ART SPEAKS. JOIN THE CONVERSATION.

How can art museums use social media and smartphones to engage and connect on a deeper level with visitors? Columbus Museum of Art’s answer: our ongoing CMA Photo Hunt project.

CMA Photo Hunts give participants an opportunity to flex their creativity; be inspired by works or themes in Columbus Museum of Art exhibitions or collections; respond to creative challenges with their own visual take using the popular photo sharing app Instagram; and have their photos displayed in the museum. Since our Photo Hunts began we have received more 5,000 submissions from hundreds of photographers from Seattle to Ohio to Paris to Russia, and presented four CMA Photo Hunt exhibitions.

What we’ve learned along the way:

10. It Takes a Village Involve people from various departments, and play to their strengths.

9. It’s a Family Affair Once you engage one family member, you often engage another.

8. #TestYourHashtags

7. Use the Right Platform, at the Right Time We’re looking at you, Flickr vs. Instagram

6. Create Wiggle Room Allow for a variety of creative expression when creating and designing a crowdsourced project.

5. Let’s Get it Started Give verbal or visual prompts to start, and get people inspired. Highlight creative entries along the way.

4. People Need Deadlines People want to be inspired, but they also need deadlines.

3. Reminder: Enlist Influencers

2. Mobile Photographers Really Do Take LOTS of Pictures And often of your museum and exhibitions, in addition to the creative challenge.

1. If You Feed Them, They Will Come People want to connect in real life, as well as, digitally. Give them an opportunity to do that.

To Instagram Or Not? Top 10 Things Learned Using Social Media to Build a Creative Community

Questions? Jennifer Poleon, Columbus Museum of Art Digital Communications Manager, jennifer.poleon@cmaohio.org Follow Columbus Museum of Art on Instagram: ColumbusMuseum