Problem
In today’s world, many people who might otherwise be interested in going to museums and learning more about art get stuck in the day-to-day of life and are unable to make the trip to a local art museum. With this hobby in particular, because of the close look and the constant engagement that is required with most pieces, it can be difficult to set aside the time necessary to cultivate an interest in art. In addition to that issue, it can also be hard to engage with the hobby in the first place without some formal education in art or art history. The small descriptions next to pieces in an art museum rarely offer the full context in which a piece was made or much of an explanation of the style of a piece. Thus, I want to make art more accessible both for captive users and, more generally, interested users who want to reach a better understanding and appreciation of artwork.
Solution
My proposed solution is an app whose primary function is to present a piece of art a day to users along with accompanying information about the artwork such as the artist, the time period, historical context, the style, important things to note about the piece, and other details that might inform how a person looks at a work of art. The app would keep track of previously viewed pieces by the user to always be able to provide a new work every day to each individual person rather than running the risk of repeats by having the Art of the Day be universal. If the user feels comfortable, they can also filter the artwork selected each day by style or artist if they are especially interested in Pop Art for example. While this is the primary function of the app, I would like for it to also work in conjunction with the experience of going to a museum as there is still value in seeing artwork with your own eyes. To that end, the app would keep track of the artwork that each art museum has in circulation at any given moment in order to be able to offer additional information on relevant pieces which the user can have read out to them as they go through the museum. This functionality could likely be extended to offer guided tours of a museum or of specific works that the user is interested in.
Image taken from Frye Museum