As the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) prepares to offer free general admission for all in 2027 through the Free For All, Forever initiative, the museum is working towards redefining membership around not only free access, but opportunities for deeper engagement. A new program series called Open MIC (Members in Conversation) invites MAG members to look closely, experience art differently, and build stronger connections with both the collection and each other.
This innovative new member-exclusive was spearheaded by Curatorial Assistant Lauren Tagliaferro and Estelle B. Goldman Museum Educator for School and Community Partnerships Adam Koneman. The program transforms a tour into an experience focused on conversation and shared discovery. Generally offered to MAG members twice monthly, Open MIC tours invite attendees to gather around and dive deeply into two select works by spending time looking closely together. Through facilitated dialogue, members observe, interpret, question, and respond to art ss they drive the group’s conversation.
The strategy behind facilitated conversations during Open MICs are Artful Thinking Routines—a nationally recognized framework developed by Project Zero at Harvard University. Also utilized in MAG’s educational offerings for students and teachers, Artful Thinking Routines help to develop critical thinking using simple activities that guide viewers in responding to art. With unique prompts and questions that target specific thinking dispositions, this guided approach encourages museumgoers to observe carefully, explore multiple viewpoints, make connections, and develop meaning together. Conversations include prompts such as, “What feelings does this work of art evoke?” “What feelings might the artwork evoke through the lens of someone else?” and “What is your experience viewing this work through someone else’s emotional response?”
Open MIC participants then use the skills developed through Artful Thinking Routines to engage in the formal analysis of a second artwork. Here, Lauren Tagliaferro guides viewers through their thoughts and feelings about the work, as well as observations of formal elements such as color, texture, pattern, light, and pictorial space. This process enables and empowers the group to think more critically and analytically as they spend time with a single artwork.
While most Open MIC sessions follow the same general format—exploring one artwork through an Artful Thinking Routine followed by the formal analysis of a second work—each month offers museum members a unique theme. This intentional structure encourages members to return for a familiar experience while introducing an element of novelty through changing focus areas, artworks, and participant dynamics. A Spring Break Open MIC in April invited members to bring their children and grandchildren into the conversation, demonstrating how art viewing can create a rare space for intergenerational meaning-making. During a May tour of the current major exhibition Determined to Be: The Sculpture of John Rhoden (on view through August 23, 2026), Open MIC guests explored select sculptures through conversation guided by the artist’s own words.
Rather than delivering definitive interpretations or factual analysis, Open MIC invites participants to actively engage with works of art by exploring their own observations and personal connections. And in an age of quick consumption of digital content, slow looking at a work of art can be a restorative practice, offering an opportunity to pause and reconnect through the simple act of being present. “Engaging with our members and their impressions of objects in our galleries is such an incredibly rewarding experience for us” says Lauren Tagliaferro. “As museum workers, we often get caught up in the scholarship of art history, so hearing from our visitors about what they think and feel about individual artworks is so richly gratifying.”
The program reflects a broader shift in museum membership toward experiences rooted in deeper engagement and community. While free admission to MAG (coming in 2027, date to be announced soon) will broaden access for all, programs like Open MIC aim to enrich the member experience by creating opportunities to spend more time with art and connect more meaningfully with fellow members and museum staff.
The first several months of Open MIC suggest that this approach is filling a need for deeper museum experiences. Sessions quickly reach capacity, and participant feedback demonstrates a desire for continued offerings. 95% of attendees said they were Extremely or Very Likely to attend a similar MAG experience in the future. In surveys, participants consistently noted out the welcoming atmosphere, opportunities to engage with art in new ways, meaningful discussions, and the ability to connect with others through different perspectives—reinforcing MAG’s vision for membership as a pathway to deeper engagement, closer connection, and richer experiences with art.
“Some of the best feedback so far is the impact the program is having on some participants’ perspectives and habits as museum goers,” says Adam Koneman. “One individual shared that they feel empowered to return on their own as well as with family and friends to look at more art with fresh ideas and new approaches. We’re thrilled to think about the ripple effect of these sorts of conversations and connections happening in MAG’s galleries, especially as we prepare to offer free admission for all.”
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Press contact: Paige Engard, Marketing & PR Specialist: 585.474.7695 / pengard@mag.rochester.edu