Museums are utilizing both digital and on-site strategies to engage a younger audience. Digital engagement consists of targeted social media posts and applications for electronic devices. Millennials want to spend their money on experiences, which puts museums in direct competition with places like amusement parks and movie theaters. Museums are incorporating unique on-site experiences into their programs to engage a young adult audience. With new engagement practices, museums are becoming relevant with Generation Y.
Digital Engagement
Permitting patrons to turn their experience into “Instagrammable” moments leans into the popularity of the app amongst this group. The Broad, a contemporary art museum in Los Angeles, was a stop for the Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors exhibition in 2017. These immersive spaces use a combination of light, mirrors, and color that are whimsical and eye-catching. When tickets went on sale, they sold out within just a few hours. Even though patrons are only allowed in the room for 45 seconds, people lined up for hours to experience the space, taking pictures that flooded the app.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington D.C., has combined the accessibility and sheer use of the online forum with their mission of raising awareness of women in the arts. The social media challenge asks people to name five female artists from history using the hashtag #5womenartists. The campaign takes place during Women’s History Month and has grown in participation over three years as both individuals and other museums are getting involved. In this case, NMWA is using social media as a tool for education and promotion that has a significant reach.
On Site Engagement
After-hour programs devoted to this audience has led to an increase in attendance for the programs.[15] In recent years, museums all over the U.S. have created after-hour programs to tap into these visitors. Millennials are seeking experiences.[16] In contrast, the baby boomer generation typically would use the museum as an educational experience. Millennials appreciate the educational value of the museum but crave experience over education. Usually, young audiences are seeking ways to engage with their peers that will have a lasting impression on their lives.
Once at the event, allowing for visitors to have a shared experience contributes to a successful event. Colleen states, “According to our visitors, the best thing that we do is connect them to one another.”[22] Providing an experience that makes the visitors connect with one another will bring in more patrons wanting to relate with one another.
Arizona State University (ASU) Art Museum recently held two after-hour events, Escape the Museum and Get Weird. The former event, Escape the Museum, afforded a new experience for the audiences by having them solve a series of puzzles to “escape” the museum. The event brought in about 100 participants.
Reflexive Analysis
Quite a bit of the digital engagement described in this article is common sense social media engagement. I found the part about photo ops and how this engages the audience digitally to be interesting though. Photo ops are generally something I think of as engaging the audience on site, however they are just as valuable when shared on social media to engage potential visitors. I didn’t see any sweet photo ops in Dayton and there could be room for opportunity.
The section here that focuses on site was far more of interest to me. Rather than focus on what kinds of activities or exhibits attract young adults, we focus on why this crowd tends to visit museums at all. That is largely for community engagement and shared experience. By hosting group activities after hours, young adults are drawn in simply for the prospect of connecting and having a fun time with others. The content of activities, while important, are secondary to the promise of an experience. Perhaps the NPS could use this sort of method to draw users into their park and communicate aspects of the story of the Wright brothers.
Sources
NFP, P. byRogers P. C. (2021, April 20). Shifting perspectives: The millennial influence on museum engagement. The Museum Scholar. https://articles.themuseumscholar.org/2018/06/11/tp_vol1bellomatchette/
Null. (2021, August 18). National Aviation Day: 5 places to visit to celebrate the history of flight and the wright brothers. dayton. https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/key-places-visit-the-amazing-history-flight-and-the-wright-brothers-dayton/nRgHdvDtMFkSLkj2uV8z7M/
