CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, April 02, 2019

Pop-up Museums

American Perceptionalism: From the wndr instagrammable experience to the Art Institute’s pop up bar, Dear Carmencita, institutions of all shapes and sizes have been popping up in new forms and locations.

8 comments:

Elizabeth P said...

I think the idea of pop-up museums is terrific. I think that there are many difficulties that arise with such an endeavor (how to set it up each time, establishing consistent visitors), but at least in my head, it resembles something like a touring show or company. Museums in recent years have been revamping to appeal to more audiences, and even more so, more diverse audiences. The article talked about the rebranding of MCA, and at least, pop up museums seem like they would be a useful tool in the rebranding of certain museums. This rebranding is incredibly important because, as much as a classic museum is effective is showcasing whatever it is that its showcasing, changes have to be made in order for people to remain interested, and hopefully come back and tell all their friends. I think these type of museums begin to resemble, like I said before, a touring show, or even a traveling installation. Some museums are incredibly famous, but they are located in a physically far away place, pop up museums create a new model for museums that then allow their stock and what they want to share to actually be shared with many people.

Samantha Williams said...


I think pop-up museums are so interesting. They intrigue and impress me because of their rapid alterations, attention to detail and the human experience, and seemingly dedicated leadership. It seems like their creators hold the idea of reaching out very close to them. They pay attention to their social media to understand their audience, and then try to expand their audience by creating pop-up museums that are accessible to more people than a standard museum would be. I think the way they physically situate themselves in spaces is brilliant, especially since one of their goals is to support businesses and a local economy and education. I wish we had more of these in Washington D.C., but alternatively we have a number of art museums that rotate their exhibits frequently enough that it keeps people coming back. I wonder how expensive these museums are comparatively to normal museums, which are usually free (at least in DC, thanks to the Smithsonian Institution).

Simone Schneeberg said...

I think pop up museums are a cool concept, particularly when they do go to areas where the audience is one that that might not be going to out of the way museums and interactive experiences. Art is for the masses, as is knowledge and education, which these pop ups can perpetuate. As a bit of a museum purist I guess, I do wish that we could add some more of the education aspects of a traditional museum into these pop up locations. I think that museums should also be taking some notes from these pop up experiences that bring in a huge amount of traffic. People are inherently curious creatures. We want to learn but what we really want is to explore and to have our brains stimulated in a fun and exciting way. The instagrammable experiences bring the fun and pure exploration, now let us add the knowledge.

Sidney R. said...

I see how the concept of pop-up museums can be economically smart as well as more available to wide audiences. The fact that many of them encourage photos within them provides a built-in element of marketing that entices people to explore them. I’m especially intrigued by the display in the public bus because it serves as an innovative installation. I love that the artist chose to bring interns in on the project that did not necessarily have a background in fine arts but related more towards the issue. Choosing to “employ” (the interns were paid) individuals who were impacted by gun violence on a project directly related to that issue is truly remarkable. Following the tragic events at Parkland, many students at my high school put together a beautiful showcase with music, poetry, and dance to heal from the shock. While my school benefitted from the experience, it would have been even better if the message was spread through the community. The pop-up museum definitely achieved that.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love the idea of pop-up museums, the pop-up structure (i've seen used for stores) fits perfectly with museums. I’m surprised I haven't heard more about them before, or that the concept wasn’t thought of before. I have seen pop-up exhibits on instagram and insider feed on facebook quite a bit, and I think they qualify as pop up museums. The first example given in the article “The Agile Museum” is a great example of a reason I like the pop-up museum meash, the ability for independent smaller groups or individuals presenting their personal collections. I’m obsessed with the concept/ people of personal collections, I’ve always wanted to have a huge collection of niche memorabilia since I was a kid, when I was little I tried to start many different ones. I would love to be apart of a pop-up museum in the future, even if it’s not presenting my own extreme niche collection.

Briana Green said...

Just reading about the pop-up museums makes me very excited for this concept to implemented in a ton of places. Not only does this make it incredibly more accessible to lower-income areas and people who just can’t afford the time to visit museums, but it also gets more people exposed to the world of museums and artwork. I think this will also make room for more creativity because of the different spaces the artwork will be in. Instead of being curated into a museum, it is given a different form to work with and create art for. Even if it’s just travelling around the city doing whatever you need to do, and seeing these pop-up museums stimulates the brain and gives the viewer a positive note to their day. And like someone else said, the pictures that could be posted from these pop-up museums would be so much fun to see.

Ari Cobb said...

Reading this article makes me hope that things like this will become more commonplace! I love the idea of a pop-up exhibition, and especially ones that are interactive and encourage the audiences to actively participate with them. I also like how they take certain things like ice cream or pizza and expand it to a degree we’re not used to in classic museums where they focus more on the history of more ‘refined’ or important things. I enjoy that they’re trying to challenge the traditional ideas of what museums are, and I think that pushing those boundaries is important to the progression of the arts. Especially placing one in such a high traffic area as a train car where people have no choice but to be immersed in the work. I’d love to be able to go see some of these pop-up museums that are mentioned in the article and maybe someday help in creating one myself.

Emily Stark said...

I have many mixed feelings about museums in general. I think the whole idea of paying to see art is really weird. I understand that money and funding is always an issue, but art is also a public service that I think would reach more audiences if it were free. That’s why the internet has been such a great gift to the education of art. These pop-up art museums can be a little gimmicky and seem to appeal to the consumer, like the Museum of Ice Cream. Yes, they are art and the artists deserve recognition and profit, but the goals behind them are heavily influenced by trend and marketing. Still, I do understand the appeal of pop up museums, as they create a new experience and draw a lot of attention to the artist and their work. I think they still have a purpose in society, and they at least get the general public interested in the arts, no matter what form that might be.