ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that art museums can become enriching creative spaces for wider audiences through combining collections work and theories of learning and experience. The framework for discussion is a comparison of learning and experience theory using the Pine and Gilmore experience economy model and Hein's constructivist museum theory in an analysis of the exhibition Arbiters of Taste (2006–7) at the Trapholt Museum of Modern Art, Applied Art, Design and Furniture Design in Denmark (Pine and Gilmore, 1999; Hein, 1998). It is suggested that an art museum, through methods such as active participation, investigation and discovery, can potentially offer richer experiences and reach wider audiences. Furthermore this chapter suggests that these methods function as cognitive frameworks that mobilize visitors’ prior knowledge so that they can interact with each other. The art museum thereby becomes a creative space where the general public can experience and learn through reconstruction of their personal knowledge and engage with museum objects while they socialize—and have fun.
