What a week it has been! With our busy museum schedule, sitting down to work on our walking tour project was a fun change of pace this Saturday, as I joined my group members at a cafe to go over our plan.

We decided on a ‘short and sweet’ walking tour, one that takes an easier trek down (literally, walking downhill) four blocks in the Outer Balboa rather than the WNP’s usual 9 blocks, with stops at bakeries instead of bars. The idea is that this option might open the door to new folks, who might not have the time commitment or mobility to attend the usual tour- I’m picturing parents with kids in strollers, or older folks who may not want to walk as long. We’ve heard from a lot of folks this week (the crew at the Exploratorium and the Oakland Museum come to mind) that using different strategies for different groups is key, and we’re hoping that this option might welcome in new neighbors.

After studying theatre for 8+ years, I draw a lot of inspiration from shows and plays that have hit home (I promise, this will connect back to museum studies). One art piece at the Oakland Museum’s special exhibition struck me immediately. Looking at it, I heard the refrain from Sunday in the Park with George’s “Children and Art” echoing in my mind. In this song, a grandmother of a young (struggling) artist reflects on her late mother’s words:

“Just as she said from the start, children and art.”

The implication with ‘hands are for touching, feeling, and art’ seems to me that there is nothing more worth wide than connecting with other humans. “Children and art,” implies that all life is about is either (or both) raising children or making art, both actions that contribute to a community of love and care. This assertion always makes me cry, and I found myself tearing up at the Oakland.

When I see the efforts in museums to repair past wrongs, to facilitate difficult conversations on the path of healing, or simply to spread joy and discovery, I’m hit again with the value of the work. Museums hold the potential to be so much more valuable than they’ve been historically, when only select people are able to engage. What a waste it would be to not expand and rebuild.

The refrain we hear in each institution we visit is “we do what we can, and we should do more.” I don’t think there will ever be a day when museum professionals can say “that’s it! we did it!” The constant drive for improvement is necessary, and should be community-driven. Stephanie noted at the Friday Nights event, that the children visiting today will have a vastly different understanding of museums as community centers than earlier generations did. I’m sure that when they become adults, they’ll have more exciting improvements to make for the next generation of museum development.