Kelowna museum invites guests to don gloves and play curator this summer
A Kelowna museum is inviting the public to put on some gloves, for safety reasons related to COVID-19, but also to take part in a new interactive program where people can experience the museum as curators.
The White Glove Experience, the new program at the Okanagan Heritage Museum, allows participants to wear special museum-grade curator gloves so they can examine old objects.
"They are a special type of cotton that makes sure that the oils from your hands don't get on the object," explained Jen Garner who is the head of education at Kelowna Museums.
She says upon entering the museum, visitors will get a lesson on how to properly handle museum objects and then get the opportunity to design their own curator show for friends and family.
Some of the items that can be examined include the museum's collection of animal skulls.
"It doesn't matter if you're a little kid or if you're a little kid at heart. People think they're awesome," said Garner.
The idea for the White Glove Experience came out of brainstorming sessions by museum staff trying to rethink how visitors could have a safe, but still fulfilling, museum experience amid pandemic restrictions.
"It actually gave us an opportunity to really do some deep thinking about the visitor experience," said Garner. "We have new experiences for people now that maybe we wouldn't have thought of if we weren't forced to."
She adds that the new experience has already received positive reviews in the past couple weeks. "Our visitors have really enjoyed them."
The museum will be exploring other themes in the coming weeks, including an exhibition about bats, a session on ethnobotany — the relationship between plants and people and a collection of early Kelowna pioneer objects.
The White Glove Experience will run on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons.
