In our example, a daughter (D.) and her father (F.) plan to go to the The Museum of Modern Art together. F. has always had a passing interest in art, but has a hard time "appreciating" contemporary art because, he says, "I don't really understand much of what's going on in the works."

Logistical Considerations

D. and F. had previously attended a Meet Me at MoMA program and received passes that allowed them to come to MoMA for free with three other family members (up to five people). D's husband and his sister are also interested in attending and making the Museum visit a meaningful and enriching family experience. They decide to go to MoMA later in the afternoon, around 3:00 P.M. They commit to leaving to leaving at 5:00 P.M. at the latest, in order to prevent fatigue from setting in, and plan an early dinner to complete the outing. Luckily, D.'s sister-in-law has a car, so they decide to drive on a Wednesday afternoon and park in one of the parking lots that provide discounts to MoMA visitors.

The Museum Experience

D. thinks that taking her father to look at more iconic and accessible works will prompt him to explore some of the Contemporary galleries. She plans to focus on particular works in the Painting and Sculpture galleries that she has researched in advance using the Museum's Web site. Afterward she plans for them to stroll through the Contemporary galleries, allowing their explorations to go into uncharted and unplanned directions and to make connections to the works they have just viewed. When they get to the Museum, they go directly to the Painting and Sculpture galleries on the fifth floor. They look at three works in depth, all of which depict cityscapes. One particular work is especially intriguing to them: Street, Dresden by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. They appreciate both the subject matter of the work and the signature style with which Kirchner transforms this urban street scene.

The family strolls through the third-floor galleries to explore photography—a favorite of F.'s, who had dabbled in photography and always appreciated the extent to which black-and-white photography had infused artistic practices with new ideas and a new aesthetic. Without having planned it, they stumble upon some photographs by Helen Levitt depicting New York street scenes, which provide great fodder for conversation about the ways New York has changed and the beauty of the photographs themselves. In addition, a natural conversation unfolds around Kirchner's depiction of street scenes in comparison to Levitt's. (D. had bought a print of Kirchner's painting that they use for comparison.) After another twenty minutes in the Photography galleries, the group takes a break in the Sculpture Garden, then goes to the Contemporary galleries.

Throughout, the pace is relaxed and the tone of the exchanges is jovial. Everyone makes sure to take their time looking. They describe elements and delve into some personal interpretations and associations. D. photographs the works viewed when allowed as they go through the galleries.

D. and F. make some connections to other times they have come to the Museum and to other personal experiences. In the Contemporary galleries on the second floor, they discuss the ways current artists are thinking about cities and incorporating those ideas into the materials they use. They come across some bewildering work that gradually becomes accessible as they explore it more thoroughly by reading the wall texts and continuing the conversation among themselves. They feel satisfied about being able to make connections to the more representational work nearby in the same gallery. A work by Tony Cragg catches their attention and provokes an interesting exchange: the artist had chosen to not just represent a city street but to bring materials found in an urban setting into the gallery to create an arresting and beautiful assemblage.

After another forty minutes, everyone is ready to call it a day. D.'s sister-in-law validates her parking ticket and goes out to get the car while the rest of the group waits in the lobby. They go uptown to have dinner at one of F.'s favorite restaurants, where they discuss what has affected them that day using reproductions of the artworks as prompts.

Art at Home

The next day, since their Museum experience had been an enlightening and fun outing, and unexpected connections had been made about street and city scenes, D. and her father decide to block out some time in the afternoon to visit the MoMA Web site and access additional work by artists they had seen the day before, bring out some of F.'s photographs and other reproductions of artworks they have in the house, and record some of F.'s stories about the city. F. had always been an avid reader and writer but recently had become reluctant to write. However, he is keen on recording the tales he would have written a few years earlier, and D. is excited to make an audio collection of her father's stories. The afternoon proves a success.

Creative Projects

Finally, that weekend D. takes out her camera and with her father takes photographs of their neighborhood. They truly collaborate in terms of choosing the subjects, talking about the angles and composition they want to use, and debating the merits of one shot over another. They make great use of their digital camera, and when they return home they upload the images to the computer.

D. makes sure to have all the necessary material and equipment ready and places the computer in a very accessible and cozy area, where F. feels comfortable. They have a good time juxtaposing Kirchner’s and Levitt’s images from the Museum’s collection with their own street scenes and cityscapes.

In addition, D. had taken digital photographs of the works they saw at the Museum and she displays slide shows on the computer regularly over the following weeks. The slide shows allow D. and F. to continue to connect their experiences at MoMA to their photography project.

The Museum experience and the extended activities at home provide D. and her father with quality time together and some extremely meaningful engagement. They both grew and learned while revisiting their interests, thinking about their own lives, and discussing the ways other artists engaged with their communities using different mediums.

Source: www.moma.org/families_sample