Report on Adult and Community Public Programs in Contemporary Art Galleries in the Southern Ontario and Ottawa Region

The social life of Canadian art museums is evolving as institutions adopt more experiential models of public programming. Today, visitor-centred approaches to public programs delivery exist alongside, or in place of, traditional tours and lectures, standardized presentation formats which tend to operate through the unidirectional transmission of art historical and curatorial knowledge. Contemporary programming strategies, on the other hand, encourage audience participation and often take place in creative, dialogic and relational settings. In a 2009 survey of 15 art museums and galleries in the Southern Ontario and Ottawa region, John Rubino conducted a series of live, telephone and e-mail interviews with museum curators and public programs directors in order to develop an overview of the current state of adult museum programs. Audience development was a key concern shared by the survey respondents, yet attendance was not the only factor determining the types of programs offered. Curators and directors expressed a wide range of reasons for the design of their respective programs, articulating philosophical positions that were as various as the programs themselves. The results of this comprehensive survey have been compiled in the following report, which describes the numerous programming formats adopted and identifies 7 strategies currently being deployed in art museums: visual culture and contemporary world culture; local culture; artist practices; social environment; community; education; and professional development