New tour option planned

By Sandy Morris

The Old Jail Art Center has always offered a variety of opportunities, and visitors may have been on docent-led tours, utilized printed guides or interactive ­kiosks, or participated in scavenger-style text tours. 

OJAC education director Erin Whitmore has been working on a new touring option for the past few years that she plans to have available in the near future.

“I started working on the idea of offering self-guided tours back in 2016 and 2017,” said Whitmore. “I wanted to provide a way for people to learn about exhibits at their own pace.”

When COVID forced the OJAC to restrict public tours, the situation “lit a fire” under Whitmore to  get her project completed.

What has transpired is an interactive, self-guided mobile touring app that will allow visitors to use their own mobile device or borrow a sanitized tablet to explore the museum.

Whitmore said patrons will be able to open the app and scan posted QR codes to select permanent and temporary exhibition tours.

Each tour will include five to 10 object destinations within a specific area of the OJAC, with brief narratives about those objects coming from slide shows or video clips or by listening to sound bites.

“This app originally was designed for visitors who want to tour and investigate at their own pace,” Whitmore said. “It also is for families who may only be able to visit one or two exhibits because they have small children with shorter attention spans.”

The app centers around discovery-based learning and independent investigation and will be available in Spanish and English.

“My goal is to have the app available during this exhibition cycle,” said Whitmore. “We definitely want it ready for the Fandangle crowds to use this summer.”

The app will offer links for further research on the artists, media processes, or cultural/social context.

“We will certainly continue to offer our wonderful docent-led tours,” said Whitmore. “This app will just help us to serve more audiences with different needs.”