Local museums create text-message tours
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Text-messaging behind the wheel of a car is illegal in Philadelphia, but some area museums encourage texting in their galleries. Visitors to the Arthur Ross Gallery and the Abington Arts Center can play text-message games while wandering the exhibits. Museums hope to snare visitors minds, 160 characters at a time.
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It can either be a scavenger hunt, or as kind of Quizzo. You recieve a text that asks you something. You find the answer, and text your reply. The computerized texter then rewards you with another question.
Pretty simple, and also very flexible. The texting game can be custom-tailored to an art exhibit, a sculpture garden, or a science center. Heather Rutledge of the Abington Art Center has set it up for the 27-acre sculpture park.
Rutledge: The museum educator in me has the opportunity to slip in facts about sculpture or about the artist. But it was a real challenge to boil down the basic concepts we wanted to pass along in 160 characters.
It's also inexpensive. The system costs the institution about $400 dollars for six months. But there is a cost to the user – up to 15 cents for every text, depending on the phone plan.
This is fantastic. I would love to set this up for Art Tours at Children's Hospitals!
Do you know if there is anyone doing this at hospitals?
Would you be interested in writing an article about the Value of the Art in Healthcare to reduce stress, anxiety and even pain?
I am a founding member of The Society for the Arts in Healthcare which now has 1,700 members world wide!
I would love to introduce the exciting things that are happening with the Arts to transform medical centers!
Pam Wilkins-Horowitz
Principal
Wilkins Art Associates
Founding Member, Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH)
Co-Chair, 2010 International Conference SAH,