Collaborative Creativity: Creating Participatory Experiences in Art Museums

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2012University of Washington <bold>Abstract<bold> Collaborative Creativity: Creating Participatory Experiences in Art Museums Meghan E. Brummett Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Kris Morrissey, PhD Museology As contemporary culture becomes increasingly participatory, art museums are striving to find new ways of incorporating participatory experiences into their institutional practices. They are introducing exhibits, spaces and programs where a collaboration between museum staff and visitors produces new experiences and ideas. This paper presents four case studies from museums across the United States that have introduced collaborative experiences to their visitors and audience members. It explores the institutional messaging surrounding these participatory programs or exhibits and the ways that visitors actually engage with these experiences. This paper exposes a lack of clear institutional vocabulary that could be used to describe these projects in ways that could be clearly communicated across the field. In response, it proposes a framework that can be used to classify and discuss future participatory projects in art museums