ABSTRACT
They were sorely disappointed when they discovered that not only were they barred from gathering too close to the Mona Lisa, but that it was behind a glass casing. These young college students have grown up expecting more visitor-friendly experiences at artifact and display museums. Their vision of museums includes multimedia presentations and interactive exhibits. To them, the Mona Lisa display represented antiquated museum displays relegated to folklore or films. The Louvre’s primary goal is protecting their artifacts and paintings. In the case of the Mona Lisa they are cognizant of environmental and human threats to the painting. The Mona Lisa aside, artifact and display museums continue to evolve, modifying the way they employ their collections of artifacts and objects. The motivating factors driving renovations in many museums are the needs to increase visitation, to appeal to a broader audience, and to provide more educational programming. The result is museums constructed around more engaging and compelling narratives and exhibits that provide powerful history learning experiences for K-12 students.
