Art in art museums are almost always accompanied by a “museum label” – a small rectangle next to the piece, typically detailing the title, artist, time period, medium, donors, and a short 25-30 word description. These descriptions are static in an increasingly digital world, and may not always or even in most cases tell the audience member what they want to know about an artwork.

This project focuses on the re-design of art museum labels by taking into the account the curiosity of the viewer. Through an app, museum-goers can scan perhaps a barcode or QR code accompanying a work of art. If they wish to know more about a specific piece, they can search keywords or click on pre-existing blurbs that each focus on specific aspects of the work – the artist, the historical context, the medium/style, and notable features of the work. Museum curators will be able to see this data, and be able to determine which artworks are most popular/ are scanned most frequently, and what people want to know after initially seeing a piece. Museum curators will then have a much better sense of what the public’s interests are and can digitize the labels so that they can be easily updated over time.

A potential digitization of museum labels

Skills needed: -App developers, or people interested in trying app development -People interested in partnering with an art museum -People interested in art education