Museums in Suburbia

This semester in my Museums As Media class we've talked a lot about interactive media in museums and on their websites. Many of my classmates and I live in urban areas. This weekend I am visiting my parents in the sprawling suburbia of southern New Jersey. It gives me a different perspective on the features of museum websites.





Living in Denver, CO I have so many opportunities to connect with creative people
and to experience and be inspired by art. The options are very few here at my parents' house. They don't live very far from Philadelphia or New York City, but to go to either is usually a full day's trip. Personally, I am not inspired by streets and streets of well-kept but plain development homes. Conversely, whenever I am in a city with a variety of homes that range from just built eco homes to brick homes over a hundred years old I am inspired by the variety and architectural details that builders of days long gone and architects of newly created green homes have thoughtfully added. In addition to the assortment of buildings in urban areas the people who inhabit them can be just as colorful. From hairstyles to clothing to crazy bikes, urban people make different choices than suburban people. Growing up in suburbia I was inspired by fashion magazines where models wore outfits that I'd never see in my hometown.

This morning as I was walking away from Dunkin' Donuts and trying to avoid being run over by quite a few SUVs I thought about the places I turn to be inspired and wondered how I could find inspiration her in a town of thousands inhabited by SUVs, cookie cutter homes and strip malls. What came to mind was all of the museum websites we've been reviewing in my Museums class. Museums all over have been embracing online multimedia activities. At the forefront is San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In approximately 70 interactive multimedia activities on their website, they also have multimedia options for your mobile device including an iPhone app which gives you a tour of their rooftop garden. The Brooklyn Museum has an iPhone app, a mobile website and podcasts with interviews of famous artists available through iTunes U. On the Brooklyn Museum's website you can view images of many of the objects in their collection and play two socially interactive games that allow you to give descriptive tags (labels) to the works in their galleries. The Walker Art Museum gives you many options to interact with them through their regular and mobile websites. The Exploratorium website has many activities and videos to allow you to experience science. While none of these can place an actual, physical museum they are wonderful options for those who are immersed in suburbia without the option of regular museum visits. In this world of disconnect and loneliness it's nice to know that inspiration and connection are just a few keystrokes away.