Maeve Day 20

On Saturday, I worked on transcribing interviews and then went over to the museum around 1:30 PM. I lurked around all of the exhibits for a few hours, trying to listen to conversations and observe behaviors. There are four new additions to the Look Again gallery, only three of which are really noticeable. There's an activity by the cups and cloths that asks visitors to design a pattern similar to the Kuba fabrics, a small prompt by the power bundles asking visitors (children) what they would combine for a power bundle, five flaps with more information about the power figures, and a puzzle activity by the Kota masks. While I was there, there weren't a lot of families in the Look Again exhibit, but adults seemed to be making good use of the activities (especially the puzzle--people really love the Kota figures). The behaviors I wrote down were pretty much exactly the same as the ones Dani observed, but I'm really interested by the childless adults (of varying ages) who were using the interactives designed for children and families. The studio activity that day was to make a paper version of a Kota mask--I'm unsure if this will be changing. There were more families in the other exhibits, which could be because the other exhibits are directly adjacent to the ArtSplash studio in the middle of the building. The activities dotted throughout the ArtSplash studio were also interesting. I also noticed that the reading room has many more chairs (most of them child-sized) and is now filled with African fables and children's books, which people were actually reading with their children.