Art museums in the West have evolved over time from “temples of art” for the educated classes towards being sites of hands-on activity that engage the public at large. Museums of modern art find themselves faced with a broad range of pedagogical challenges, yet numerous opportunities as well.Current thinking holds that technological development will change our society such that time and place lose a good deal of the significance they have today, as the past, present and future can be revisited at will. The art museum has to find its place in this new ubiquitous network society and, despite the trends to the contrary, ensure people space, as well as and a time and place, to be present where art is. Where this succeeds, one finds fertile ground enabling rich multisensory learning experiences. The degree program in art education at the University of Lapland has a long history of intense cooperation with Rovaniemi Art Museum. Students do some of their studies in the art museum, working as exhibition guides or running workshops for school and day care groups. The workshops seek to lower the threshold for engaging with art by encouraging observations, discussion and hands-on activities. They offer opportunities for insights and discoveries in art, chances to be present here and now. At their best exhibitions and workshops help participants to build a bridge connecting everyday life and art, enabling them to understand some phenomenon from a novel perspective.In winter 2016, students from the University ran a series of workshops at the museum in conjunction with the exhibition Still /life, which focused on Tapio Wirkkala’s work. In one workshop, Eyes in your Fingers, participants familiarized themselves up close with the artist’s design process, rolling up their sleeves to try some experimental design following their own sense of touch. This kind of an activity give the participants a sense of what it is like to be a designer and drives home the importance of design in our everyday lives The experience then encourages them to try out a variety of creative processes when they step out the door and go back to their daily routines. Personal engagement with the process gives the museum-goers an opportunity to discover new sides of themselves and new aspects of the surrounding culture and of their place in the world.
Koivurova et al. (Tue,) studied this question.