Worcester Art Museum

To offer a transformative opportunity for its audiences, the Worcester Art Museum will develop and design an Arms and Armor Gallery for the permanent installation of its newly acquired Higgins Armory Collection, which is composed of 2,000 objects primarily from medieval and Renaissance Europe but also from around the globe reaching as far back as ancient Greece and Egypt. This new gallery will emphasize accessibility and accommodate different learning styles, empowering visitors of diverse ages, backgrounds, and abilities to curate their own experience in exploring the stories behind these objects. An interdisciplinary museum project team will work closely with project partners, as well as directly with target audiences and a team of consultants with expertise in accessibility, digital design, exhibition design, and evaluation, to help shape the project. The goal is to respond to changing community demographics and increasing visitor expectations for customized experiences by re-imagining the way museums use collections to attract and engage new audiences.