Before the gallery door...

What are the benefits of including the evaluation of exhibition or display venues during field trips or excursions for students? The main purpose of an excursion or field trip to a museum or gallery may be bound up with an opportunity to view a specific exhibition or a display of works of art, design or craft. However, students may question why this exhibition has been set up in a museum or gallery environment. Given the ease of access to printed or electronic reproductions or works or art, design or craft, they may also wonder why viewing an original work in a museum or gallery environment should be a requirement in their school studies. The development of student study units or assignments related to the evaluation of the museum or gallery environment may be a valuable means of initiating student discussion about the roles of museums or galleries in their local communities.

Some museums or galleries were founded in order to preserve significant works of art, design or craft. Numerous public museums and galleries were meant to serve a role as educational institutions so that the presentation of works of art or design or craft would change the perceptions and behaviour of visitors. Some major art museums or galleries were actually established during the nineteenth century in conjunction with the foundation of a school or art or design for young adults. A number of tertiary educational institutions developed their own collections of art and design works during the twentieth century in order to support both teaching and research activities. Community or associational museums or galleries can serve to promote the development of community or associational identity as well as fund-raising activities. These museums of galleries also provide opportunities for community or associational members to be involved in arts activities. Commercial galleries are usually founded on the principle that they can boost the consumption of works or art, design or craft, but many commercial arts entrepreneurs understand the benefits of encouraging the interest of members of educational institutions in order to elevate the public profile of the arts in a particular location.

The organisation of a visit to a museum or gallery specialising in the presentation of works of art, design and craft may begin with a classroom discussion or a formal lesson that outlines the type of museum or gallery that the students will be visiting. This will help to alert students to the role and size of the museum or gallery staging the exhibition.
Discussion could include references to the age of the museum or gallery, the age of the building used to house the museum or gallery and the nature of the administration in charge of the museum or gallery. Reference to the administration of the museum or gallery could result in a discussion centred on the principal purpose of the museum or gallery. Students could then begin to consider the differences between a public museum or gallery, and museums or galleries operated by educational institutions, community groups, associations, private individuals or commercial concerns.

Students may need to complete tasks that help them to answer questions about the museum or gallery building that provides a venue for an exhibition or displays earmarked for the excursion or field trip. Opportunities for discussion or question and answer sessions, student response papers required for activities during the trip, or assignments set directly after the trip can assist the development of descriptions of the museum or gallery surrounds. The subsequent evaluation of a museum or gallery location can prompt reflection on the relationship between the physical identity of the museum or gallery complex and the type of cultural consumption associated with the museum or gallery. When students arrive at the museum or gallery site they could begin to observe the access routes to the museum or gallery building, the physical environment or landscape design surrounding the museum or gallery buildings, the use and impact of signage associated with the museum or gallery, the external architectural features of the museum or gallery and the entrance area for the building. Structured student activities requiring careful observation and reflection in relation to all of these factors could help to focus the attention of students, and hopefully begin to break down any nervousness about the experience of visiting a museum or gallery.

The following could be included in a list of questions for discussion or investigation…

Access routes:

Is access to the museum or gallery complex linked to public transport routes? Is access to the museum or gallery complex linked to parking areas?

Is there a footpath approach from the roadway or parking area to the doorway of the museum or gallery complex?

Describe the provision of access routes for visitors with special mobility needs.

The external environment:

Is the museum or gallery building surrounded by other built environments, trees and vegetation and large scale free-standing three-dimensional sculptures? If any of these elements are present, students could complete descriptions of each of these elements.

Signage:

Has external museum or gallery signage been incorporated into permanent road signposts?

Have cloth or plastic banners been used?

Are signs mounted on the actual museum or gallery building?

Student descriptions could take note of the use of particular lettering styles, colour schemes, the use of transparent or matte or reflective surfaces, as well as lighting features related to signs.

External architectural features:

Students could examine the external architectural forms incorporated into the museum or gallery complex. They could note the presence of important external architectural features such as columns, decorative or textural wall surfaces, or verandahs.

Is the museum or gallery complex in a building that has previously been used for other purposes?

Is the museum or gallery in a building that has been specifically been constructed for that purpose?

How old is the museum or gallery building, and is it closely linked to other buildings?

Have relief sculptures been incorporated into the design of the building walls?

The museum or gallery entrance:

Students could also describe the entrance to the museum or gallery complex.

How large is the doorway?

Is there signage on the door?

Are there museum or gallery staff members working near the main entrance, and if so where are they placed in this entrance area and what are their tasks?