How Visitors Experience the Edward James Olmos Americanos Exhibit: An Ethnographic Study

This paper reports the findings from a ten-week ethnographic evaluation of Americanos, a traveling exhibit displayed in the fall of 2000 at the Field Museum of Natural History and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago. Members of Dr. Christina Wasson's undergraduate applied anthropology class at DePaul University designed the research project and conducted interviews with museum patrons on their experience of the exhibit. This paper outlines background information on museum-goers and details methods utilized in the study, class findings, and recommendations resulting from the findings. Findings explore visitors' experiences with the division and physical layout of the exhibit, visitor interaction with text and labels, and the impact visitors' preconceptions had on their experience with the exhibit. It concludes with seven recommendations applicable to improving the quality of both the Americanos experience for visitors as well as future museum exhibitions at the Field Museum and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum.