The conference thread of the 2015 IAAPA Expo got underway today (16 November) with a seminar on play, spotlighting examples of how the 'maker movement' can help encourage engagement and learning in the attractions industry.
The impact of the maker movement – the increasing popularity of self-made goods – is already being felt in science centres, galleries and museums, but its focus on play and interactivity offers lessons to the wider attractions industry and to all visitor groups, not just children.
"As adults, we can discover something amazing, just like a child can," said speaker Jessica King, vice president of the Maker Effect Foundation and event producer of Maker Faire Orlando. "Making is possible, joy is possible, play is possible as an adult, at any age, and with any set of resources and with any budget."
Maker faires are a low-risk way to experiment and learn for adults as well as for children, King said. They offer a safe place to play and practice, and remove the fear of failure.
The attractions industry – which depends on those who are not afraid to play, design, build and create – is well-placed to help instil the values and skills of the maker faire community in its young visitors.
"Making can become a career," King said. "Making can change your life."
Adam Reed Tucker – architectural artist and founder of Brick Structures – works in collaboration with the Lego Group to design and build Lego versions of some of the world's most famous buildings, landmarks and attractions – including rollercoasters.
Reed Tucker said that he developed his company precisely to bring creativity, imagination and play to architecture, using Lego as an artistic medium rather than a toy.
"For me, disguising education through play is very important," he said. "When kids are forced in a box and it's very structured, they are unengaged and uninterested. If lessons are subliminal, it's amazing how much they learn when they thought they were playing."
Speaker Elizabeth Margulies, director of family programmes and initiatives at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, introduced the gallery's ArtLab project to the audience.
At MoMA, specific teams look at new ways to incorporate creative play into the visitor experience through technology, pop-up spaces, hands-on galleries and learning studios. ArtLab is an inter-generational play-led permanent space at MoMA and a resource aimed at families with children aged between 4 and 12, but also equally enjoyed by adults and teens.
"ArtLab invites visitors to go beyond looking and talking about works of art to engage with art and design in different ways," Margulies said. "In the labs, children and adults experiment and play to make connections with their own creative explorations and the ideas, tools and techniques of modern art."
A play-led lab needs to be a welcoming, inclusive and a hands-on experience, said Margulies, adding that MoMA uses different themes – such as colour, shapes, materials or people – to provide structure to the activities inside the ArtLab.
ArtLab's current installation, under the theme Process, runs until August 2016 at MoMA.
The session, which was hosted by Matt Dawson from Forrec, was called the Art of Play. IAAPA takes place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, from 16 to 20 November.
