Dani's Day Six Reflections

June 14th, 2016

Observations

10am- 12pm

The mornings are super slow. I don't think a soul came into the exhibit until 11:45am. In the meantime, Maeve and I were able to gain a better understanding of the museum through one of the security guards. She told us some of the things she hears people say about the museum, like "These things are stolen!" She seemed entertained by the ways people have been responding to the artifacts. She also seemed to be familiar with some of the visitors. She asked us a lot of questions too. She seemed pretty interested in what we we're studying.

Lunch

12pm -12:30ish

Maeve and I had lunch with Jo, another intern from Bryn Mawr.

More Observations

12:30-1:45ish pm

Maeve and I went back into the exhibit to observe people before the afternoon meetings. By this time, the visitors were much more diverse and seemed to be more engaged in the exhibit. This set of visitors was much more expressive, in general. People were taking pictures, laughing while using the interactive table, talking to the security guards and talking to each other. I suspect that the more people that are in the gallery at one time, the more comfortable people feel to engage with the objects. They don't suspect that their behavior is distinct from the behavior of others. It was interesting to examine how the level to which one engages with the exhibit is impacted by the presence of others. This will be especially interesting to observe during Art Splash.

Meeting with Monique

2pm 2:45pm

We met outside the main museum to discuss Orlando, the community conversation and the day's observations.

Journaling

3pm-3:45pm

Maeve and I returned to the Perelman building's library to catch up on our journals.

Meeting with Evaluation Department, the Education Department and Damon

4pm-5ishpm

Maeve and I shared our observations with everyone. We were able to hear everyone's feedback. It was interesting to hear about the goal of the prompts and the education department's objectives. I'm interested in seeing how we modify our observation method for Art Splash.