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Claire Bown

@thinkingmuseum

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• Creator of the Thinking Museum® Approach
• I ❤️ museums
• Author of 'The Art Engager'

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A reminder that there’s no ‘right’ way to visit a museum.

We can get very caught up (me included!) in what we think we’re supposed to do: see everything, read the labels, follow the route, understand the artwork or themes, make the most of our time etc. etc.

But you don’t have to do all of that.

You can visit in a way that works for you - shaped by your time, your mood, your curiosity, and what catches your attention.

Anyone else feel this way? 😀 by @thinkingmuseum

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a month ago

This book continues to surprise me...

It's been a while since I've mentioned The Art Engager, mostly because once a book has been out for a while (now 1.5 years!), it starts to feel like it's living its own life.

But, this book continues to sell as many copies as it did when it first came out. It's still in the top Amazon charts for museum books.

It's reaching people in museums, galleries and historic sites in places I never imagined when I was writing it.

And it's doing all of that without a marketing budget, just people passing it on to colleagues and recommending it to friends.

So if you've bought it, recommended it, used it, added it to your docent or educator library, read it together as a group, or filled it with notes and highlights, thank you.

It really means a lot.

Thank you to Sarah van Haastert for this photo of The Art Engager on her bookshelf!

PS If The Art Engager is on your shelf, a rating takes seconds and helps enormously. [Leave a review → Amazon.com/review/create-review?&asin=9090375562 ] by @thinkingmuseum

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3 months ago

Have you tried art bingo before? [Now available as a free download!]

It is exactly what it sounds like: bingo, but with art.

As you move through the galleries, look for an artwork that matches each of the nine prompts and mark a square when you find one. Work through them in any order, just like a normal game of bingo. Fill the whole card and you're done.

(The same structure works for objects too, so it's just as useful in any type of museum.)

Do it on your own or with others. If you're with others, compare your choices at the end, you'll often find you've each picked something different for the same square (and that's part of the fun).

It's a really simple way to slow down and notice more. Because each prompt asks for something slightly different, it often leads you to things you might otherwise overlook, and it gives you something easy to talk about if you're exploring with others.

**As per many requests, this is now available as a printable A4 download, so you can take it with you (instead of just keeping it on your phone.)**

If you'd like a copy, comment BINGO and I'll DM you the link!

Thank you to Cigdem Guven (@crocusincreation) for updating my original into this design, so I could turn it into something physical to take with you. by @thinkingmuseum

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3 months ago

Labels that INVITE looking 💚

These little flipbooks in the V&A’s Understanding Objects gallery are such a brilliant way of encouraging us to look closely.

Each one gives us a question to explore (swipe to see - close ups at the end!):

How was it made? How was it decorated? Are there signs of wear and tear?

There’s a clue to help you know what to look for, and then you turn the page to find out more.

What I love here is that we’re not just being ‘given’ information about the object.

We’re encouraged to spend a little time looking at it first, noticing details and finding things out for ourselves.

Such a simple idea, but such a lovely way to bring us into closer contact with an object! 💚 by @thinkingmuseum

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14 hours ago

You really don't.

We can sometimes put quite a lot of pressure on ourselves to understand an artwork.

What is it about? What does it mean? What was the artist trying to say?

But what if we started by looking instead?

Giving ourselves a little more time, slowing down, noticing what catches our attention and then looking again.

Because the more we look, the more we might notice, and the more we notice, the more there is to wonder about.

Don't you think? by @thinkingmuseum

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4 days ago

What stops us from asking questions?

Here are 6 things that might get in the way.

And a bonus one: When you ask 'any questions?', it's quite literally the biggest curiosity killer. It stops all questions immediately. Don't use it!

Use 'What are you wondering about?' or 'What are you curious about?' instead.

Do you recognise any of these? by @thinkingmuseum

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5 days ago

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnified world in itself” - Henry Miller

A few recent noticings, wonderings and marvels…The last one still makes me laugh! 😆

What’s caught your attention recently? by @thinkingmuseum

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7 days ago

My hugely popular (& longest - 15 pages!) FREE RESOURCE, How to Look at Art (Slowly), is FULL of playful ways to experience art and objects.

It can be used by anyone visiting museums - whether solo, with family or friends, or guiding groups.

Inside, you’ll find 5 creative ways to lead with looking [swipe to see]:

‣ Static looking
‣ Movement-based observation
‣ Observation by Drawing
‣ Observation by Writing
‣ Using a viewfinder

Each section provides a different framework for LOOKING. Choose different ways to look as you move around the museum. All of the activities will help you to see more!⁠

Comment SLOWLY and I'll DM you a direct link to get your copy.

I’d love to hear how you plan to use it 😀 by @thinkingmuseum

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8 days ago

A new AI 'digital tour guide' (MUSEO) at the Canadian Museum of History has been causing quite a stir.

Here's how it works: Visitors can scan a QR code beside one of ten selected objects in the Canadian History Hall and ask questions about what they are looking at.

When the museum first introduced the tool on social media, it got quite a strong reaction.

Some concerns were about the reliability of AI-generated information, while others focused on the role of museum guides and the possibility of replacing human interaction with technology.

So I was curious about what the experience was actually like.

Ottawa Citizen journalist Michael McBean went to the museum and tried it for himself.

He found that it worked well. It gave him more information than the labels and answered his questions quickly.

BUT he also noticed that it changed the experience of being in the museum.

He found himself looking frequently between the object and his phone during the visit.

And he said the only museum employee he spoke to was the person who scanned his ticket.

He said he left wishing he'd had more conversations with people than with his phone.

Information is only one part of the museum experience.

People also go to be with others, to see things, to wonder, to ask questions, to hear stories and to have conversations. Research suggests that more than a third of museum visits are driven by social motivations.

I've included the article in the latest issue of Curated, out today. Links on Stories or in my Highlights!

Photo: Reporter Michael McBean reads information from a MUSEO AI chatbot at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia by @thinkingmuseum

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11 days ago

I really applaud museums that put extra people in the galleries to welcome visitors, answer questions and share stories about the artworks.

Having a human face in the galleries, someone who is there specifically to connect with visitors, can make such a difference to the museum experience.

But the tricky part is being confident and knowing how to approach strangers...

How do you spot the 'right moment' when someone might welcome a conversation? What do you say to open it up? And how do you keep it going?

Informal engagement can look effortless when it works well, but there is SO MUCH going on underneath the surface: observation, timing, curiosity, confidence (and, importantly, listening and responding to whatever the visitor gives you).

If you do this kind of work, I salute you!

I explored some of these questions with Dickon Moore from @wellcomecollection in episode 127 of @theartengager a while back.

We talked about how their visitor teams approach spontaneous encounters, use curiosity and open questions, and navigate conversations with strangers.

And if you’re looking for some extra reading on the subject, Joe Keohane’s The Power of Strangers is another great place to start.

I’ll put both links in the comments.

(Photo: 'Ask me Anything' guides at the Mauritshuis). by @thinkingmuseum

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12 days ago

Play along with me!

I’ve picked four artworks/objects and come up with a Would You Rather...? for each one.

Have a swipe and choose your answers. I’d love to know what you’d pick!

And if you like them, save the post and try them out on your next museum visit.

❤️ by @thinkingmuseum

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13 days ago

How does the density of the gallery affect the way you guide? How does having no labels change what you ask?

These are just some of the questions we explored in the gallery and beyond @mauritshuis_museum recently.

In two full-day Thinking Museum® Approach Foundation workshops with the museum docents and educators, we...

> Explored several Questioning Practices from my book - The Senses Walk, The Connections Triangle, Settings Character Plot and Look Back, Step Forwards -through artworks from the Mauritshuis collection and beyond

> Dug deeper into the 8 Practices of the Thinking Museum® Approach, exploring questions around information-sharing, participation, collaboration, and how we start and end well.

> Spent plenty of time thinking about facilitation: the small-but-mighty choices we make that can open up looking, thinking and talking.

> Rounded off both workshops with some practice in the spectacular Galerij Prins Willem V - with its dense salon-style hanging and no labels.

This was my third time working with the team (after 2017 & 2022), and it’s always so nice to come back and build on previous conversations.

One of the lovely things about returning to an organisation is seeing how confidence grows over time - and with it, the enjoyment of facilitating inquiry-based museum teaching.

Thank you to Lieve Boiten, Madeleine Maatstap, Maartje van der Meule and the Mauritshuis team for the great conversations, experimentation and good fun - it was a pleasure! by @thinkingmuseum

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14 days ago