SAVANNAH, GA. – MAY 24, 2022 – The Savannah African Art Museum’s remote learning option, through video conferencing, is gaining tremendous popularity, allowing visitors from around the nation to experience what this museum, on the arts and cultures of the African continent, has to offer.
Tours of the museum’s collection, utilizing video conferencing technology, were first introduced when the COVID-19 pandemic began. It turned out to be an engaging way for guests to learn about the museum’s art collection. This is a service that continues to be offered by the Savannah African Art Museum as a way of reaching a larger global audience. Alisa Evans-Newsome, the museum’s Chief Administrator of Operations, and Dr. Edwin Johnson, the museum’s Registrar and Volunteer Coordinator, have been providing engaging, educational experiences through the virtual gallery tours. These insightful, informative, and even entertaining, sessions have included sizable groups of students, of many different age groups, from different regions in the United States.
Previously, the Savannah African Art Museum used web-based social media such as Facebook to broadcast videos on objects and themes represented in the museum’s collection. This was followed by university professors registering at the museum to have their students remotely attend guided tours of the galleries. This enabled these students to remotely experience what the museum has to offer when classes were being held online.
Evans-Newsome has been at the forefront of the museum’s pursuit of educational accessibility as elementary school teachers begin to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the museum through distance learning. Earlier this month, she conducted a tour, via Zoom, for 380 seventh-grade students at the West Chatham Middle School in Georgia. On the same day, Evans-Newsome provided an enriching educational experience for a group of third-grade students from the Elysian Charter School in Hoboken, New Jersey. By her accounts, these students were engaged and demonstrated a genuine interest in the cultures of the African continent. This was evident due to how these young students frequently commented on what they saw and how often they asked many questions about what was covered during the conferencing session. In addition to fueling the curiosity of these young students, Evans-Newsome found the experience to be remarkably rewarding.
Younger participants are increasingly utilizing virtual tour options provided by the museum. It is heralding a new chapter in this museum’s efforts to reach out to larger, farther flung, and more diverse audiences. The Savannah African Art Museum will continue to provide remote learning opportunities for educational institutions that range from elementary schools to universities, close to home and further afield. Additionally, remote learning opportunities are also available to individuals who want to learn more about the arts and cultures of the vast and diverse continent of Africa. The museum recently expanded the capacity of their conferencing service, which now allows up to 100 devices to log onto one session at the same time.
Anyone who is interested in booking an online for themselves or an educational group can find more information at www.savannahafricanartmuseum.org or by emailing visit@savannahafricanartmuseum.org.
Savannah African Art Museum is a nonprofit institution that introduces all audiences to African art and culture. Their mission is to provide engaging experiences that educate and start conversations about the power, diversity, and spirituality of African art. Learn more by visiting www.savannahafricanartmuseum.org or experiencing the collection in person at the museum’s location at 201 East 37th Street for a free tour on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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