Understanding the personal objects families bring to their art museum visit

Almost half of art museum visitors are families. Many art museums are trying to be more accessible to families, but it is typically the parents/caregivers who are often guiding their children, reading labels, and asking questions to engage with their children. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the ways families use personal objects that they brought from home to engage with artworks and each other in art museum galleries. Two research questions were investigated in this study: 1) What personal objects do families bring to the art museum, and why?; 2) How do families use personal objects to engage in the art museum galleries? This study used a phenomenological design to understand what personal objects families bring to art museums through audio recorded semi-structured interviews and a demographic survey. Eighteen participants were recruited from the Seattle Art Museum. Results suggest that families bring cell phones, digital/film cameras, toys, art supplies, and objects worn by family members, called “wearables.” Four themes emerged for how families use their personal objects in the museum: i) to create memories from their museum visit; ii) to distract themselves or keep busy; iii) to connect to the art; and vi) to engage their children. Future research in this topic could understand further how families use their personal objects.