Educators, Curators and Docents: Creating Interpretive Resources based on Conversation

http://smarthistory.org/case-study-the-portlandThis paper explores the impact of a workshop held at the Portland Art Museum in May 2009in which docents, curators, and educators together discussed and created twelve video-based "conversations" about works of art in the Museum, under the guidance of Smarthistory founders Steven Zucker and Beth Harris. Evaluation conducted of both the workshop and videos raises questions about the value of "expertise" for visitors, and the significant advantages of conversation over monologue as a pedagogical method.