Today, I'm excited to chat with Kylie Neagle about fostering curiosity and critical thinking on self-guided field trips for teachers and students.

Kylie Neagle is the Education Coordinator at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in Adelaide .

With a small team and limited resources, catering to diverse student needs can be challenging. Volunteer Gallery Guides, though invaluable, cannot always provide guided tours.

At the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide (AGSA), this prompted a shift towards empowering teachers to lead self-guided tours, emphasising inquiry and engagement rather than content delivery. The aim is to discourage teachers from relying on booklets during gallery visits. When students solely focus on facts or information from wall texts, they miss out on the chance to discover artworks that genuinely pique their interest.

And this is where the Curiosity Cards come into play. These fantastic cards are a set of 52 tools designed to enhance art engagement among students. Perfect for self-guided gallery visits, they ease the pressure on teachers and empower students to articulate their thinking.

They promote 'long looking' and also foster critical thinking, creativity and confidence in discussing art, enriching the whole learning experience.

Curiosity Cards

https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/education/resources-educators/resources-educators-themed/curiosity-cards/

Other AGSA Resources

https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/education/resources-educators/

AGSA Education Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/agsa.education/

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How to look at art (slowly)- 30+ different ways to look at art or objects in the museum

Slow Art Guide - six simple steps to guide you through the process of slow looking

Ultimate Thinking Routine List - 120 thinking routines in one place

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In this episode, we take a closer look at museum visitor teams with Dickon Moore, Visitor Experience Manager at Wellcome Collection in London. Discover how these teams master the art of informal engagement, creating meaningful interactions that enhance visitors' museum experiences.

Key Points:

• Understanding the importance of informal engagement in fostering meaningful interactions.
• How the role of visitor teams has changed over time from a more security-focused role to their current role as facilitators of engagement.
• Insights into the strategies and techniques employed by museum visitor teams, for informal, spontaneous interactions and structured engagements.
• Why visitor teams are uniquely placed to engage with museum visitors
• How museum visitor teams expertly navigate interactions with strangers, based on curiosity and open questioning.
• Learn about the three areas of impact: how visitors might think differently, feel differently, or act differently after engaging with museum content or staff.
• Discover how museum visitor teams are supported during challenging interactions, including skills development, duty manager support, de-escalation techniques, and reflective practice sessions.

Wellcome Collection https://wellcomecollection.org/

Dickon Moore on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/dickonmoore

Transcript available here:

Sign up for my Curated newsletter - a fortnightly dose of cultural inspiration

Join the Slow Looking Club Community

Support the show here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Download my free resources:

How to look at art (slowly)- 30+ different ways to look at art or objects in the museum

Slow Art Guide - six simple steps to guide you through the process of slow looking

Ultimate Thinking Routine List - 120 thinking routines in one place

If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback, get in touch with the show!

Today, in a special BONUS episode for Slow Art Day, I’m talking to Harma van Uffelen.

Harma works as a curator of education for the Van Gogh Museum where they have just created a brand new slow looking programme and a slow looking experience for the Matthew Wong exhibition.

Listen in to hear:

• How the programme started and why they chose the Matthew Wong exhibition
• Techniques for engaging participants, including a deep dive into one of Wong's artworks
• Considerations in programme design: ensuring comfort, choosing artworks, and managing duration
• Designing a slow looking programme in a busy museum (hint: it can be done!)
• "In Silence with Matthew Wong": silent slow looking experience with one artwork
• Reflections on the pilot programme and future plans

If you’ve ever thought about designing and facilitating slow looking programmes in your museum, you will learn a lot from this episode!

Matthew Wong, The Realm of Appearances, 2018,

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about/news-and-press/press-image-bank/images-matthew-wong/the-realm-of-appearances

Matthew Wong exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/visit/whats-on/exhibitions/matthew-wong-vincent-van-gogh

Slow Looking Programme at the Van Gogh Museum

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/nl/bezoek/agenda-en-activiteiten/rondleidingen/matthew-wong-vincent-van-gogh

Open up with Vincent

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about/organisation/inclusion-and-accessibility-policy/open-up-with-vincent#collaborations

Harma van Uffelen on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harma-van-uffelen-4b50b721/

H.vanUffelen@vangoghmuseum.nl

Sign up for my Curated newsletter - a fortnightly dose of cultural inspiration

Join the Slow Looking Club Community

Support the show here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Download my free resources:

How to look at art (slowly)- 30+ different ways to look at art or objects in the museum

Slow Art Guide - six simple steps to guide you through the process of slow looking

Ultimate Thinking Routine List - 120 thinking routines in one place

If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback, get in touch with the show!