The Jewish Museum
Creative Services
Self-Guided Tours and Experiences
Hardware
Platforms
Touch
Accessibility
Financial Models
Founded in 1904, The Jewish Museum is one of the oldest and largest Jewish museums in the world, located on Museum Mile in New York City. With a permanent collection of more than 30,000 works of art, ceremonial objects, and media spanning 4,000 years, the museum is dedicated to exploring the global Jewish experience in ways that are relevant to everyone. Its rotating temporary exhibitions examine the intersection of art and Jewish culture and help make the museum a vital and ever-changing destination.
The Challenge
The Jewish Museum sought a partner capable of building an audio tour program that would grow and evolve to meet their changing needs – one that could serve their diverse audiences, adapt to rapidly evolving technology, and deliver engaging content for both the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions. Over time, the tour program has expanded to include accessibility solutions, programming for kids and families, multiple generations of hardware, and several digital platforms that extend the visitor experience beyond the museum’s walls.
The Solution
Acoustiguide has served as The Jewish Museum’s dedicated audio interpretation partner since 2007. Over nearly two decades, we have provided a full suite of services that has evolved with the museum’s needs:
- Full scripting and production services for 50 hours of content for permanent collection and temporary exhibitions
- A diverse range of audio tour types tailored to different visitor interests and touring preferences
- Audio Described tours for visitors who are blind or have low vision
- Content for kids and families to serve the museum’s multigenerational audience
- Mobile app development and digital delivery
- Content produced for the Bloomberg Connects platform] and deployed on Orpheo Touch devices for in-gallery use
- Multiple generations of hardware and ongoing equipment management
In 2017, we worked with the museum to completely rethink their tour strategy and create a variety of different tour types that provide a multidimensional perspective on the collection and allow visitors to tailor their own experience. The current slate of tours includes a Director’s Tour, an Artists’ Voices series that features a variety of bold-faced names reflecting on their favorite pieces in the collection, mini tour experiences built around a singular theme (for example, migration), a tour for kids and families, and tours of their rotating temporary exhibitions.
Key Outcomes
- Nearly two decades of continuous partnership
- A comprehensive set of tours that allows visitors to personalize their experience
- Seamless integration across multiple platforms: on-site devices, smartphone app, and Bloomberg Connects
- Multiple generations of hardware successfully deployed and maintained by Acoustiguide’s local operations team
- Award-winning content that has reinforced the museum’s reputation as one of New York’s most innovative cultural institutions
Why This Matters
The Jewish Museum and Acoustiguide’s partnership is a testament to what a long-term, highly collaborative relationship can achieve. When it came time to reimagine the audio tour program for the newly installed permanent collection, The Jewish Museum trusted Acoustiguide to undertake this task due to the strong foundation we’d built over nearly a decade. We were willing collaborators on a journey to explore and experiment with different storytelling styles and audio guide approaches.
The Jewish Museum is a uniquely structured institution. Its permanent collection features ancient and contemporary religious artifacts, as well as modern and contemporary artworks, and the featured temporary exhibitions are equally varied. This diversity is reflected in the array of visitors ranging widely in age, interests, and expectations. Acoustiguide is proud of the way it was able to create a broad spectrum of audio experiences to support this museum and its patrons.