The Art Engager

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 take you inside the convening and share what I heard, what I learned, and what I think it means for those of us working in museums and cultural spaces.
I carried three questions with me to Atlanta. What does it actually take to do this work well? How do we build the evidence that it works? And how do we make sure the wider world hears about it? Listen to the episode for where those questions led me.
The Art Engager is written and presented by Claire Bown. Editing is by Matt Jacobs and Claire Bown. Music by Richard Bown. Support on Patreon
Mentioned in this episode
The High Museum of Art: https://high.org
The Museums That Helped Power Atlanta’s Rise Are Still Pushing Ahead:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/arts/atlanta-museums.html?unlocked_article_code=1.bVA.UEVq.IQUdMdoYDuWI&smid=url-share
Oasis at the High Museum of Art: https://high.org/event-category/for-adults/oasis/
Art Story: How the High is Engaging Mindfulness with Art at Oasis: https://medium.com/high-museum-of-art/art-story-how-the-high-is-engaging-mindfulness-with-art-at-oasis-8b3592f5f876
Art After Loss at the High Museum of Art: https://high.org/art-after-loss/
Art After Loss: Creating Space for Grief, Connection, and Reflection: https://medium.com/high-museum-of-art/art-after-loss-creating-space-for-grief-connection-and-reflection-7ab2a1113643
TimeSlips: https://www.timeslips.org
Meet Me at MoMA: https://www.moma.org/visit/accessibility/meetme/
LSU Museum of Art: https://www.lsumoa.org
Two prompts to sit with
For me, social connection looks like…
One thing I can do next is…

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 experiences in response to the complicated legacies of their central historical figures.
We talk about the long evolution of interpretation at Monticello, from the site's earliest tours to the integration of slavery and the story of Sally Hemings into the core narrative. Kelsie shares the process behind the Frick's "Gilded, Not Golden" tour - a ground-up redesign of Clayton's 30-year-old house tour that involved consultants, an advisory board, difficult internal conversations and a willingness to start from scratch.
We also dig into what it means to support guides doing this work: hiring for empathy, investing in training, facilitating ongoing dialogue, and empowering guides to be facilitators rather than lecturers. And we reflect on the civic role of historic sites in a polarised moment, including how Monticello is approaching the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Whether you're working at a historic house, leading tours in any kind of museum or cultural space, or thinking about how to hold space for complexity in your guided programmes, I think you'll find a great deal to take away from this conversation.
The Art Engager is written and presented by Claire Bown. Editing is by Matt Jacobs and Claire Bown. Music by Richard Bown. Support on Patreon
Episode Links:
LinkedIn Kelsie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsie-paul-39561b199/
Frick website: www.thefrickpittsburgh.org
Frick Instagram: @frickpittsburgh
Recent article on Clayton: https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/places-we-love-clayton/
LinkedIn Brandon: www.linkedin.com/in/brandonmdillard
Monticello website: https://www.monticello.org/
Monticello Instagram: @tjmonticello
Show Links:
✨ If you've enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting The Art Engager on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheArtEngager
Or pick up a copy of my book, The Art Engager, for step-by-step guidance on creating meaningful, interactive guided experiences https://www.theartengager.com/
Buy it here on Amazon.com: https://tinyurl.com/buytheartengager

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 archives across Europe. But access alone is not enough. Beth shares how the platform invites people to move from browsing to creating through prompts, activities, and collaborative spaces.
This episode will resonate with anyone working in museums, galleries or cultural institutions who is interested in using digital collections as a starting point for storytelling, creative engagement and new ways of working with cultural heritage.
The Art Engager is written and presented by Claire Bown. Editing is by Matt Jacobs and Claire Bown. Music by Richard Bown. Support on Patreon
Episode Links:
Dr Beth Daley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-daley-a032b537/
https://www.europeana.eu/
https://pro.europeana.eu/post/join-our-events-for-writers-and-get-creative-with-cultural-heritage - this one covers all our activities including the following:
https://pro.europeana.eu/event/europeana-writers-room-monthly-creative-writing-workshops - Europeana Writers' Room registration
https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/six-ways-to-play-with-europeana-story-dice - Europeana story dice
https://pro.europeana.eu/page/seven-tips-for-digital-storytelling - in 16 languages
https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-daley-a032b537/ - my LinkedIn profile
https://bethdaley.substack.com/ - my Substack page
Europeana's social media:
https://www.facebook.com/Europeana
https://bsky.app/profile/europeana.bsky.social
https://www.linkedin.com/company/europeana
https://www.instagram.com/europeana_eu/
Show Links:
✨ If you've enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting The Art Engager on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheArtEngager
Or pick up a copy of my book, The Art Engager, for step-by-step guidance on creating meaningful, interactive guided experiences https://www.theartengager.com/
Buy it here on Amazon.com: https://tinyurl.com/buytheartengager

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-led principles. Rather than adopting an existing model, the team worked through workshops, observation, interviews and iterative “campaigns” to develop a cohesive, values-led approach.
A key commitment was centring the artist’s voice, placing artist intention in conversation with students’ existing knowledge. From this, the team developed a Creative Learning strategy planning tool that supports inquiry-led, multimodal, embodied and reflective practice.
Across the episode, they explore:
How to develop a context-specific learning approach rather than importing a model
What it means in practice to centre the artist’s voice
How small, iterative “campaigns” can embed reflective practice in a team
How multimodality and embodiment deepen engagement beyond discussion
Why joy is understood as a serious pedagogical commitment
What co-design and participatory action research look like inside a museum setting

This episode will resonate with anyone working in museums, galleries or cultural institutions who is thinking carefully about pedagogy, reflective practice, and how to articulate an approach that genuinely reflects their context and values.
The Art Engager is written and presented by Claire Bown. Editing is by Matt Jacobs and Claire Bown. Music by Richard Bown. Support on Patreon
Episode Links:
https://nga.gov.au/learn/our-creative-learning-approach/
The Creative Learning Project Digital Publication: https://nga.gov.au/media/dd/documents/NGA_The_Creative_Learning_Project_Digital_Publication.pdf
Zouwer, N. & Hamilton, O. (2026). The Creative Learning Project: Defining the National Gallery of Australia’s Creative Learning Approach. 10.13140/RG.2.2.35063.28324
Zouwer, N., Hamilton, O., Menser Hearn, N., & Ali, I. (2026). Using Practice-Based Methods to Co-create, Define, and Articulate a New Approach to Art Education in the National Gallery of Australia. Australian Journal of Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00049441261421257
Georgia Close, Head of Learning, National Gallery of Australia
Harriet Body, Creative Learning Convenor, National Gallery of Australia
Harriet Body on LinkedIn
Naomi Zouwer, artist, teacher, and researcher. Lecturer of Creative Arts Teacher Education and a researcher in the Centre of Advanced Education Studies (CASE) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Canberra.
Naomi Zouwer on LinkedIn
Naomi’s website https://www.zouwer.com/
The Centre for Advanced Studies in Education (CASE)
https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/centres/case
Show Links:
✨ If you've enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting The Art Engager on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheArtEngager
Or pick up a copy of my book, The Art Engager, for step-by-step guidance on creating meaningful, interactive guided experiences https://www.theartengager.com/
Buy it here on Amazon.com: https://tinyurl.com/buytheartengager

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 uneven, delayed, or absent.
Clare’s perspective is shaped by her work as co-founder and executive director of cARTie, Connecticut’s first nonprofit art museum bus for young children, alongside her doctoral research into how people come to understand what museums are and who they are for. She describes research and practice as running in parallel, rather than as separate phases.
The conversation looks at why early childhood matters as a time when confidence, hesitation, and ways of taking part in museum-like spaces begin to take shape. Clare shares what she notices when children encounter art and museum environments for the first time, and what they appear to be learning beyond information about the artworks themselves.
Across the episode, they reflect on:
how early encounters with art begin to shape museum habits of mind
how confidence and hesitation show up and evolve through repeated encounters
what children seem to pick up about how to take part in museum-like spaces
what can be missed when access to art and museum experiences is uneven or delayed
how research and practice can run in parallel, with each informing the other

This episode will be of interest to anyone working with children, art, or learning spaces, and to museum educators, guides, and facilitators interested in how early experiences shape longer-term relationships with museums.
The Art Engager is written and presented by Claire Bown. Editing is by Matt Jacobs and Claire Bown. Music by Richard Bown. Support on Patreon
Episode Links:
Clare Murray on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/murrayclare
Museum Design with, by and for Children: Innovative, International Approaches https://www.routledge.com/Museum-Design-with-by-and-for-Children-Innovative-International-Approaches/Murray/p/book/9781032774404
cARTie https://www.cartie.org/
cARTie on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ctcartie/
Show Links
✨ If you've enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting The Art Engager on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheArtEngager
Or pick up a copy of my book, The Art Engager, for step-by-step guidance on creating meaningful, interactive guided experiences https://www.theartengager.com/
Buy it here on Amazon.com: https://tinyurl.com/buytheartengager