Adult Programs: Film Series, Lectures, Symposia, Workshops, Museum Interpreters

Adults are varied in their interests and learning styles.

Programs designed for an adult audience will have a more indepth content level then children's, but must also allow opportunity for engagement on multiple levels.

Lectures (often with images) often include a reception and exhibition viewing, sometimes with a special viewing and discussion of collection items with a curator or a book signing with the speaker. The reception offers the audience a chance to discuss what they heard with each other and to have more intimate conversation with the speaker.

Symposia are a mixture of panel presentations, discussions, art digital showcases, print viewings, exhibition tours, and receptions. Past symposia have focused on the future of American Indian art, Native American photography, and Navajo weaving.

Native Eyes Film Showcase (PDF *) Film programs include screenings, discussions with film makers, writers, producers and cultural media experts, media literacy sessions, and receptions. The Native Eyes Film Showcase started in 2004 and has grown in popularity with last year's screenings overflowing with more than 500 people attending. We currently produce Native Eyes in partnership with the Hanson Film Institute and in collaboration with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. In summer 2008 we expanded the program to include a summer filmmaking workshop for Native youth.

Hands-on workshops for adults combine presentations by museum scholars and specialists, collections viewing, group discussions and guided making of an art form (traditional pottery for example) or practice of specialized skills (preservation of textiles for example).

Museum Interpreters are adults trained to engage visitors in the galleries. Their training includes lectures, gallery tours with curators, behind the scenes tours, hands-on sessions on teaching with objects and learning styles, readings and discussions, and the creation of their own tours that they vet with staff.

Podcasts are another way to add voice to exhibitons, further interpretation and reach new audiences. Following the success of an award-winning podcast audio tour of the Masks of Mexico exhibit, I am currently working a series of interviews with Native American potters and jewelers, as well as museum curators, related to our Pottery Interpretive Area and the Set in Stone exhibitions.

* PDF requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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