#PARAGONE
Built at the ArtBytes 3 Hackaton at The Walters Art Museum, February 6-8, 2015.
##What is it? Paragone allows museum visitors to engage with one another via social way-finding. Favorite pieces of art can be added by accession number, and users can add their responses to expert-created prompts and questions, which are then posted to Twitter with a specific hashtag. Pieces are added to a list and users can vote up their favorites, giving visitors an idea of what the most popular pieces are day by day.
##Why? The first purpose of Paragone is to encourage visitors to spend more time with a piece of art than they otherwise might. Prompts guide their observation, and they are invited to reflect on the piece and to share their thoughts with others.
The second purpose is to encourage visitors to come to the museum more frequently. Studies show that most Americans go to an art museum about x times per year (cite). Instead of wandering around for hours, trying to see everything, Paragone directs users to really engage with a few pieces at a time.
##Audience There are a few potential audiences. First, Paragone appeals to the average museum-goer who is not an expert and wishes to become more knowledgeable. It it intuitive and provides a more meaningful experience for people of all ages with access to a smart phone.
Second, Paragone can be used by teachers and professors of art, art history, and related fields to assign students to view self- or selectedly-chosen pieces. Teachers can then see students' reflections on the pieces via the website.
Finally, Paragone could be an excellent resource for researchers interested in society's engagement with art in a museum setting. We chose to link each prompt answer with Twitter to aid in this type of research.
##Technologies Used
- Ruby 2.1.2
- Rails 4.2.0
- Devise/Omniauth
- Twitter Bootstrap
- Figaro
- Nokogiri
- Walters Art Museum Collection API
##Contact Paragone was developed by Lydia Animosa, Salvador Hernandez, Harrison Tan, Nate Weiner, Quint Gregory, and Abram Fox.
If you have questions about how this website was built, or suggestions for how it could be improved, please contact Lydia at lydianimosa@gmail.com. She will put you in touch with the proper developer/expert. Thank you.