The Gibbes Museum of Art Introduces Cell Phone Tours
For Immediate Release, August 2008
The Gibbes Museum of Art Introduces Cell Phone Tours
The Gibbes is the First Cultural Institution in Charleston to Offer this Technology
On Friday, August 29, the Gibbes Museum of Art will begin offering cell phone audio tours that will allow visitors to access in-depth information about the museum's collection and specific objects by using their personal cell phones. Signs will be placed near select art objects and visitors can choose what they want to learn about and take the tour at their own pace. Visitors simply call a local Charleston number (843-303-9062) and follow the prompts.
The Gibbes audio tour features The Charleston Story, an exhibition selected from the museum's permanent collection. The tour will start with a welcome from Mayor Riley and will feature information on paintings, prints, miniature portraits and sculpture from the 18th to the 21st century. Visitors will be able to hear directly from living artists such as Jill Hooper, Juan Logan, West Fraser and Leo Twiggs about their own works of art. For visually impaired museum visitors, the Gibbes offers a cell phone audio tour of Hands On!, an exhibition of the museum's touch collection.
"We believe the audio tours will enhance our visitors' experience by providing valuable information in an easy-to-use format without rental fees or equipment to check in and out," explains Gibbes Executive Director Angela Mack. The tours are free and the only potential cost is for users who are charged for minutes by their cell phone provider.
The cell tour program is provided by the San Francisco based company Guide by Cell, founded in 2005 by David Asheim. "We are so pleased that the Gibbes Museum of Art will be the first cultural organization in the Charleston area to use our cell phone audio technology. They join a prestigious list of organizations across the country, ranging from the Getty Museum to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, that provide this extra level of interpretation to their visitors," said Asheim.
The Gibbes cell phone audio tour is made possible by the generous support of Dr. and Mrs. Anton Vreede.
