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Shannon Thacker Cregg final.pdf (1.34 MB)

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Collaboration and Connection: An Action Research Study on Inclusive Art Museum Programming

Cregg, Shannon Thacker
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7987-1284
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587412917785129

Abstract Details

2020, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Art Education.
Research suggests that museums are not reaching their full potential for including visitors with disabilities (Bienvenu, 2019; Ginley, Goodwin, &, Smith, 2012; Kudlick & Luby, 2019; Rappolt- Schlichtmann & Daley, 2013; Sandell, 2019). Recently, scholars have critiqued art museums for their lack of accessibility (Kudlick & Luby, 2019) and exhibitions that misrepresent disability history (Sandell, 2019). The history of outsider art demonstrates how artists with disabilities are discriminated against in the art world (Prinz, 2017). Creative art centers, programs which provide artistic mentorship for adults with disabilities, are often positioned within outsider art discourse (Wojcik, 2016). Due to discrimination against artists with disabilities, art museums can increase inclusion through engaging with artists at creative art centers. Therefore, I utilized action research methodology to design and implement an integrated art museum professional development workshop for artists with disabilities at Open Door Art Studio, a creative art center, and community artists. The primary objective of the study was to explore how museum practitioners can collaborate with creative art centers to develop inclusive programming for creative art center artists and community artists. Based on interviews with Open Door Art Studio artists and staff members, I structured the workshop around time in the museum gallery for discussion and a collaborative art making exercise in the museum’s studio space. For the time in the studio, I paired artists from Open Door Art Studio with community artists to create collaborative art pieces. From the post-workshop interviews, I found that the workshop, especially the collaborative portion, supported social connection between artists from Open Door Art Studio and the community artists. This social connection was demonstrated in the way that artists found things in common with each other, spoke about how they enjoyed meeting each other, and described the strengths of the workshop in terms of social connection. Additionally, the two of the three artists from Open Door Art Studio described feeling like equal collaborators during the workshop, which was particularly important due to the level of discrimination that artists with disabilities face. Lastly, each of the community artists discussed how the workshop prompted them to think about disability identity in a more nuanced way. However, although the workshop encouraged community artists to re-think preconceptions about disability, lingering negative associations about disability were still evident in some of the interviews. These results suggest that collaboration can be a powerful tool for connecting creative art center artists with community artists. Additionally, collaboration can be utilized as a method of placing creative art center artists on “equal footing” with community artists. Lastly, the integration of creative art center artists and community artists in art museum programming can create a productive space for community artists to consider disability identity.
Dana Kletchka, PhD (Committee Chair)
Jennifer Richardson, PhD (Committee Member)
171 p.
Art Education
art museum education; accessibility in museums; inclusion in museums; artists with disabilities; professional development in museums; artists with disabilities; disability studies in art museum education; inclusive museum programming

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Cregg, S. T. (2020). Collaboration and Connection: An Action Research Study on Inclusive Art Museum Programming [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587412917785129

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Cregg, Shannon. Collaboration and Connection: An Action Research Study on Inclusive Art Museum Programming. 2020. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587412917785129.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Cregg, Shannon. "Collaboration and Connection: An Action Research Study on Inclusive Art Museum Programming." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587412917785129

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1587412917785129
366
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.