum organizations and collaborative software initiatives. Mimi Michaelson is an education and museum consultant. She has a doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University, where she studied creativity, youth activism, and cognitive development. As a former Project Zero manager, she has broad research experience, including as Senior Project Manager of Harvard’s GoodWork project. She co-edited the New Directions volume, Supportive Frameworks for Youth Engagement.

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