Silent Pedagogy:

How Museums
Help Visitors
Experience Exhibitions
Elliot W. Eisner
and
Stephen M.Dobbs
Wilh lhe assistance of
Paola BOOn, Douglas Freund and Katie Oddleifson

he Temh and Green bus comes to a bumpy stop

about a block from the Prescott Museum of Art.
Joe Johnson, his wife Edna, and their ten-year
old son John get off, make !heir way ea<t to visit
a place !hal neither Joe nor Edna has visiled since Iiley were
engaged over a decade ago. Coming to the Museum today is
for lhem "a nice lhing to do": in pan to recapture memories
of their courtship, in pan to experience some culrure.
Besides, it wiU be good for their son, John.
The large lions stand as imposing figures guarding lhe
portals of a palace which surely must contain rare treasures.
Passing through the revolving doors and into the marble estibule, they encounter a walled island behind which twO
people sit. Four dollars per person is required for admission

for adults, two dollars for senior citizens and children under
twelve. This must be new. The last time Joe and Edna were
at lhe Museum, it was free; at least Joe lhinks so.
The ticlcets are paid for, lhe pins signifying they have paid
are distribuled and phlced by Joe and his family on their
garments- an odd custom, he lh.inks. Nowhere in his
recoUection has he ever been asked to put a pin on his lapel
in order to enter a building, in order to look 81 pictures or
otherwise.
Which way to go? The signs list four exhibitions: one on
the photography of Aaron Siskind, a second on "CDamic
Vessels from Costa Rica", a third announcing lhe "Annual
Show of Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture",
and a fourth exhibition tilled "Selections of 17th Century

Drawing". After some hesitation and partly because the show

of Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture is
feawred, Joe, his wife, and their son head for galleries
seventeen through twenty-four.
At the entrance 10 the gallery is a sign announcing the
Fifteenth Annual Show of Contemporary American Painting
and SculptUtC. A deslc. is locared near the entrance. Catalogues are for sale. They cost twenty-two dollars. Joe wasres
no lime not buying one. The family enters gallery seventeen
and on the wall to their right encounter a panel containing
five parngrapbs explaining the hislnry of the works, using
words sucb as "genre" and "oeuvre", wbich neither Joe nor
EdJia is sure he or she underStands. The panel ends with an
expression of gratitude to the donors and foundations !hat
made the exhibit possible.
Which way to tum? To the right or 10 the left? Does it
maae(! Without much hesitation but with some uncertainty
Joe, Edna, and Jobn prepare to enjoy the treasures !hat the
lions outside the Museum so steadfaslly guard. The works
they first encounter are three large paintings by Barnett
Newman; flat canvases with large color fields, save for
single stripes of color at each edge. What's this about? Other
people are loolcing and walking. Joe and his family do like
the Romans. Now this is interesting! A large wall-like
wooden structure painted black. The sign adjacent to the
work says. "Louise Nevelson, 1982". "It musl've taken a lot
of work to make !hat". Joe muses. His son John asks, "What
is it?" Joe's wife Edna is thinking the same thing, but does
not ask. Joe bears the question, but cannot answer.
Helen Frankenlhale(s canvas appears next. At least the
other pieces, the ones by Newman and Nevelson. were neat.
What is this supposed 10 be? SpiOICbes of thin color stain a
canvas - "It's beyond me, says Edna John is beginning to
get restless. Joe is beginrting to feel stupid. This is what
museums are about? Nothing in the gallery provides a clue 10
help them. After fOtty minures,they leave the museum with a
mixed feeling of having dooe the right thing to have come,
but reaUy looking forward to the walk in the pari< a few
blocks away.
The foregoing srory about Joe Johnson, his wife Edna.
and son John, is a fictional account. But it is fiction con-

cocted 10 describe a common stare of affairs among the tens

of millioos of visitors who come 10 art museums in the
United States each year. These visitors, in the main, are not
frequent attenders. Most visit the museum less than once
each year. Over ninety percent of them come on their own
and visit the galleries unaccompanied by docents, lecturers,
or by group leaders. Tbey rend 10 have achieved high levels
of schooling, but modest levels of art eduCation. They not
only come on their own, they tour on their own, and the
extent to wbich they are able to experience the works on

display depends on the particular works they encounter. the

backgrounds they possess, and what the museum does 10
provide assistance.
This study is about what museums do ro help visitors
experience works of art. It is a study of what we call "Silent
Pedagogy". By "Silent Pedagogy" we mean the use of nonspoken infonnation lhat provides museum visitors with cues
for perceiving, thinking about, and appreciating works of an.
These cues include the way works are displayed, the themes
that relate one work 10 others, the content of the signage
(wall panels and labels) !hat is provided. comprehensibility
of the text. and the overall effectiveness of the instaUation.
All of these and other elemenL can be used inrentionally by
those who conceptualize, design, and install exhibitions to
help the JoeJobnsons of the world gain some insight and
satisfaction from the ofren sublle and complex worl<.s that
adorn the mu.~eum's walls and that are displayed in its
galleries. What does the museum do, beside displaying the
works, to help visitors connect with the works? Why do
museums do wbat they do? And, finally, what might museums do 10 help visito~ get what works of art providesources of satisfaction, insight, and pleasure.
To answer these questions five of us - including our
reseaJCh assistants Paola Borin, Douglas Freund, and Katie
Oddleifson - visited thirty-one museums including twentyseven art museums, localcd in eleven cities, in seven states.
from January 1987througb May 1987. Eacb of us visited
museums independently and prepared a case study on each
museum. We then reviewed each case study and extracted
common elements and generalizations from the entire scl
Hence, our findings are the result of a pooled analysis and a
collective inrerpretatinn. Although the two principal investigators in the study jointly have spent over seventy years
visiting museums in fony countries of the world, we did not
until this project focus on the "Silent Pedagogy" !hat
museums provide. For us, and for our research assistants,
this experience was something of an eyeopener.
Before describing what we found on our visits, we wish 10
acknowledge a view of the museum's educational role that is
still widely held among art museum professionals. That view
argues that museums ought to be "sacred groves", quiet
plaoes for the cognoscente 10 enjoy profound objects without
intetventiort. assistance, and above all, discursive language.
According 10 Shennan Lee:
Merely by existing - preservmg and exhibiting works of art
- it [the mJistum] is edMt:aJiooal in the broodest and best
sense, though it nevt!r Uittls a sound or prints a word.

Sherman Lee's seolimcnts were more radically prefigured

deeades earliu by one of the founders of the foeld of museum

education. Benjamin Gilman, of the Museum of Fine AJts in

Boston, wroce:

An insrirwion tkvor.d to IN presuvatibn and exhibition of

obftccs is 1101 M e.du.cationol Utslilulion eiJitLr Ut t~nce or
iJt its c/obn U> considtrtJtion.. .by M liberality iJt IN rkfW
lion of IN word td~Jt~J~ion can wt' rtdu tN two purposes.
IN artistic and IN didiJctic to oM. They tut mUIWJII;y
e.xclusivc in scope DJ they au distinct in value.
Gilman's sentiments are clear; art museums are not

educational institutions.
The museum's role. in lhls view, is to acquire, conserve,
and display. Its "sacred grove" is hallomd ground, a place of
civility in an age chat has so little. The idea thnt museums
should get in the way of the visitor's pert:q>tion of things as
delicate as worlcs of an. thai museums should be confused
with schools, and that doccots and curaun should be
reduca! IO pedagQ&ues. is anathema to what museums and
museum prorcss;onals should be and what wor1cs or an
requile. Hence in ils literature and in the auiludcs revealed in
our intcr;icws with some museum professionals. two
superficially different views of education emerge. One view
holds that museums are no1 educational institutions. Others
believe that everything the museum does is educational. Both
Shennan Lee's position and Benjamin Gilman's arc aUve and
well. The educational role of a museum is fulmled when
works of an are acquired. displayed, wellli~ and the doors
of the museum are opened. To do more is p<e.<umptuous at
bes~ at worst it inhibits the private and delicate ronns or
intimacy thai are acquired when one comes into the prosenoe
of genius. Funhe.rmorc, words bave nodling 10 do with the
qualities that constitute works of~ in fact, they distracL
Qualities eanll()( be reduced to words, and when the all.empt
is made 10 do so, the pen:eptlon of an suffers. tu one
museum director commented, ''The looger the label, the
mote they read and the less they loolc'". In his view at leaSI.

less is more.
Our point here is that the view that museums ought to
provide Silent Pedagogy is something that neither we nor
anyone else ought to take for granted. There is a long history
of thought that argues that it should not be provided. We
wish 10 acknowledge the exi.slcnce of litis view. We also
swe explicitly that we betie,, it is seriously misguided. and
Cot several reascns.
Ftrst. we find it sttange that those most steeped in
language about an. those wbo hold advanced degrees in an
hisulry - M.A.'s and Ph.D.'s -claim that wO<ds in!Ufere
with the perecption of art. Second. we find it contradictory to
claim that words inuorfere and then to provide words in the
Conn of docent didactics and museum catBiogucs. Third, we
fmd it pu:uling that those who have devored years 10 learn
bow to. pcreeive an. should assume that those who have had

so liulc background in the arts wiU sornel1ow "rise up" 10 the

level or great an simply by moving into its presence. II is
true that some who visit the an museum neither need nor
waru assistance: they ha'" ' what they need and want no more
Their desire should be bonorcd. But for the Johnson fllnlily
and the miUioos like them, an 100 often remains an enigma, a
code they cannot tr.ltk without assistance. The eloquent
absence of assi.uanc:e u.lls them to try harder. or that they are
simply insensitive or uncultured. We believe such messages
do visitors a disservice. Worts of an do no1 speal< for
themselves. They spea1t only 10 those who have lc:atncd 10
understBnd what they have to say. And while we surely do
not believe that even in the best of circumsLaoeeS musewns
can in a brief visit provide visitors with an aUpwpose key 10
experience the aesthetic conlMIS for which worlcs of an are
honored, we do betieve that meaningfulassisWIOC can be
provided. When effcetlve, this assistance mal:cs possible a
special form of upericnce.
Thccona:pr "e..perience" is central to our view of the
educalional role cf the an museum. Many believe that
experiena is an automatic consequence of living. To some
degree it is. But that conception docs not tell the whole story.
E<perience is not simply had, it is taken; experience is a
product of the tr31\saction between a viewer and a wO<k.
Each makes iL, own contribution. If a woR: ha.1 no qualities
worth experiencing, it cannot provide experience worth
having. If a work has qualities wonh experiencing, it
requires the skills for perceiving and undergoing what those
qualities malce possible. II is in the transaction between the
viewer and the viewed thai experience is born. Without the
object. there is noming 10 experience; without the 8!JP<Oilri
ate fntme of reference and developed sensibilities. the
object's qualities Cannol be e..perienced. One reason why
works or art for many visiton do not functioo is truu they do
not know what to make of what they look at. Their looking
does no1 result ln seeing, and becau."" they do not see what
can be seen, they do not experience what can be experienced.
It i~ through Silent Pedagogy thai bridges are built between
the viewer and the viewed. Seeing, in the end, is an achieve~
ment, no1 simply a task.
Because "'C believe these views are substantiated both
cornmon.sensically as evidenced in how an h~.
CUtalOCS, and otbcr trained an specialists are prq>md, and by
a u:clmicalresearcb lil.etalW'e. we believe that muscwns
ough110 do more than acquire, conserve, and display. This
study was designed to delermine what the museums we
studied do for the ninety plus percent of their visitors who do
notlravel lliOund the museum with doccnL,, attond lectures.
or read catalogues.
What Did We Find?

Our findings are presented in three areas. These are lntnlduc

lion and Orientation to the Museum; Layout and Installation

of Exhibitions; and Sig~~age. We will now provide generalizations that emanate from the museums we visited and then

discuss their meanings.

lntroductioD and Orieotalion
I) In only a very few museums, perhaps 10 percent of
those studied, is there a speeific orienlation space or
gallery set aside for introduction to either a speeific
exhibition or collection, or to the museum as a whole.
Some museums provide maps and/or lists of their
exhibitions.
2) A majority of the exhibitions visited lacked any
introductory or orientation material 31 all, including wall
chats, audio-<:assenes or slide or videolape presentations.
or a brochure or flier about the works of an_
3) Where introductory wall chats are used. they tcod to
appear IJlOQ often for temporary rather than for

permanent exhibitions. Such wall chats use visual

imagery to supplement the 1ex1 in about 10-20 percent of

cases.

One of the striking features of the twenty-seven art

museums we studied is the vinual absence of orienlation
galleries. The idea that an museums coold devote a gallery to
materials that help visitors make the most of what they were
going to see has a low priority in the museums we studied.
Orientation galleries could a'5ist visitors in le3111ing what to
look for in the permanent collection or speeial exhibitions.
They could provide a content both historical and aesthetic;
they could raise questions that focus the viewer's attention to
qualities in the work that they might otherwise miss; they
could iDuminate the uniqueness of particular works through
visual comparisons; and they could provide interactive video
that directs attemion to matters of technique, expressivity,
iconography, culture, and other features relevant to the
perception of an_
The interpretive galleries th3l Katherine Kuh designed at
the Art Institute of Chicago in the 19SO'sstill stand as a
cutting edge effon to de-mystify an. She tried to help visitors
get a toe-bold on works of an. She illustrated through visual
examples and through questions what might count in the
perception of, say, works by Signac and Seur31, and how
their wotts differ from the wotts of Picasso and Braquc.
Why do cubists paint that way? What were the pointilliSts up
to? Just why did the Barbizon painters go out to nature to
pain~ and what difference did it make? How does their work
make us feel. and what is it in their work that creates the
effects it has upon us? In shon, although the concept of an
orientation gallery is not new, and though attractive models

now thiny-five years old exis~ those who make museum

policy apparently believe th3l it is more irnponantto provid
space to display works the publ.ic cannot experience, than to
provide the assislance the public needs to experience the
works on display. We believe such a view of how museum
space should be used represents a false economy.
Related to the scarcity of orienlation galleries was the
scarcity of exhibition-specific text provided by wall chats
and object-speeifiC teXt penaining to individual works. Tot
sure, some museums provided something. few museums
provided much, and many provided vinually nothing. Whet
wall chats were provided, they were more likely 10 be
available for temporary, rather than pennanent exhibitions.
This is something we fmd puzzling. Recognizing as we do
that temporary exhibitions might be funded by a~

or foundation and that such displays need to be packaged ar

auractive as they move around the counuy, we still fmd it
difficult to understand why permanent exhibitions, which
change far less often, do not provide the visitor with aesthet
ically relevant information about the museums'~
holdings.
In some museums we found permanent collections
displayed as a melange of styles, periods, artists, and an
forms. The visitor encounter.; a Diebenkorn here, there a
painting by an 18th Century American Primitive, and
betwoen the two is a picture with the social realism of a Pau
Cadmus. What is the visitor to make of such a display? No
interpretive malerial is provided. What is displayed is the
permanent collection.
That such a situation is not inevitable is borne out by the
positive and progressive introductory and orienlation
material we found in some museums. In some cases, the siz
and repu1ation of the museum seem to make resooroes
available to wbicb all museums might not have aocess. For
example. the sheer prestige and clout of the National Galle~
of Art in Washington D.C. seems to assure that its exhibitions are comprehensively presented, including films, lector
series, and free color brochures to help inlroduce and orient
the viewer. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
City has an entire education and orientation center. open to
all visilOrS. where one can see a slide presentation on the
collections or current exhibitions. use an an and an history
library, or fmd printed information about the museum's
holdings and educational program. Ironically, however,ther
are no signs at the main reception desk of the museum that
would apprise the general visitor of the existence of the
facility, which is located a block away from the main
entrance.
We did see more modest examples of how museums can
do a fmc job of introducing and orienting the visitor. At the
Oakland Museum a retrospective on the Bay Area artist
Roben Arneson featored a variety of effective educational

aids to help visitofll acquire infonnation about lite artist, his

teclmiques, and lite meaning in his works. At the entrance 10
the gallery was a large wall panel offering five paragraphs
of interesting and useful information about Arneson, his
ieonoclastic characcer, and lite pervasive ilreverence in his
sculpWre. A large pho>graph of the artist adjacentiO the
interpretive !ext gave visitofll a view of the man behind lite
imagery. A video tape presentation featured lite artist
discussing his woric, and at least fifty percent of the visiiOfll
10 the exhibition we<e observed watching a portion or sitting
through the entire presentation. The Denver Museum of Art
also provided very useful signage for one of iiS major
temporary exhibitions. It is clear lhat a museum does not
have 10 be large to provide something useful.
Layout aud l~Datioa

We now tum 10 layout and instalJation. Three generalizations

emerge from our srudies:

I) The layout of exhibitions are typically concerned more

with their overalllook,lhan wilh their pedagogical
effccas.
2) Opportunities 10 display works that invile visual
comparisons are fr:equenUy neglccled.
3) Opportunities 10 relate works 10 the cultwe in which
IIley we<e produced are exploiled by few m,.;eums;
works are visuaUy presenled in isolation without a frame
of reference or oonleXt in which they can be situated and
understood.
Almost all the museums we visiled were attractive places;
clean, spacious, some even elegant wlth lheir parqueled
floofll, diffused lighting, linen or canvas covered walls, and
impressive marble vestibules. We encouncered few museuntS
that were shabby. What one senses as one encers the galleries

~ -- -- - ---

is the care with which they are main!&ned and the works
displayed. The major concern appears to be one of looking
good.
Looking good is a vinue. But it is not enough. Exhibitions
should, we argue, not only look good, they should make the
works aesthetically accessible. How? One way is to display
works adjacent to each other that encourage comparison and
COOtrcW;. Anoc.hcr is 10 provide text that cncour.Jges such
comparison and that commeniS on the shared and un~ue
features of the works displayed. For example, in one mu
seum we encountered exhibitions of Pre-Columbian an of
stunning quality in which Nyarit, Cbinesro, Zapotee, and
Colima images were displayed. This collection of figures
was very similar in size, but different in form and could have
been organized 10 help the visitors see the differences in the
formal, technical, and expressive features of the works.
These differences could have been related to differences in
the cultures in which they were made. The exhibition could

---- --~-'1

have t<~ught a very imponantlesson, namely, that the form

and iconographic features of a work emanate from cultural
conditions and that wltile the culture innuences the work,
work in tum, influences the culture that gave rise to it. In
shon, it is not beyond possibility that the museum could hel
visitors understand that while we shape an, an also shapes
us. Such opportUnities to funher perception and deepen
understanding go unrealized in most an museums.
Happily, we did find muswms in which comparisons are
fostered. One of the the most effective is the Nonon Simon.
At the Nonon Simon the visitor not only has access to a
small orientation gallery, but also encounters small panels
adjacent to an estimall>d fony percent of the paintings
displayed. These panels provide context for the work. In
addition to the small panels, the visiaor will also encounter x
ray photographs of some of the worlcs that reveal the ways i
which the artist altered the work in the process of its crea
lion. For exam lead. cent to Zurbaran's "Still Life: Lemons

Honore Oau~~nler. French. (110818'79): $lady

for Mrnmkhdt Rt.Jiing, c. 186566, Oil on
panel,lllll" x 14-J/2. Norton Simon Art
Foundation) Pasadf:u, California.

1870, Honore Daumier.

Oil on e:anas, 11 11/4" x 16". Nonoo Simo
Art Foundadon, Pasadtna, California.

Mou~tUINutb R#ttilag.

Oranges, and a Rose", the viewer fmds a small panel and an

x-ray photograph. The panel reads:

This txtraordintuy workJormally in the collection of

Cowtt A.lisondro Contini Bonacossi Paumo, Capp<>ni,
Florence. is the only signed and dated still life by Zurbaran.
Here, objects ofew:ryday life are presented with an appareN
nawalism and simplicity that belles the supreme subtlety of
the piece.
Against a backgrowtd ofimpen-.trable darwss. the three
groups of humbled objects are illuminated by a searching
light that at once isolates and elevates each object. The quiet
rendering ofform. color, textwe, and volwne, and the
delicate balance of the special relationships lend the scene a
medjtativo qw:Uity.lndeed, wiJhin the rigorous formality of
the symmetrical arrangement each ml)tUst object is obser-..d
and depicted with sch intensity and deliberation that the
austere still life assumes a mystical and spirit~UJI characrer.
Despite the calm awhorlty of this painting. Zurbaran djd
not arriV< at this assured effect of monwnentality without a
degree ofrevision. The x-ray photograph, djsplayed below,
uvoa/s that the artist originally plonned to show a plate of
partially peeled onions on tht left side of tht composition.
He later painted ow this element, dramatically altering the
composition, in ortkr 10 achieve a greater equality and
harml)ny.
What is interesting and educationally signifiCllllt is that
such information provides the visitor with the idea that artists
revise their woric: they edit; they change; that worics of art do
not come out fuUblown from the artist's head, hand, or bean.
They are the resolt of a process of inquiry; they require
judgmenL The x-ray photograph and the text forwards a
more human view of the creation of a work of art.
In addition, at the Nonon Simon one futds skclclles and
paintings hung side by side. For example, in one gallery
there is a study sketch tided "Study for Montebanlcs Rest
ing", by Honore Daumier.lmmed.ialely below it is a painting
titled "Montebanlcs Resting", also by Daumier. The panel
adjacent to these works provides four paragraphs of context
that enables the viewer to understand Daumier's contribu
tions to modem art and the relationship between the study
skeu:h and the final picture.

Slpaee
Among the most imponant resources available to the
museum to as.~ist visitors establish ooruact with worb of an
are the signs and Jal>els that the museum uses for exhibitions
and for individual works of ar1. What did we find when we
examined these l'tSOUJ'C<!s? The following generalizations
distill and characterize some of our findings:

I) Wall labels often pmvide very minimal infonruuioo,

such as the artist's oame,lide of the work, medium,
and when it was created. This historical or anthropol
ogical information is seldom complemented by signage
which au.ends to the expressive or aesthetic characteris
tics of the WOrk.
2) Technical language or jargon is frequendy used
without explanation, putting at a disadvantage those
viewers unfamiliar with the lexicon of art and art
history. Few museums offer text which describes the
teChnical processes or materials employed by artists in

their exhibitions.
3) Where signage is available and appropriate, it does
llOl appear to compromise the aesthelic quality of the

exhibition, and remains an option for visitors to ignore

should they choose to do so.
The most telling comment we can make about signage in
the art museums we studied is its scan;ity. his the rare an

museum that provides object-specifiC labels that offer more

than minimal information about the work. In some cases. the
Art Institute of Chicago, for example, some labels have
contextual information relevant to some of the aesthetic
features of the work. But the presence of such Jal>els is
limited to a particular exhibition and does not ex.tend to most
of the Museum's collections. What visitors get is name, ranlc,
and serial number. For some reason curators feel compelled
to put accession numbers on the label. his doubtful that

these numbers have any meaning to most museum visitors.

When information is provided on lasge panels that intrOduce
an exhibition as a whole or that hightight a major woric, the
text is often factually dense and ae.'thelically marginal to the
work. It is what Howard Gardner, writing in The Mustum as
Educator, calls "hand-waving" by curat= that has the effect
of intimidating the viewer rather than being bclpful Con
sidcr for example, the following text J)Maining to large stone
Assyrian Panels:

The two reliefs at the ltfl were designed as corner panels

forming a stylized sacred trtt. Lines of uniform text run
across these and other examples and are known as tht
'standard inscription', repetitive teXI proclaiming tht King's
legitimacy and accomplishments. The third relit[depicts a
mWtiwinged genius performing a ritiUJI pwijication with a
date-palm spathe and bucket. On tht fltX1 panel a winged,
benificent gtJtiusfoii<JWs the King and raises one hond in a
gesture ofbenedjction or djvine protection. A.shwnasirpall/
carries a bow in a shallow libation vessel. He is identified by
his distinctive royal copcom with a cone-shaped protruber
ance and hanging fringed thillet or ribbon. On panelfivo a

birdhLaded tkiry rouciiLs a piU'if.er to a sacred rrtt. TilL

reliifs are characterized by a tktailed highly linear treat
-~~~of alleloni!IIIS. TIILjigiU'es wear IILavy,fringed llUtics
and shawls with tkcorative bands with floral or geometric
miJti/s along tilL hems. EachjigiU'e carries rwo knives ruck.td
into tilL waistband of his ganne111 and wears an elaborate
assemblage ofarm bands. earrings, beads, and bracelets.
Animal miJtifs are incorporated illlo many oftiiLse tktails.
such as the wet stone at tilL waist of Ashurnasirpolll's
attendant are on tilL tips of 1M bow.

That useful signage can be provided is evidenced by the

major museums tllat now do so. The MetropOlitan Museum
of Art has informative signage in some of its major galleries.
The J. Paul Getty Museum has infonnative labels adjacent to
an estimaled ninety percent of the paintings on display. The
Geuy Museum. more than any museum we visited, takes
seriously the provision of cues that visitors can use to
connect wilh what he or she encounters in lhe museum.
These labels are not only effective; tlley are also brief.
Consider the following label:

What is a viewer to do with such information? What is the

writer of the text trying 10 accompli.sb? The museum in
which the large Assyrian panels are displayed is an an
mu.'leum; the panels are there because presumably they have
merit as worl<s of art. The information provided, however, is
essentially ironographic or anthropological. Might not the
formal qualities of the relief be called to the viewer's attention, the stylistic and idealized forms that characterize
Assyrian art be mentioned, the relationship between the
hardness of the stone that was used to tile deplh of the relief
that was cut? We do not argue that iconographic or anthropological information is irrelevan~ it simply is inadequate. We
are talking about museums of art, 001 antluopology or
history. Furtllermore. by emphasizing the iconographic or
anthropological features of tile worl< to the excl.usion of its
formal, aesthetic, or expressive features. the museum
conveys to the viewer tllat tile former information is what
counts the most.
The paragraph from which we quoted is about two-tllirds
of tile text that is actually provided. The remainder of tile text
is of the same character: factual, conceptually dense, and
difficult to assimilate. We get the distinct sense that tile
material was prepared by a curator for otller curators. ratller
than for Joe Johnson and his family.
We also found that not only was signage, where it was
used. factually dense; it also tended to use ~eehnical terms
tllat are unlikely to be a pan of the vocabulary of the
ordinary viewer; quatro-ecntto. mannerist. fresco. wet-stOne.
and tile tike.
There is much to say about works til at can be of benefit to
viewers. Underslanding tile artist's aim when it can be
deseril>ed is one. Comments on such features as tile formal
relationships within tile work. its expressive content, its
iconography when present, are only a few. One need not
provide such text for every work in tile museum to help
visitorS learn tllat tllere are useful ways of attending to works
of an. Such lessons leamed on some works can be transferred by the visitor to others. At present, what was provided
in most of the museums we studied was minimal and not
nearlv as useful as it rnil!lu be.

CeZanne's debt to the impressionist Camille Pissarro is

evitknt in rilL brig/u coloring and subtle tonalities of this
view, painted as tilL two artists worked side by side. However, unli.U an impressionist. Ceianne constructed the
landscape's complu. CIU'V<d surface with vertical brush
srrok.ts. strips ofcolor, and areas of exposed primed canvas.
Conc:lusion
We wish to bring tllis paper to a close by commenting fust
that although we have spent many years visiting art museums
in til is country and abroad, it was not until we focused
specifically on what we have called Sileot Pedagogy tllat we
eame to appreciate the gap that exists between what viewers
need in museums and what an muo;eums provide. Witll few
exceptions tile an museums we studied can be descnl>ed as
culturally rich and pedagogically poor. It is important to
remember tllat tile vast ffilliority of tllose who visit an
museums do not take the docent toar, nor do they rent a
headst1 (if available), or read catalogues. For all practical
purposes. visitors are on their own. The typical an museum
provides precious liale to help the visitor understand the
point of tile exhibition he or she is about to see. and even less
is offered about tile individual works tllemselves. We might
speculate about why tllis should be the case. It is cenainly

not rhe case in science museums. We said earlier that there is

a widely held view, perhaps more widely beld than we
previously imagined. thai interVention in an art museum is a
form of interference, tha1 wotlcs of art have to be encountered without assistance, tllat somehow great an speaks for
itself. We argued at the outset of this paper, and we shall
reiterate tllat argument bere, that the view is filled witll
contradictions; those who arc most vocal in supporting it are
t11ose who have steeped themselves most thoroughly in the
history of an. Furtllcrrnore, curaiOfS who make decisions
about exhibitions apparenUy assume that what tlley are able
to see and experiellC, others less sophisticaled see and
experience as well. The curatorial view is reinforced by a
public who does not expect to receive more assistance than
has been typieally provided when they visit tile museum.

Thus each part of llle equation, cura1ors and public, provide

for each oilier an oofornmar.e self-fulfilling propllesy.
What also opernr.es in shaping museum policies, we lhink,
is a culiUral paradigm !bat is 13cilly absorbed by museum
professionals through professional socWil.ation and llwough
the ro~modeting !bat art museums themselves provide. This
culwral paradigm does not provide mucll spec:e or pbcc for
active educational inleiVenlion. The image of the visilor is
essentially passive; great art speaks for itself. The "sacred
groves" described in the museum lilenuure of the forties is
still a dominant ideal. When museum educa10rs are prepared,
lhey ate typically trained by art historians, many of whom
have illlemali2cd such paradigms. These same museum
educators do lheir apprenticeship in mlleums or the kind we
have described. As a reswt of sucb sociali.alion and llle
museum educa10<'s weak political pooilion. no wong
competing model t.... been aeated to reuiMt art museums
so that they might deal actively with 111e needs or visitorS,
except in tcmiS of specW progJamS - school visits, gal lezy
lectures, fttms, studio activities. These special programs
make important contributions. However, the major conlribu
lion !bat the art museum can make 10 visitors is localcd in lhe
galleries. The most active art museum visiu"" atr.end three or
four times a year at best. The kind or assistance they reccive
is therefore crucial. What art mlLSCUJTls ought to do is to
make it possible for mlLSCum educators 10 help curators,
designers, and museum direcUKs to think in pedagogical
ways about matr.ers of orientation, inslallalion, and sign13e,
ways thai will expend and deepen the viewer's perception or
wod<s or an. lt is clear from the must.wns thai we Sllldied
that in mosl museums the instilution's major cducwional
resoun:c - the galleries themselves- is vinually unIOUChcd in this regard. The exceptions shine brightly as
beacons among an array of institutions in a fJCkl that is 100
often ptdogogically underdeveloped. Research on factors
affecting the perception of an. the influence of text on
comprehension, the patterns of viewing among museum
visitors, the language forms appropriatt for children and
adults are, under current circomstanees, acadetnic niceties.
The development or a solid knowledge base for museum
ration is imponant 10 have. Research is imponant 10
.pmsue. The creation or lr3ining progwns !bat give museum
education a signifteant degree of professional inlegrity is
aucial for the field's future.. But none or these will alttr the
way museums function until education is taken seriously by
those who formulate museum policy and detctmine museum
priorities. At presen~ education is a marginal affair, oomellting done on the sidelines, but oot a central responsibitity of
the art museum. W1uu art museums need arc the talent~ and
the professional skills that those in the fteld of museum
fJuCation possess. Visitors need the bridges that wiU help

them experience the works on display. There is no group

betttr able at building these bridges than those who OIOrlc in
the f!Cid museum educ3rion. We hooe that they will be
given the opponunity 10 start constrUCtion. 0

or

Ellibt W. Eisnor Is a Felluw a1 tht Centufor AdVG~~d

Srudy in tht Behavioral Sciettces. Paw Alw, California, alld
Professor of Education alld Art Ql Struiford Universiry.
Sttphtn M. Dobbs is Senior Program 0/fictr at the Getry
Cenur for Education in tht Arts, Los Angelts, and Professor
of Creative lvts a1 San Francisco Stale University.
PMia Borin, Douglru Freund. and KtUit Oddl<f/son were
graduate SJudtnts at SUJnford Universiry.

8RXELEY
Uwtt:01 H.UI of~
~M~ot~y

Un.ivcnity A11 Muttum

BOSTON

BoJWn MuiCtlm d F"mo A~

Isabell S~.ewan Ollldl.er Gallery

Ol!CAOO
Art lnllllw&e

ONONNA11
Cinci.nrt..IU Mutcurn of Art
'JM Taft MIAMIUI'n
DENVER
DarolcrM.uaa. ol A"

LOS AIIGEUiS
Loo Aft&de Couocy- <I Art
~d Coft~Att

~or\oll Simon MatcD'l'l (Pa.llldttlt)

Temponry CoiMempon.ry
lbeJ. PaW Getty Mo&eW"n

NEW YORK
Fri.'*: Mutc~~m
Met:ropoti4an MuJcum rJ An
Solomon Ouuenhcim Museum ol An
WhicM:y Mu,ewn of Ameri(:aft Art
OAKLAND
Oakl.-.4 MuM:t.~m

PA.LOAI.TO
No AJto O.klnl Cmtct
s..!otd Unlwmty ~
SAN HtA."'CCSCC
8nlnd.p As..., An MOM:Um
Ei.plon.,..,._

M.tt 0. Youn,a Mweum ot Ate

Palace oll.bc ~Honor
San Frmcllco MutOUm ol ~adem Art
Stcinbar\ AquatiuN

WASHtNG1'0N, D.C.
Corcoran GaUcry
Freer Gallery

lottflh lllr.tftom M\UCurn A Sallpcure. Garden

tubonal Gollory <I An