| As museums continue to shift from being object-centered to visitor-centered, they also need to reconsider their exhibition development practices to become more relevant to their communities. In alignment with this premise, this double case study investigates two exhibitions that were curated using the supported interpretation (SI) model for visitor-centered exhibitions. They were the Mixing It Up: Building an Identity exhibition, taking place at the gallery of the Tempe Center for the Arts in Arizona, and Contemporary Latino Art: El Corazon de San Antonio, an exhibition that took place at the former Texas A&M University-San Antonio's Educational & Cultural Arts Center. In this dissertation, I examine how SI was implemented at these two exhibitions and how it can be implemented at future ones in other art centers or similar venues. Supporting questions explore the strategies and processes that were used at Mixing It Up and El Corazon, and insights on how the model worked in these two instances.;This study was informed by the constructivist paradigm of inquiry. In it, I used a hermeneutic/dialectic methodology and qualitative methods of data collection. At the Mixing It Up exhibition, I conducted observations and unstructured interviews using a maximum variation sampling strategy, and I also analyzed secondary data gathered through one of the interactive components of the exhibition. At El Corazon, I worked exclusively with secondary data gathered through the visitors' participatory opportunities embedded in the exhibition interface. Moreover, I used self-reflection and Serrell's (2006) Framework for Assessing Excellence in Exhibitions from a Visitor-Centered Perspective as a professional development tool to go deeper into an understanding of SI and its implementation at these two exhibitions.;The findings of this study reveal that both exhibitions included interpretive elements that encouraged visitor participation and validated a multiplicity of voices. But they also show that those components made the exhibitions more meaningful for visitors allowing them to make personal connections with the art on display by themselves or with others. Additionally, as this study investigates how SI worked at these two exhibitions, it also sheds light into possible ways in which it can be implemented at other institutions in the future, and provides recommendations for future applications of it as well as areas for further research. |
