Unfriendly Dulwich Picture Gallery

[Lyndsey&Murray]

First time visit to the Dulwich Picture Gallery with my other half and 2 year old and was surprised at how ridiculous their rules are to the point of us turning and walking out... Firstly they told my other half that our daughter wasn't allowed to be held on his shoulders and instead to walk. Then I was told to carry my rucksack by hand (even though I'm 8 months pregnant). All this and we had just walked in through the door. We got the impression we weren't very welcome there!!

[scareyt]

That doesn't sound very welcoming. :-( Maybe you were unlucky to encounter someone miserable on the door. They were really kind to my little boy after a nursery visit there recently - they let us come back in for free after the rest of the group left, and a lovely lady found him a pencil, paper and clip board so he could draw a picture like he had seen big kids doing, and was very sweet about admiring it when he brought his picture back to show her. They do have lots of antique furniture on display in every room as well as the pictures that you aren't allowed to touch or sit on which I think is a bit silly and our group was constantly being told not to touch the furniture when we got too close. Maybe that was why they were worried about the rucksack.

[minder]

I can see what their rules are as maybe being on your husbands shoulders your 2 year old would only see the top half of a painting.

The rucksack situation is something I tell my teenage girls to be aware of everyday.

[luciam]

I agree that they're unfriendly and unwelcoming. I haven't been back since being asked to leave an exhibition around 18 months ago. The problem? My 8 month old baby was being too noisy. She wasn't crying, in fact she was happy, but she was making some babbling/gurgling sounds, which were apparently distracting other visitors.

[alimc]

I am SO glad that someone else has mentioned this. I had my second visit to the DPG yesterday with my 2 year old and the staff were just oozing disapproval. I was very conscious that she should not be out of control and let run loose but the reality is that she is a small child and might be a little vocal and excited at times. However, at all times she was completely under control. At one point she was calling her Daddy from another room as she was excited to show him the "babies" in the various pictures. Now admittedly she did repeat herself at a volume above whispering but this was brief. The staff just stared at her and me with such hostility I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Museums are for everyone and I will continue to bring my child there but she will at times behave like a toddler because she is a toddler and if she wishes to express her excitement at the paintings then that's wonderful frankly. Awful people.

[Jessie]

I had a very positive experience there with my 9 year old - the staff couldn't have been nicer and more welcoming to us, and were especially lovely with him. I was surprised as with my innate chip-on-shoulder I expected we wouldn't be quite Dulwich Village-y enough but they proved me wrong, happily.

[EmilyE]

For all those who have had bad experiences, I feel for you, really; I know that kind of thing can really ruin a trip, if not a day. But I am really surprised. I hAve had nothing but good experiences at the picture gallery with small children in tow, who have not always been perfectly behaved. So much so that for a bit it was a real place of sanctuary; somewhere to go when I was feeling a bit desperate. So I don't want to invalidate other people's experiences, but to try not to put everyone with children off, it can be great!

[KikiMac]

Yes, I've been on the receiving end of some fairly inflexibly applied rules at the Gallery and definitely been given the impression that children were not welcome in the gallery part. A friend of mine who visited recently was told by a staff member that she should take her children to the Horniman! Problem is, last time I went to the Horniman one of the staff members made my friend's children cry with his aggressive approach... Hmm... where to try next?!

[edanna]

Maybe it would be good for some of you who feel your children aren't welcome to get in touch with DPG. Maybe they could look at how the staff behave towards parents and children and maybe they could have a family afternoon where you won't get frowned at for having a small child with you.

[Pugwash]

Are they staff or are they volunteers?

[bkkmei]

On the plus side, I took my son to their artplay & story sessions which they hold on certain Sundays. The art session was well organised and interesting. The story session was very well done too and there was no problem with the kids hogging the corner of one of the gallery rooms & being very interactive with the storyteller :)

[Mick Mac]

Pugwash Wrote:

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> Are they staff or are they volunteers?

Staff I imagine - why would they be volunteers?

[campbellchris]

Kikimac - I"d venture that might have just been a bad day for the staff member in question (totally not acceptable), but we go to the Horniman (at least) every couple of weeks (toddler loves the aquarium and the dinosaur and the walrus and...), and they've almost always been brilliant - i think the cafe staff can be a bit arsey at times, but that's a cafe thing, rather than the museum. Go back, honest, they're really nice! :)

[Growlybear]

The Horniman have a number of volunteers who work in many areas of the museum. They are often students who are building up experience of community or voluntary work in preparation for their university applications. My daughter worked as a volunteer at the Horniman for around a year when she was in the Sixth Form, and most of the time, she was in areas where she was in close contact with the public, and children in particular.

Mick Mac Wrote:

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> Pugwash Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Are they staff or are they volunteers?

>

> Staff I imagine - why would they be volunteers?

[samovar]

My young children were told off for running in the big open space downstairs in the Horniman by a grumpy member of staff.

[hpsaucey]

Museums often don't allow/discourage running for H&S reasons and for context kids in schools aren't usually allowed to run inside the school building either.

However - there are ways and then there are ways of getting kids to slow down - being grumpy isn't the answer.

HP (seeing all sides as a curator, H&S rep, and mum with young kids).

samovar Wrote:

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> My young children were told off for running in the

> big open space downstairs in the Horniman by a

> grumpy member of staff.

[oimissus]

yes, my daughter and a friend's children were told off for running in the open space at the Horniman - there was no-one else there and we were keeping an eye on them so I really couldn't see what the problem was. And I say that as someone who doesn't allow her child to run in a supermarket or other inappropriate places.

DPG I have always found rather snooty, even before having Miss Oi. And it annoys me beyond belief that you can't just pay to see an exhibition, you have to pay for the whole thing. Sort it out, DPG!

[BrandNewGuy]

"British artist Jake Chapman has said taking children to art galleries is "total a waste of time".

He told The Independent parents were "arrogant" for thinking their children could understand artists like Mark Rothko or Jackson Pollock.

Standing a child in front of a Pollock work is "like saying... it's as moronic as a child", said Chapman, adding "children are not human yet"."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-28639242

[Carbonara]

"A friend of mine who visited recently was told by a staff member that she should take her children to the Horniman! " Talk about patronising!

And Jake Chapman should be more open minded - my child spent ages really deeply gazing at the Rothkos in the Tate. He didn't have anything pretentious and / or intellectual to say afterwards - but then I don't know many adults who can articulate exactly why they like Rothko. But there is no doubt that at 6 he really enjoyed something about looking at them.

I do have a wry smile at some of the loud parenting that goes on at Tate modern, though, as parents strive to let us all know how art-aware their talented and cultured children are ;)

[alimc]

A debate on the Today show on Monday about whether or not taking kids to art galleries is a waste of time was pegged to Chapman's comments. It was a great debate. Here's the link: 2hrs 48mins in http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04cb5sf

[hpsaucey]

Put it bluntly - Jake Chapman has a new show to promote hence the 'controversial' commments.

HP

[canela]

for those that like art...the National Gallery has a facility where you can custom make tour guides for kids, i.e. make you own painting trail to look at dragons, horses, soldiers etc. my 8 year old absolutely loves it....my 4 year old less so. I don't think it's necessarily about whether kids "like" art or not .... most young kids have a limited attention span, so yes they love going to museums etc but visits best kept short!

[DullwichVilllageLady]

Its an art gallery. Keep your children away from it so the rest of us can enjoy it peace.

[edanna]

Yawn DVL.

[actuarygi]

Well, I can't agree with DullwichVillage Lady.

Objectively, we are not dealing with a situation where children swamps the entire gallery everyday of the year. We are talking about a gallery that receives some children sometimes, more so in the holiday and weekend, and there would be only a small number of them who may be running around and disturbing the peace. Has our community become so intolerant, as DulwichVillagelady would have it, that all children should not be welcome in the gallery anymore ? The gallery is not here for the exclusive pleasure of adults in the 21st century.

Sure, parents should supervise their children while they visit. I think it is equally important for us adults to learn to tolerate and to remember that we once were children.