Community Voices

at the Figge 

About

The staff worked with ten community members, who were recommended through the network of the museum’s Community Advisory Council (CAC), to record personal responses to an installation that featured works of American art from the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. Contributors were asked to talk about what they saw, thought, and felt, and they responded with very personal and varied audio. These thoughts were shared in person and on the mobile audio tour platform STQRY, creating an online archive of the installation. The Figge Art Museum also included photographs from each contributor on the signage in the galleries. These contributors represented a more diverse cross-section of the Davenport community than the museum had previously collaborated with through in-gallery engagement related to specific artworks.

Intended Outcome

To make the museum more welcoming, relevant, and accessible to new visitors by including voices from real-world, “non-expert” community members instead of artists or art experts in the gallery experience

Actual Outcome

The Community Advisory Council offered different perspectives and connected the Figge Art Museum to new contributors, artists, and community members, expanding its network. These new connections have made the museum more welcoming to diverse audiences and have provided opportunities for visitors to explore challenging topics and varied perspectives. The museum observed that people engaged with these audio tours more than they had with standard, museum-generated audio tours that don’t include photos from community members.

Advice Post Project

The Figge Art Museum met many new art enthusiasts in the community who had not been to the museum before but really enjoyed close looking at the artworks. Additionally, staff members were able to build connections with these new contributors instead of relying on their normal network. Community advisory groups are a great way to diversify interpretation. The Figge Art Museum saw the biggest impact when members of its Community Advisory Council made recommendations for contributors and personally reached out to those people instead of just passing the contact along to museum staff.