Cultural objects make visible the cultural principles and categories that form the basis of any society. Art objects are not an exception, although, unlike other aspects of material culture, they not only reflect, persuade and convince members of the importance of these rules (McCracken, 1986) but they also critique and challenge the very fabric of society. This paper considers a number of ways in which art is perceived and experienced in a museum.

Individuals bring knowledge and their past experiences to an exhibit. Their viewing experience is also influenced by the preparatory work done by the museum's curators, although sometimes the meanings vested in art objects either by the artist or the curator are not always apparent. Thus while the artist creates meaning through his/her works of art, the museum interprets this work for the public. The museum teaches to see, the artist transforms and creates, and the individual learns to see. Findings obtained during research conducted at a contemporary art museum and using naturalistic methods for collecting the data suggest how this three-way interaction occurs.

There are a number of themes that emerge from this exploratory study; to facilitate the analysis, they are organized around the three emergent themes: learning to see, teaching to see, and creating and transforming. We will discuss only the first two themes since we do not have sufficient data to discuss the role of the artist in the meaning-creation process. Prior to this discussion, we will present the methodology used to collect the data as well as some findings, namely the viewer behaviour, the visitors' profile and the museum personnel behavior, ensuing from the participant observations. We will also discuss some implications of the research. Thus, there are five sections to this paper: Methodology, findings derived from the participant observations, learning to see, teaching to see and implications.

CONTENTS
Sommaire [summary, text in French only].
Preface.
Introduction.

Methodology: 

Emergent design.
Data records.

Findings derived from the participant observations:

Viewer behavior: 

Reception area.
Exhibit behavior.
Suggestion box.
Cafe.
Browsing behavior.
Documentation centre [center].
Purchase behavior.
Art-related activities.
Special talks by artists/experts.
Workshops.

Visitors profile:

Visitor segments.
An analysis of visitors makeup.

Museum personnel behavior:

Structuring of exhibits.
Reception area.
Boutique.
Cafe area.
Documentation centre [center].
Workshop sites.
Guided tours.
Museum attendants.
Special talks by the artist/expert.
Vernissages.
Art-related activities.
School visits.

Learning to see:

Preparation for seeing.

Developing intimacy with art objects.

Expectations and experience brought to exhibits:

Return to the familiar.
The wish to be surprised.
Art as humor.
Art as discovery of self.
Art as literal representation.
The how of works of art.

Experiences and expectations of museums:

Museums as sacred space.
Other museums, other times.
The politics of art/The self-consciousness of Quebec art.

Teaching to see:

Curatorial consumption.
Acquisitions policy.
Purchasing.
Museum as preserver/authenticator.
Use of gallery space.
Museum-public interface.

Implications.

Conclusions.
References [bibliography].

Cultural objects make visible the cultural principles and categories that form the basis of any society. Art objects are not an exception, although, unlike other aspects of material culture, they not only reflect, persuade and convince members of the importance of these rules (McCracken, 1986) but they also critique and challenge the very fabric of society. This paper considers a number of ways in which art is perceived and experienced in a museum.