Toward Evaluating Art Museum Education at the Art Gallery of Ontario

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Agnieszka Chalas

Abstract

Abstract: Over the past three decades, the museum education field has seen a rise in the frequency of program evaluation. In this paper, I convey little known information about program evaluation at the Art Gallery of Ontario by presenting my findings from an interview I conducted with Judy Koke, the gallery’s Chief of Public Programming and Learning. Our discussion highlights both the barriers the AGO has faced on their journey toward evaluating programmatic value and the strategies the gallery has employed in an effort to enhance its internal evaluation efforts. A brief overview of program evaluation in museums provides the background to this discussion. 

KEYWORDS: Art museum education; Program evaluation

Résumé: Le domaine de la pédagogie muséale a connu au cours des trois dernières décennies un essor quant au nombre d’évaluations de programmes. Je transmets ici le peu de renseignements connus sur l’évaluation des programmes au Musée des beaux-arts de l’Ontario (AGO), au terme d’une entrevue que j’ai menée avec Judy Koke, directrice de l’apprentissage et de la programmation à l’intention du public au Musée. Notre discussion met en évidence tant les obstacles rencontrés par l’AGO dans le cadre de l’évaluation de la valeur des programmes que les stratégies utilisées par le musée pour rehausser ses activités internes d’évaluation. Un bref aperçu de l’évaluation des programmes dans les musées met notre discussion en contexte.

MOTS CLES: Éducation musée d'art; évaluation du programme.

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