Exploring Spaces: Evaluating Visitor Experiences at the Henry Art Gallery

This report discusses a front-end evaluation that aimed to determine what physical and perceptual barriers affect visitors’ use of the Henry Art Gallery, and how visitors currently interact with museum spaces and staff. These findings will support guest service training and changes in the museum’s physical infrastructure. This study utilized three main questions for exploring the visitor experience at the museum: 1) Are there barriers affecting visitors’ use of the Henry?; 2) What motivates visitors to use certain spaces at the Henry?; and 3) What experiences are visitors having with Henry staff? The project team employed three separate, but interrelated instruments to assess these aspects of visitor services. The appendix of this report includes the gallery observation instrument and gallery survey used in the study.