Poster Session (Asynchronous Session)
Featured Hurricane Ida and New Orleans Museums: Examining Power Disruption Effects via Twitter Posts Utilizing Nvivo View Digital Media
Poster Session Zahrasadat Hosseini, Paulette R. Hebert
On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida's…Category 4 winds and torrential rain left the Louisiana coastline badly beaten.” (NPR, 2021). New Orleans lost all power and for “More than one million residents … it is unclear when power will be restored…it may last more than a month... “(NPR, 2021). New Orleans experienced high heat and humidity during and after Ida. Previous researchers reported on disaster preparedness at facilities (Chandrasekera and Hebert, 2019) and power disruptions’ effects on facilities (Restrepo and Zimmerman, 2001). Hebert (2015) examined the effects of Hurricane Sandy on a Smithsonian Museum. Rodrigue (2003) performed a content analysis of newspaper articles following the September 11th disaster. Franz, et al. (2019) manually analyzed Facebook posts and developed a research methodology utilizing Facebook. Power outages may cause damage to museum artifacts during hot and humid weather when air conditioning fails. Current researchers examined how museum facilities prepared for, withstood, and reopened after Hurricane Ida using social media. Researchers explored how 14 New Orleans area museums were affected by Ida. Researchers “followed” museums on Twitter and accessed August 28 to September 28, 2021 posts, via Nvivo software. They utilized keywords in content analysis, i.e., aftermath, disaster, flood, hurricane, Ida, power, and storm. Researchers found that all studied museums closed facilities due to Ida. “Hurricane” keywords were found to exhibit the highest frequencies across museums. Facility impacts and reopening times varied. Social media was a cost-effective and unobtrusive way of studying museums subjected to a hurricane as data could be collected online.
Featured Arts and Access - a Tale of Two Towns: Income Inequality - The gap between Rich and Poor and Its Effect on Art Education
Poster Session Kimberly Thomas
Teaching in 19 different schools to over 19,000 through a history of public school art education and museum education, I am primed to discuss the knowledge, and arts education gap between some of the wealthiest and poorest communities in my county. My presentation aims to show an artwork that I have created reflecting on my experiences, as well as, a brochure and podcast to share information and experiences with museum art educators. My hope is that by sharing my experiences working with diverse learnings and examing knowledge, income, and experience inequities, museum educators will be better positioned to support their students and visitors.
No Barriers: The Art of Creating an Inclusive Museum Visitor Experience View Digital Media
Poster Session Matthew Cobham
All museums want to encourage more visitors. With a rapidly aging population of people who are also very active, there is a big opportunity for museums to help attract this group by also providing better visual conditions. This partly includes having the right level and quality of light. At the same time artwork conservation needs often mean lower illuminance levels. So how do we manage this? This poster presentation highlights the challenges and also suggest some solutions for museum facilities and gallery staff so the optimum visitor experience can be provided and artworks can be preserved for future generations.
Examining the Role of Interdisciplinary Arts in Expanding Worldviews: A Qualitative Case Study View Digital Media
Poster Session Catie-Reagan King
This study addresses the literature gap surrounding the arts’ value to other disciplines, particularly concerning design thinking found in arts education. In addition, the research encourages individuals to take art courses, museums to offer interdisciplinary art educational opportunities, and researchers to continue exploring the effects of the arts on development of 21st-century skills. This study’s research design was a qualitative case study using a human-centered approach informed by constructivist theory and design thinking methodologies. Constructivist theory shaped data collection, as the goal of observation and interviewing was to explore the research problem from the perspective of participants directly subjected to the phenomenon and who reflected on the impact that interdisciplinary art education had on their growth and development. A human-centered research approach focused on the community as a whole and generated meaning from lived experience. The researcher posed actionable recommendations for university administrators, curriculum designers, faculty, and students. Implementing these recommendations by museums and art institutions will lead to more well-rounded citizens equipped with the 21st-century skills needed for professional success. The findings indicate that participants benefited greatly from engaging in artistic expression. This triangulated data collection method created a way to analyze the data meaningfully. Positive outcomes, such as newfound confidence, a sense of community, a broadened worldview, and problem-solving skills were a few of the takeaways from participants. Each participant found value in creating art, working with others, and reflecting.
