Fitzwilliam Museum: The Creative Producers - Meaning Making and Action Research with Young Adults and a Fine Art Display

Context: The Creative Producers is an action research project centered on how young adults, aged 18 to 25, construct meaning in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. It addresses the museum’s need to better engage with local youth, particularly in light of the upcoming display National Treasures: Botticelli in Cambridge. The project sought to shift conventional museum practices, typically focused on accessibility and skill development, towards a model that values young adults as active participants and creators. Aims: The project aimed to explore how young adults derive meaning from their experiences in the museum and to identify qualities of this meaning-making process. Specific questions included how young adults engage with the museum over time, what emotional and experiential qualities emerge, and how insights about their meaning-making can inform future participatory museum practices. Methods: Employing participatory action research methodologies, the Creative Producers engaged in workshops, discussions, and co-design initiatives. The project included creative events like "Get the Gossip," interventions in the museum display with creative materials, and a range of qualitative data collection methods such as semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observations. Findings: Analysis revealed five fundamental aspects through which young adults found meaning in the museum: a desire to undercut the sense of elitism typically associated with fine art, the importance of rest and relaxation, the fostering of community connections, the incorporation of playfulness, and a sense of safety and care within the museum environment. These aspects highlight how the museum was perceived as a welcoming space conducive to well-being and social interaction. Implications: The findings suggest that museums can create spaces that foster community, promote restful engagement, and encourage play, thus broadening the understanding of meaning-making in cultural institutions. The study underscores the value of participatory projects in which young adults shape their experiences, potentially guiding future museum practices and collaborative projects with youth communities.

Keywords (free text)

participatory action research, young adults, museum engagement, community building, creative interventions

Permanent link to cite this item

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14069/996

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Fitzwilliam Museum Research Briefings