Unexpected learning can take place…even in expected places…
Have you ever wandered aimlessly around stuffy local museums during school trips wishing you were anywhere but inside? Well, I have—and these numerous experiences pretty much deflated my appreciation for museum learning. Thus, although museums are designed for ‘expected learning’, I found my experiences an exception to this rule. Fortunately, I moved to Brooklyn, NY during the four years I took off between undergraduate and grad school and, as fate would have it, I was situated across the street from the Brooklyn Museum of Art (BMA). Thus, I had ample opportunity to reinvigorate my museum learning experiences.
Every day should be a Saturday
The BMA hosts a free ‘First Saturday’ program on the first Saturday of every month. While the actual events change, monthly mainstays include world music performances, gallery talks, dance party, hands-on art and films. Concurrently, all of the exhibits are open for free perusal.
Location, location, location…
Aside from being across the street from me, the Brooklyn Museum of Art is pretty well located and easily accessible by subway. Indeed, what truly separates the BMA from some of more well known New York museums, ie. MOMA and the Met, is the crowd. The fact that BMA manages to bring together a more diverse crowd—people of colour, families, teens, elderly—than any of its Manhattan counterparts truly makes museum-going a ‘fun’ event for a broad spectrum of people, rather than your typical middle/upper class or trendy museum goers. A few years ago, the museum completed outdoor renovations—now, there are sprightly fountains which dance in various aquatic formations (a la Las Vegas’ Bellagio fountains—minus the music). These renovations serve the dual purpose of allowing more community members to enjoy the outside design of the museum as well as attracting more visitors to come inside.
Learning happens even when you don’t know it!
The Brooklyn museum makes excellent use of its space. On the first floor, the Hall of the Americas is a large open gallery which holds the world music events during the first Saturday. Therefore, as I wander leisurely around the exhibits, I am also serenaded by tunes from across the globe. The open air nature of this space invites both solitary and shared learning experiences as noted in Packer and Ballantyne. People are free to experience art and music in their own manner—via congregation or individual perusal.
On the third floor, while waiting to learn how to salsa or Irish jig before the Saturday night dance party, I visit my favourite Egyptian sculptures and learn the answers to questions such as, why did the Egyptians always break the noses of their sphinxes? Usually, I find that museums are designed for solitary learning. However, the BMA, by virtue of its design and programming into spaces, is designed for both community and individual learning experiences. Similar to Gardner's (1999) multiple intelligences, this museum truly appeals to assorted learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) for multiple learners. While many people expect to learn at a museum, previous experience has cautioned me against making this inference. Therefore, the ‘unexpected learning’ which takes place at the BMA is a truly welcome side effect of enjoying a space and the interactions which occur within it. Call me lame, but during my time in NY, on the first Saturday of the month, I spent my nights hanging out in a museum!