The Art Engager

After five years and 166 episodes with listeners in 91 countries, this is the final episode of The Art Engager - for now, at least. For this last conversation, I wanted a guest who felt right not just for the occasion, but for the moment the whole sector is living through. Someone who has spent nearly two decades asking the questions most of us might find too uncomfortable or too speculative to si...

In March 2026, I travelled to Atlanta for the National Convening on Art and Social Connection, a two-day event hosted by the High Museum of Art. It brought together people from the arts, public health, research, aging, social services and policy to explore one big question: how can engagement with visual art help combat loneliness and build more connected communities? In this special episode, I ta...

What does it take to guide visitors through histories that are genuinely contested and emotionally charged? In this episode, I'm joined by Brandon Dillard, Director of Historic Interpretation and Audience Engagement at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, and Kelsie Paul, Director of Learning and Visitor Experience at the Frick Pittsburgh, to explore how both institutions have reimagined their guided ex...

In this episode Claire Bown is joined by Dr Beth Daley , novelist, creative writing tutor and editorial advisor at Europeana, to explore how digital cultural heritage collections can become starting points for storytelling, exploration and creative engagement. Europeana brings together millions of artworks, objects, photographs, films, texts and archival materials from museums, libraries and archi...

In this episode Claire Bown is joined by Georgia Close and Harriet Body from the National Gallery of Australia, alongside Naomi Zouwer from the University of Canberra, to explore how the gallery co-designed its Creative Learning approach. The conversation traces an 18-month process of articulating a shared pedagogical framework shaped by national context, cultural responsibility, and First Nations...

In this episode Claire Bown is joined by Clare Murray to explore how early encounters with art and museums shape the way people learn to participate, belong, and engage over time. Our conversation focuses on how what Clare describes as museum habits of mind begin forming early in life, shaped by access, culture, and experience, and what can be at risk when early encounters with art and museums are...

In this episode, Claire Bown is joined by Laurie Kilgour Walsh , Head of Programs and Learning at the Art Gallery of Hamilton , to explore what it takes to create meaningful, person-centred museum experiences with and for people living with dementia. Our conversation centres on Artful Moments , a gallery-based, small-group programme for people living with dementia and their care partners . Based a...

In this episode, host Claire Bown is joined by Menka Sanghvi , researcher, writer, guide and founder of Just Looking . Menka’s work explores attention through science, culture and creativity, and encourages us to slow down and notice more in our everyday lives. Together, we talk about why ordinary moments matter, how our attentional filters shape what we see and the social dimension of noticing. W...

In this special episode created in collaboration with NEMO – the Network of European Museum Organisations , I’m sharing voices and ideas from the 2025 NEMO European Museum Conference ‘Who Cares? Museums, Wellbeing and Resilience’ in Horsens, Denmark. Recorded during the conference itself in the unique setting of the FÆNGSLET Prison Museum, this episode features eight speakers from across Europe an...

In this episode of The Art Engager , I’m talking with Dr Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson, Executive Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and a visual neuroscientist whose work explores the intersection of art, perception and leadership. Zab’s research asks one key question: how does what we see guide our decisions, actions and behaviours? Her work combines neuroscience, visual perception and mu...

In today's solo episode, host Claire Bown celebrates the one-year anniversary of The Art Engager book with our first-ever Ask Me Anything format. She answers 10 practical questions from listeners about facilitating guided experiences in museums. From how long to let people look at artworks to building psychological safety with established groups, Claire tackles the real challenges educators and gu...

In this episode of The Art Engager Claire Bown talks with Tina Demirdjian, a poet and educator who has spent over 30 years transforming how people connect with poetry and visual art. Tina is someone who in her own words 'changes people's minds' about poetry, about themselves and about their capacity for creative expression. Working primarily with second language learners and immigrant communities...

In this episode of The Art Engager , Claire Bown talks with Ciaron Wilkinson, Head of Partnerships and Engagement at Manchester Museum — one of the UK’s largest university museums and recent winner of European Museum of the Year. After a values-led redevelopment, Manchester Museum has reimagined how a museum can engage with its community. Its mission is to be the most caring, imaginative, and incl...

In today's solo episode, host Claire Bown shares practical strategies for overcoming the most common fears about inquiry-based teaching in museums. From handling uncertainty and awkward silences to managing participation and time, she guides you through simple, actionable ways to build confidence and make inquiry feel rewarding- for you and your participants. Inquiry-based teaching works . It crea...

In today's solo episode, host Claire Bown explores what wonder is, why museums are perfect spaces for fostering it, and shares eight practical ways to create wonder-filled moments in your guided experiences. How can we reawaken that natural sense of wonder that we had as children? What happens when we intentionally create space for amazement and discovery in our museum experiences? In this episode...

Over the past four years, we've explored slow looking in 20 different episodes on The Art Engager , making it our most discussed topic . Today, I'm taking you on a curated journey through all of these episodes, creating a roadmap, if you will, that you can use to understand and implement slow looking in your personal practice and professional work. The Art Engager is written and presented by Clair...

After 150 episodes exploring engagement in museums and cultural organisations – including 101 solo episodes and 49 guest conversations – host Claire Bown shares 10 of the most powerful insights that have emerged over four years of thinking deeply about engagement principles and practices. For this milestone episode, Claire revisited the entire back catalogue, re-listening to past episodes and look...

In this episode host Claire Bown talks with Geraldine Collinge, Chief Executive at Compton Verney, about their bold approach to creating genuinely engaging cultural spaces through play, accessibility and joy. Geraldine shares how this unique ' art space in a park ' in Warwickshire brings together a historic Robert Adam mansion, 120 acres of Capability Brown landscape, and six distinctive collectio...

In this 4th birthday episode of The Art Engager, host Claire Bown explores what active engagement really means and why it matters so much for creating meaningful guided experiences. She addresses what many educators struggle with – we know visitors learn better when actively participating, but how do we consistently make this happen in our daily practice? How can we move beyond knowing that active...

In this episode of The Art Engager podcast, host Claire Bown talks with Sita Sargeant, founder and self-described 'Chief Troublemaker' at She Shapes History, a trailblazing Australian company on a mission.  What began as weekly walks in Canberra has grown into a thriving social enterprise with nationwide expansion plans for their women-focused history tours. In today's conversation, Sita shar...

In this episode, host Claire Bown talks with Tonia Dhaese and Armand Storck about the church-based Slow Art Day movement in Antwerp. We explore why churches provide ideal settings for slow looking and how the architecture, lighting, and atmosphere naturally encourage contemplation. For Slow Art Day 2025 (April 5), listeners will learn about events across four Antwerp churches, including St. Paul's...

In this episode host Claire Bown talks with Francine Boon, a self-described 'sociologist turned mystery maker' and co-director of Sherlocked, an award-winning experience design studio based in Amsterdam, about transforming how visitors engage with museums through immersive storytelling and game design. Francine shares two major museum projects in this episode: her Rijksmuseum escape room that attr...

In today's solo episode, host Claire Bown explores why museums are as much about people as they are about objects, and shares six powerful ways to create meaningful connections in your guided experiences. How can museums provide spaces for genuine human interaction in our increasingly disconnected world? What might happen when we put 'connection before content' in our museum practice? In this epis...

In this episode host Claire Bown talks with Maggie Jackson, an award-winning author, former Boston Globe columnist and independent scholar, about the power of uncertainty and how embracing not-knowing might transform our work in museums. Maggie Jackson's latest book "Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure" has been making waves - named on four top books of 2024 lists and recently awarded...

In today's solo episode, host Claire Bown discusses the importance of trust and psychological safety in guided museum experiences. In this episode, we're looking at how to create the conditions that allow people to really engage with art and objects. We're going to explore why trust matters in museum facilitation, what psychological safety looks like in practice, and how to create environments whe...