APT 2002 Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia : Report

KIDS’ APT ‘SUMMER SPECTACULAR’ - ‘QUT MUSEUMS COLLABORATIVE’ ANALYSIS – FULL REPORT ‘Perlie Shellz’s Pacific Stories’, Kids’ APT ‘Summer Spectacular’ ‘Quiet’ , Kids’ APT ‘Summer Spectacular’ OVERVIEW This is a report on a study of children’s and parental perceptions of their visits to the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) during the 2003 ‘Summer Spectacular’ festival. The festival, held at the end of the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Art (APT), was held over a 15 day period (11 – 25 January, 2003), and attracted more than 50,000 visitors. Researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) gathered data during the festival. RESEARCH METHODS Three main questions directed the research: • What do children prefer to do when visiting an art museum during a festival season? and why? • What value do parents/adult carers place on visiting an art gallery, and what do they think their children gain from such experiences? • How do family visitors engage with activities, events and art in the gallery context? Three strategies were used to gather information about audience perceptions and reactions at the ‘Summer Spectacular’ event: • Children were interviewed by a team of audience researchers (see appendix A for interview schedule). A set of laminated cards with images from the APT ‘Summer Spectacular’ were used to prompt children’s responses. • Parents were asked to complete a self administered questionnaire while researchers spoke with their child/children (see Appendix B for questionnaire). • Observational data was collected by a team of researchers over the period of the festival. SAMPLE 85 children and 57 parents/adult carers were approached to take part in the research. The ages and gender of the children were as depicted in the following tables and charts. 102