Aesthetic Research in Context: Investigating Visitor-Centred Museum Practices Within a Co-Produced, Experimental Framework

This thesis, conducted in collaboration with Manchester Art Gallery, investigates the effectiveness of three museum practices—mindfulness-based activities, meaningful group discussions, and guided viewing approaches—in enhancing aesthetic experiences and wellbeing among general museum audiences. It also introduces a novel co-produced, experimental framework, developed with gallery staff, that balances ecological validity, institutional relevance, and scientific rigor. This framework serves as a model for fostering open dialogue and bridging research with practice.

Mindful design within the specialized Room to Breathe gallery space was found to be more effective than a pre-viewing mindfulness exercise (MBE) in improving mood and engagement. Interactive group discussions emerged as the most impactful intervention, significantly enhancing emotional and aesthetic engagement while also slightly increasing affective and social well-being compared to silent group viewing. Guided viewing provided smaller benefits, while autonomy in artwork selection had a more pronounced influence on engagement outcomes. Across the studies, interventions during viewing were more influential than pre-viewing activities, with artwork preference, individual differences, and the nuanced impacts of individual versus group viewing also playing key roles in shaping experiences.

This research offers actionable insights for museums seeking to enhance their visitor-centred programming. It provides evidence-based recommendations for conducting ecologically valid studies that consider the dynamic interplay of interventions, their subcomponents, viewer differences, and environmental factors. By evaluating and advocating for co-production in museum research, this thesis demonstrates how such collaborative approaches can maximize mutual benefit and impact for both scientific inquiry and gallery practice.