What is the 'Art Dialogues' blog?

As both an art museum educator and a constant museum visitor, I am perpetually interested in the issues of how people access and experience art. For some time now, I have been interested in creating an open forum for people to freely engage in dialogues about art education, teaching, and museum experiences. So here goes . . .

This blog is an attempt to provide such an open forum to explore issues of how we view and think about art, and how we teach and learn--extending these conversations beyond the walls of the museum. I see this blog as a unique opportunity to serve the following goals (and hopefully some that I'm not even aware of yet):

• to open an ongoing dialogue about arts teaching and learning relevant to issues and concerns in the 21st century museum,
• to move toward the act of conversation,
• to connect with each other and with the community,
• to see museums as creative sites of unplanned directions and multilayered interpretations,
• to see art as a living activity in which everyone has the potential to participate.

I encourage everyone that finds their way to this blog to submit comments and participate in the discussions. Share your personal experiences and encounters with art, your concerns and questions about how museums interact with their audiences, and your thoughts and ideas that might help others view art and learning in a new light.

Enjoy!

-Mike