The Whitmore Regional Museum of Fine Arts announced Tuesday the opening of a new interactive wing where visitors are explicitly encouraged to touch, poke, and occasionally lean on the artwork, following a 15-year losing battle against guests who were going to do it regardless of the seventeen ‘Do Not Touch’ signs posted throughout the building.
Museum director Carol Fenwick said the decision came after security footage revealed that 94% of visitors touched at least one sculpture within the first four minutes of their visit, often while maintaining direct eye contact with a ‘Please Do Not Touch’ placard. ‘We spent a decade fighting human nature,’ Fenwick said. ‘At some point you have to ask yourself if you’re running a museum or a very expensive game of Simon Says that everyone is losing.’
The new wing, titled ‘Go Ahead,’ features replica sculptures specifically designed to withstand groping, climbing, and the occasional toddler headbutt. Museum patron Greg Ostrowski called the change ‘honestly a relief,’ adding, ‘I’ve touched four Rodins in my life and felt guilty every single time. Now I can touch a fifth one guilt-free, even if it is, apparently, resin.’
Not everyone is pleased with the shift. Art historian Dr. Linda Marchetti called the wing ‘a capitulation to society’s basest impulses,’ though she reportedly touched the exhibit’s centerpiece, a foam replica of Michelangelo’s David, twice during her tour. The museum plans to expand the concept next year with a ‘Whisper As Loud As You Want’ gallery and a designated area for guests to explain to their children, incorrectly, what abstract expressionism means.
