Teenagers and Social Participation

Image via Museum 2.0

A while ago Hannes sent through a great link to MoMA's teen website Red Studio. If you didn't have a chance to look at it then it's really worth checking out. It has lots of great interviews with artists, creators and museum staff as well as plenty of opportunity for taking part in interactive activities. It sets a pretty high benchbank for this kind of site.

Recently I've come across another couple of teen-focussed projects that provide both 'real-life' and online connections between teens. The first is the Teen Program at the Brooklyn Museum. One of the great things about this program is that the social events are programmed by the kids themselves. Inspired by the collections these nights have included everything from yoga classes and henna tatooing, to scavenger hunts and curators talks.

Getting teens to interact with each other in this way is not always as easy it seems according to Nina Simon who recently wrote this interesting post on recent research into 'Teenagers and Social Participation'. Many teenagers feel happier 'geeking out' with people online who share their own interests. A great example of this is the participatory blog run by Teen Tix, an arts access program based in Seattle for kids aged 13 -19. A Teen Tix pass entitles the holder to purchase $5 tickets to 36 different theatre companies and many museums in and around Seattle. Kids can also access free tickets through the Teen Tix site if they agree to write a review for the blog. The calibre of writing is very high and puts paid to those nay-sayers who think that such sites just end up full of crap.

If you know of any other good examples of programming for teens let me know and I'll put the links on the sidebar of our blog so that we can keep them all in one place.

Caz

The Odditoreum

Image: Powerhouse 'Photo of the Day' blog

Yesterday Robin mentioned the Powerhouse exhibition, The Odditoreum so I thought you might be interested in finding out a little more about it. The Odditoreum began life as an idea for a small school holiday program but became a popular exhibition, book and limited edition print. The project had many constraints including a budget of only $7000 (excluding staff time) and was conceived as a 'low-tech' way of engaging visitors with the permanent collection.

The show was 'curated' by children's book author Shaun Tan. Tan chose 10 objects from a long list he was sent by the Public Programs Producer who had compiled and refined the list in consultation with curators, registrars and conservators. He then wrote fictitious labels of approx. 100 words for each object. Visitors were also invited to write their own labels. The 'real' label information was also included but only at the end of the exhibition.

The show was a big hit with audiences of all ages and is a good reminder that you don't always need a million bucks to pull off a good idea. It is also a good 'real-life' example of a the type of engagement people are also seeking online.