Museums as neighborhood living rooms: Investigating feelings of belonging through "highly accessible and permeable" museum spaces

Authors:

• Kelly E. Linhardt, Museology Graduate Program
• Chair: Jessica Luke
• Jeff Hou
• Nicole Robert

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Abstract:

As institutions that have often been and continue to be sites of systemic social exclusion, museums are exploring how their design and architecture might be reinterpreted to lead to wider accessibility and greater social inclusion. This article describes findings from a study that investigated if and how neighborhood living rooms in museums foster feelings of belonging in visitors to better understand current efforts to promote social inclusion through museum architecture. Data for this study were collected at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ E. Claiborne and Lora Robins Sculpture Garden and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts’ John and Joyce Caddell Sculpture Garden, using observations and semi-structured interviews. Thirty-five people participated in the study. Study results reinforce previous research on the connection between feelings of belonging and a sense of community. Results confirmed the potential for neighborhood living room spaces in museums to serve as valued local resources that create cohesion between museums and their neighborhoods by cultivating a sense of belonging. Findings from this study speak to the viability of the current trend of reinterpreting museum architecture to break down the barriers between the museums and their neighborhoods, and highlight the role of museum placemaking in extending a sense of belonging from the outside in to successfully create “a membrane between museum and community that extends beyond physical space” (Kryder-Reid et al., 2015).