Synopses & Reviews
At the heart of all good art museum teaching is an effort to bring people and artworks together in meaningful ways. But what constitutes an experience of a work of art? What should be taught and why? What kinds of uniquely valuable experiences are museum educators alone equipped to provide? This bookandmdash;unlike any other publication currently availableandmdash;addresses these and myriad other questions and investigates the mission, history, theory, practice, and future prospects of museum education. Every critical issue that has preoccupied the profession throughout its hundred-year history is considered, including lecture- versus conversation-based formats; the place of information in gallery teaching; the relation of art museum teaching to the disciplines of art history, curation, and conservation; the use of questions to stimulate discussion; and the role of playfulness, self-awareness, and institutional context in constructing the visitorandrsquo;s experience.
The book will prove invaluable for all professional museum educators and volunteer docents as well as museum studies students, art and art history teachers, curators, and museum administrators. The essays distill the authorsandrsquo; decades of experience as practitioners and observers of gallery teaching across the United States and abroad. They offer a range of perspectives on which everyone involved with art museum education may reflect and in so doing, encourage education to take its proper place at the center of the twenty-first century art museum.
Review
and#160;andldquo;Recommended.andrdquo;andmdash;Choiceand#160;
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andldquo;Teaching in the Art Museum meticulously explores art museum education from the perspectives of two of the foremost names in the field.andrdquo;andmdash;Art Libraries Society of North America
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Winner of the 2011 PROSE Award for Education, given by the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers.and#160;
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andldquo;Essential reading for anyone engaged in the interpretation of art.andrdquo;andmdash;The Art Newspaper
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andldquo;[This book] speaks beyond the scope intended, addressing the wider audience of aesthetic education in a compelling way. . . . This book makes a significant contribution to the field.andrdquo;andmdash;Journal of Aesthetic Education
About the Author
Rika Burnham is head of education at The Frick Collection in New York. Elliott Kai-Kee is an education specialist at the J. Paul Getty Museum.