Grandfathers at Melbourne Museum: Shining a Spotlight on Overlooked Museum Visitors

Abstract

This article discusses a visitor research project conducted at Melbourne Museum in 2017. The aim of the study was to gain a better understanding of the perceptions and experiences of older museum visitors. The project research design entailed collection and interpretation of data from 39 semi-structured interviews and a short survey of 103 older visitors aged 60 years and over. A significant finding was the theme of museums as places of intergenerational experiences: visits with grandchildren were a major factor in older people coming to the museum. Of particular note were the qualitative interviews with 19 older male visitors. In the context of concerns about older men’s health and risk of social isolation following retirement, interpretation of the project data suggests that museums can play a valuable role in catering to this specific cohort which is often overlooked in programing. Museums provide a space for such visitors to have a purposeful and respected elder role as grandfathers where they can bond and enjoy relationships with their grandchildren as teachers, guides, and fellow learners. Recommendations focus on object-centered learning as a programing approach to create more memorable and meaningful experiences for grandfathers and grandchildren visiting museums together.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge our co-researchers: Lena Gan, Kate Phillips, Carolyn Meehan. In addition, we would like to thank the McCoy Seed Fund Scheme, Museums Victoria and Melbourne Museum, and the University of Melbourne for supporting the project, as well as the participants for making time available during their museum visit to contribute to the study. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and Dr. Roslynne Bell, Dr. Elizabeth Bonshek, and Dr. Richard Gillespie for providing valuable feedback on earlier drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors

Notes

1 The project was titled “The museum multiple: understanding older visitors.”

2 This small pilot study was conducted by the University of Melbourne at two public art galleries and Melbourne Museum. The study was titled The role of cultural institutions in facilitating an age-integrated society with a focus on older cohorts in the context of global ageing populations and was funded by HARI (Hallmark Ageing Research Initiative) at the University of Melbourne.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the McCoy Seed Fund Scheme (2017): an initiative to develop collaborative research projects between Museums Victoria and the University of Melbourne.

Notes on contributors

Alison Herron

Dr Alison Herron, Researcher, Department of Social Work, University of Melbourne: Alison has a background in social work practice. Her research interests include older people’s wellbeing and social dimensions of ageing.

Andrew Jamieson

Associate Professor Andrew Jamieson, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne: Andrew is a Classics and Archaeology curator and lecturer, with a background and interest in object-centered learning, exhibitions and curation, community engagement and public programing.