For the latter half of class Thursday, we went on a little excursion to the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, which is conveniently right across the street. The purpose of this outing was to examine a couple of the temporary exhibitions at the FAC and begin thinking about the design of our own exhibition. We discussed what kind of audience the museum is catering to, how they foster a learning experience for this audience, or if they do at all, and then related that knowledge to who we think our audience will be, and what kind of experience we want to create for them in our exhibition. I have been conscious of the incredible influence of perception and exhibition design since my Museum Curatorial Studies class eighth block last year, and I find that these kinds of questions are always on my mind when I visit museums now. As an Art History major, I am considering a career in the museum industry, specifically in Education, so a field trip that involves a critique of how museums wield their pedagogical power is particularly interesting. But lets face it, whether you’re in fourth grade or in college, the prospect of a field trip is always exciting.
