Changing the Rules

Abstract

Three years after the Detroit Institute of Arts opened with all new, “visitor-centered” galleries, the museum's executive director of learning and interpretation shares the processes, successes, and lessons learned at an institution that embraced an array of hands-on learning models. The models are discussed as components of a comprehensive interpretive plan that built on the DIA education department's earlier focus on innovative interpretation and took advantage of extensive visitor research and evaluation. The article concludes by discussing the challenges art museums face when integrating hands-on learning in galleries that display rare and aesthetically-significant objects.