{"id":142,"date":"2026-07-23T22:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T03:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/hyperlinkedhorizons\/?p=142"},"modified":"2026-07-23T22:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T03:05:08","slug":"reflection-blog-wild-card-participatory-museums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/hyperlinkedhorizons\/2026\/07\/23\/reflection-blog-wild-card-participatory-museums\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflection Blog: Wild Card: Participatory Museums"},"content":{"rendered":"

For this week’s reflection, I decided to go back through the modules and review resources I hadn’t seen before. During this process, I discovered the TEDxSantaCruz talk by Nina Simon (2012) entitled “Opening up the Museum<\/a>.<\/span>” Simon is the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH). She wrote a book, The Participatory Museum<\/em>, in which she provides a guide for how cultural institutions can create a more interactive experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History offers many participatory activities, inviting guests to take an active role in their experience. I liked the example of the exhibition on giving advice. Guests were given two options for participation. One option was to write questions and solutions on Post-it notes. There were many meaningful responses on the notes. The other option was to write their questions and solutions on a mock bathroom door. In that setup, despite the same prompt, people scribbled or wrote other typical bathroom door graffiti.<\/span><\/p>\n

Simon emphasized that the tools you give to allow participation make a difference. They need to be done with intention. She stated, <\/span>\u201cThe reason they interacted differently was because of the design and the tools that were given to them.\u201d If you give them a special tool, they will feel like their contribution is more valued, and therefore may be more inclined to have a meaningful engagement with the exhibit.<\/span><\/p>\n

During our family vacation this summer, we visited a variety of museums in Michigan, including the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History <\/a>and the<\/span> Detroit Institute of Art<\/a>. <\/span>They had a variety of participatory activities throughout both museums. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Museum of Natural History had quite a few exhibits where they provided Post-it notes to answer a question. The image below is part of an exhibit, All the Plastic You Cannot See<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0<\/i>The large orange circle is at the end of the exhibit and allows visitors to use Post-it notes to offer their thoughts about the exhibit and what they can do to improve the environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Interior
Photo of exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), in the Robert & Katherine Jacobs Asian Wing, they had a Community Response Station that asked visitors to reflect on what they were seeing or to share their own stories. Many people commented about the joy of being able to connect with their cultures or being proud to share their culture with the community. Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight to take a picture of that area.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also at DIA, FORTUNES<\/a><\/span> is a large interactive installation where you can create different light designs through your movement. There were three large screens, with boxes sectioned off on the floor indicating where to stand. As you move around, the light designs on the digital screen change, getting larger or smaller depending on your movement. This was located in a large open gallery, so as you participated, you became part of the art that other visitors were able to see.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Two
My children interacting with FORTUNE at the Detroit Institute of Arts<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Participatory activities are more than just opportunities to engage with the museum. They allow the participant to see themselves as a creative vessel. Someone who commented about the Asian art at the Detroit Institute of Arts may be motivated to share more about their culture with their peers. A child who interacted with the Museum of Natural History exhibit may be inspired to create art from found plastic materials. An adult who played with FORTUNE may have rekindled a love of dance from when they were a child and start taking a dance class again.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea of the participatory museum can easily be translated to libraries. Some examples of participatory activities we have done at my library include:<\/span><\/p>\n