Frida Kahlo multimedia guide update

Visitors to the Walker’s Frida Kahlo exhibition have the option of renting a multimedia guide ($6, $5 Walker members). The tour was produced by Antenna Audio whose staff are providing bi-weekly reports on usage. Here’s what we know so far:

• Take-up rate varies widely depending on attendance with the average being 9%. Thursdays are our big day with typically around 22% (Walker admission is free on Thursday nights). Saturdays are also a big day but the take up ratio (.05%) is diluted by Free First Saturday (FFS) attendance. FFS is the Walker family day; we had 4,800 visitors on November 3rd, a large percentage of which were 12 and under.
• The numbers show far more non-members purchase the tour versus members (approximately 20:1). However, once members purchase the tour, they’ve come back multiple times, often with friends and family.
• The 50+ crowd are the folks purchasing the tour. Teens and 20-somethings think they know it all and tend to dismiss it. I wonder how much this demographic might change if the tour was free and/or offered on personal technology.
• Antenna’s new hardware appears to be holding up to public use. By the end of a 6-hour day, the players can get a bit sluggish but they brought in additional units so they can rotate more frequently.
• The comments from visitors continue to be overwhelmingly positive. Some of the quotes we’ve gotten:”Fantastic…indispensable for understanding the heavy symbolism of her work.””…loved additional visuals on touch screen…” rnrn”…would have been lost without it…”

  “…numbers next to paintings should be larger…” (Sigh. The labels, always the labels.)

  “Excellent to have optional perspectives on the artist and contextual background on her life and times.”

  “…the order of paintings didn’t jive with the audio and I had to skip all over the place to find where I was supposed to be.” (The tour is random access and some visitors still prefer a more linear tour.)

  “Every exhibit should have these!”