The Art Engager

Over the past year, I’ve attended some fantastic interactive online sessions and I’ve led hundreds of my own.⁠ I’ve also attended some pretty dull one-way presentations and long lectures. No matter what type of session you are leading - be it a virtual tour, an online art discussion, an online class or course - you need to keep your session interactive to stop participants from tuning out.  Y...

Today I’m doing a deep dive on the most famous and well-known thinking routine of them all - See Think Wonder.  I’m going to share with you how you can use this thinking routine in your art discussions and why it’s one of the best routines for getting started with Visible Thinking in the Museum - my method for engaging and connecting with audiences, art and ideas.  It’s actually the firs...

How can you improve your questioning skills without resorting to reading long lists of tips and techniques and do's and don'ts? What can you use to help you create, sort and evaluate better questions? The simple answer is: ART. I’ve been using artworks for years to help me to brainstorm, sort, re-word and improve my questions. Artworks (and objects) provide an engaging and focused way to work on y...

Today I’m sharing 5 simple slow looking ideas for the summer.  In our fast-paced society, we scan, we skim and we scroll. We have forgotten what it’s like to really look at something. Slow looking is a wonderful alternative to life in the fast lane. The 5 activities I'll be sharing in this episode are simple, effective ways to slow down, improve your observational skills and focus and notice...

Today I’m talking all about how to use the ‘Unveiling Stories’ thinking routine to investigate multiple layers of meaning with a photograph. This is part of a new series of episodes on the podcast where I share a thinking routine with you and all the insights for how you might be able to use it with an artwork or object with groups - either in-person or online. Unveiling Stories was our ‘thinking...

Many of us are experts in our field - possibly art historians, historians or archaeologists - and want to share that incredible knowledge with the groups we lead in our programmes. But knowing what information to share, how to share it and when to share it is often tricky – especially on interactive, discussion-based programmes. And what happens when you add too much information? And how much is&n...

Perspective-taking is about seeing a situation or understanding a concept from an alternative view point, such as that of someone else. It is a skill that needs to be encouraged - particularly in children.  Your brain has to work quite hard to get good at perspective-taking. And in the opposite direction of what it is hard-wired to do - which is to place YOU at the centre of everything.&...

So, this week in honour of our 10th episode I’m talking about 10 common traps to avoid when asking questions!  For some people questioning comes easily. But for the majority of us, we are not asking enough questions AND we’re not phrasing them in the best way.  The good news is that we can all become better questioners with time and practice. To become a better questioner, it’s really im...

Welcome back to the Art Engager podcast! Today I’m talking about building rapport and creating a great group dynamic in the 'new now'.  Creating a great group dynamic is even MORE important now after the last year or so. We will need to take extra care to create social comfort and psychological safety, we will also need to build trust and social interaction.  In this episode I'm talking...

Today I’m talking all about how to use the ‘See Think Me We’ thinking routine to create personal and community connections with artworks.  This is part of a new series of episodes on the podcast where I share a thinking routine with you and all the insights for how you might be able to use it with an artwork or object with groups - either in-person or online.  See Think Me We was our ‘th...

Slow looking is not only an important part of my work, it is also a personal practice - something that I’ve been doing regularly for the last few years. I’m really interested in developing my observational skills and I’m also fascinated by what happens when we spend a longer period of time looking at something. Our general approach to looking is, however, flawed and we try to look at things as bri...

In this episode, I’m discussing 6 essential thinking routines you should have in your educator repertoire. These are thinking routines that you can use to create engaging discussions with art or artefacts or routines that will help you develop and grow in your work as an educator. I’ve found it really hard to select just 6 thinking routine out of the 100+ routines out there, but I’ve come up with...

Facilitation is a key part of creating engaging and interactive discussions around art and museum objects. But  developing the skills of a good facilitator is an art form in itself  – it requires practice, patience and the best facilitators MAKE IT LOOK SO EASY.  Sometimes people wonder why I chose the word 'facilitator' - rather than guide, educator, teacher, docent, or interpreter...

In this week's episode, I’m sharing my 5 golden rules for asking brilliant questions.  But what is a brilliant question? Asking more questions is one way to get more interaction and engagement in your programmes. But asking the wrong types of questions can actually shut down the discussion and stop people participating at all. So, in this episode, I'm sharing 5 rules that will help you to ask...

Thinking routines are an essential part of the Visible Thinking in the Museum method and my core course, Visible Thinking in the Museum Online (VTMO). They have been a magical ingredient in helping me to confidently create engaging discussions around objects and artworks over the past 10 years. They’ve also been a great way to engage audiences to get them really interested in art and objects, maki...

In this first episode, I’m going to be talking about the main method I use to engage audiences with art and ideas - that’s my Visible Thinking in the Museum method which I started developing 10 years ago this year.  The Visible Thinking in the Museum method is an easy-to-follow framework that allows educators to confidently lead engaging discussion-based sessions with art, objects and id...

I believe engagement starts with slow looking. I’ve been practising the art of slow looking for the last 10 years as a personal practice and with groups of all ages with a variety of objects, artworks, situations and places. Slow looking has played a pivotal role in the most engaging discussions I've led over the last 10 years.  Slow looking has played a pivotal role in the most engaging disc...

Welcome to The Art Engager podcast! This podcast here to help educators, guides and creatives engage their audiences with art, objects and ideas. Each week I’ll be sharing a variety of strategies, ideas and inspiration to help you to engage and connect with your audiences and confidently lead lively art and artefact discussions. Show highlights: What The Art Engager podcast is all about How &...