Hidden Tensions of Inclusivity: Teen Participation and the Co-Creation of Curriculum Spaces in the Art Museum

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Curriculum in Out-of-School Spaces

Abstract

Since the 1990s, teen-centric programs have proliferated, as museums target young people to diversify art museum audiences. However, few studies examine how museum programs impact youth development. Inspired by YPAR methodology, we center youth experiences from an art museum program in the southwestern US. We investigated two questions: (1) What are the spaces of participation within an art museum teen council; and (2) what possibilities/obstacles exist within those spaces for young people to develop creative agency? Informed by arts equity and understanding the museum as a curriculum space, our findings demonstrated an incremental constriction of teens agency within the neoliberal art museum.

Authors

• Kendall Crabbe, The University of Arizona

• Amelia M. Kraehe, The University of Arizona