Creative leaders in the museum,
entertainment, architecture, and archaeology professions gathered at
Wilton House Museum for a day of ideation and dialog on future museum
interpretation and programming. Inspired by our mission statement,
strategic plan, and the findings of our recent paint analysis investigation, Chipstone Foundation sponsored this Idea Day to offer
advice and suggest paths to relevancy. Participants, Jon Prown, Carl Lounsburry, Sumpter Priddy, David
Crank, Donna Harris, Franklin Vagnone, Mark
Wenger, and Sylvia Yount offer advice and suggestions on ways
to invigorate our museum interpretation and programming.
Experiences, theories, and concepts
filled the day’s conversations. It was particularly reassuring to find
that Wilton is not alone in the struggle to remain relevant in its
community. Like so many other historic house museums, we are rethinking the
standard house museum interpretation that was established over fifty years ago.
As the community around us continues to evolve, so must we. To
those ends, we opened our minds to what was offered throughout the day.
As Director of Education three concepts resonated with me: access to history, dialog with visitors, and questions over answers. Equipped with our mission statement, we are better poised to experiment with exhibitions and interpretations. As museums
are considered the leading repository for historical resources and research
we are better prepared to provide a more
complex understanding of our past.
All three of these concepts were experimented with at our new March re-enactment, Washington at Wilton. Along with the modern carpets and stanchions, most of the historic chairs were removed from the Wilton's study and replaced with period reproductions so that visitors could sit in the room and converse with George Washington. The response from visitors was overwhelmingly positive.
All three of these concepts were experimented with at our new March re-enactment, Washington at Wilton. Along with the modern carpets and stanchions, most of the historic chairs were removed from the Wilton's study and replaced with period reproductions so that visitors could sit in the room and converse with George Washington. The response from visitors was overwhelmingly positive.
In addition to the changes made to the historic setting we
also asked visitors to put themselves in the shoes of a small farmer on the eve
of the Revolution and decide whether or not they would leave their farm to
fight for liberty. The dilemma of personal security versus the potential
benefit for the greater good was brought up in the discussions with Washington
and the other re-enactors. With the pros and cons debated, visitors cast
their votes as well as defined what liberty meant to them. What was most
surprising about the voting was that it was not overwhelmingly in favor of war
with Britain. Rather, the votes were evenly split between war and peace.
For the past month, Wilton's study has remained devoid of
the obvious modern intrusions that were removed prior to His Excellency's
visit. With the reproduction furniture remaining in the room, visitors
are invited to have a seat in one of the designated chairs when they enter the
room. By sitting in these chairs visitors are introduced to a new
perspective of this historic space. In setting the study in this manner
and inviting visitors to engage in it, we have stepped away from the vignettes
of a by-gone day and welcomed our audience into a more true representation of
this space.
As we continue to experiment with this evolution in our
interpretation visitors are welcome to add their voice to the conversation.
What is the future of the historic house museum? How do we remain
good stewards to our collections, create historically accurate settings, and
increase visitation? What do you want out of your experience?
