Now that you're an adult and have grown to enjoy a good lecture, gallery exhibit, or documentary film how do you share that excitement with the young people in your life? As in the case of vegetables and midday naps, Americans don't typically come to appreciate art and history until they get older. Maybe it was the school field trips or the frequent reminders of "don't touch."
Today's museums and exhibits, however, are much different than the ones we remember as kids. Across Wisconsin and the rest of the nation, museums and other educational attractions are quickly discovering that their guests need to be entertained in order to be educated.
Interactive displays are not limited to attractions featuring science or history. "For some time, museums have understood that more learning goes on when there's touching and doing," says Kathy Kelsey Foley, director of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau. "Of course, in art museums touching can be a difficult concept, but there are other ways to have tremendously valuable interactive experiences."
Exposing children to arts and culture should be done in a manner and pace that suits them.
"Young people need to be introduced to the arts in a relaxed manner, otherwise it becomes an overwhelming and disappointing experience," says Elaine Pawlowski, education director for the Betty Brinn Children's Museum in Milwaukee. "They need to experience art in order to appreciate it. Instead of marching a six-year-old through an art gallery, for instance, challenge her to create stories about the pictures she sees or point to all of the pieces in a room that remind her of sad, rainy days."
When getting young people engaged in their cultural history, parents should still be mindful of age-appropriate interests and be patient with the process.
"Through cultural exhibits, we hope children and families gain understanding not only of the culture represented in the exhibit, but also of their own culture," says Ruth Shelly, executive director of the Madison Children's Museum. "When children recognize that family foods, traditions and celebrations are part of their cultural heritage, the learning process is smoother and less hurried."
Clayborn Benson, executive director of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum, says there are valuable lessons to be learned from one's cultural heritage. Benson recently told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "It's important that young people learn about the contributions that their ancestors made so that they can rise above their circumstances."
In spite of all these efforts, not all children will embrace the museum experience and would plainly prefer to do something or be anyplace else. But don't falter. It's the right thing to do and it will pay off in the end.
"My parents would drag me off to every Black, Hispanic and ethnic lecture, film and exhibit that came to town and I usually wanted to be somewhere else," recalls Shaun Flanagan, a 19-year old freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "I can see the difference it made now. IThe knowledge and pride I have of my heritage is second-nature because history and the arts were just always a part of what my family did."
Marty Perkins, curator of research and interpretation at Old World Wisconsin, says the best part about interactive displays is that they get visitors to learn. "If you can engage the visitor and get them involved," he notes, "they are going to leave with something."