#APartTogether: MCA Public Art

How can social distancing connect people through art?

Note: This is a self-initiated conceptual project.

Challenge

As museums prepare to re-open during the COVID-19 pandemic, they want to encourage people to visit while instilling visitor confidence around safety. I explored a concept for a public art installation for Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) that promotes the museum's value on safety by connecting their visitors through art that's modern, relevant, and accessible.

Assumptions

• The MCA has provided data on its visitors' feelings about returning to the museum

• The MCA is able to track visitor foot traffic in real-time across all 4 of its floors (number of visitors, distance kept among visitors, length of visits) 

Process

To ensure that MCA's public art resonates with its visitors, I created a visitor profile to define what they expect to feel and think when they come to the MCA. I then created a design thinking sprint to ideate concepts, and conducted research for "best experience" examples to serve as inspiration.

Experience

#APartTogether is a communal art installation that transforms the MCA's real-time data around its visitors' social distancing behavior through visuals and sound. Once visitors enter the museum, they're no longer viewers of art but rather, become active performers in #APartTogether. By projecting the visuals and sounds across the museum's plaza stairs, the MCA readily welcomes new and returning visitors with its commitment to visitor safety, while providing an experience where visitors can safely commune and reflect.