Digital Audio Tour of CWU Art and Architecture

Students in Mark Auslander’s Museum Exhibition Design and Exhibiting Nature classes and Ellen Avitts American Art and Architecture have created a digital audio tour, accessible via mobile phone, of important work of art and architecture on the CWU-Ellensburg campus. Their collaborative mission has been to create audio segments that are accessible and engaging for young people. Students have worked to create an audio tour (edited on Garage Band or Audacity) that is informed by art history and museum theory, but which is distinct from most conventional museum audio tours, which tend to emphasize the expertise and connoisseurship of the speakers. These audio segments often deploy humor and repartee among speakers, to encourage auditors to reflect upon the works of art and see them in new ways, even if listeners are initially resistant to thinking about art critically. The project emerged in close consultation with the university’s Art Selection and Permanent Committee and with faculty in the Art Department and in the Museum of Culture and Environment. When possible artists and staff members involved in the initial selection and placing of the art were carefully consulted. At the SOURCE presentation, each collaborative student team will present their audio segment and reflect on their presentational tactics. There will also be a discussion with participants and audience members about effective new strategies for using this new technology to deepen student and community engagements with art and the built environment. For this presentation, Lauren Walton and Wolfgang Kvietkus received a Creative Expression Best Presentation Award for 2014