Accompanying program of university galleries as a tool for non-formal and informal education

Abstract

Nowadays university galleries and also other cultural institutions focus on more intensive and interactive communication with the general public to avoid the phenomenon of closeness as it was done in galleries in the 20th Century. Work with the audience and the community is increasingly being taken into account in university galleries and numerous elements of the accompanying program are being developed to make these institutions more open to the professional and lay public. At the beginning of the text, it is necessary to mention that the term university gallery is used here as a non-collecting institution focused on art and design, commonly accessible to the public, with a regular exhibition program established by the university or one of its parts (faculty/studio/ institute). The term "university" should be understood in the broadest sense, encompassing all types of higher education. To fully put the topic into the context of development, the phenomenon of university galleries examined is assessed from today's perspective, which allows for time lag. University galleries accompanying programs vary based on different criteria. This study brings insight into the environment of university galleries in the Czech Republic, which through accompanying programs not only broadens the offer of informal education at universities but also enables a unique presentation and bridging between academic field and the general public. The research aims to define the importance of the existence of university galleries and their influence on the development of non-formal education as a necessary part of their program, not only for students but also for the general public. The goal is to also introduce best practices and examples that can be applied to any university gallery or museum to improve and streamline audience engagement. The research results are based on two qualitative studies. The largest part of the research is carried out in the form of a case study focused on the accompanying program of the G18 Gallery, the Gallery of the Faculty of Multimedia Communications of Tomas Bata University in Zlin. The case study explains different approaches within the audience engagement and present particular activities and their impact on non-formal education and its development at the academic field, in particular, academic/university galleries. Another part of the research is processed by evaluating interviews with the management of university galleries at other universities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The interviews were held with 8 university gallery workers and were focused on the content, frequency and audience feedback of activities done by interviewed university gallery workers. The results of this study is a form of a list of activities and particular recommendations can be useful for all higher education institutions owning or managing a university museum or gallery as well as an inspiration of a developing non-formal and informal educational platform for interdisciplinary learning to increase the engagement of the audience.