Nicole Dezelon is the Associate Director of Learning at The Andy Warhol Museum, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was named the PAEA 2019 Outstanding Museum Art Educator. Since 2005, she has spearheaded an array of innovative school partnerships, digital engagement initiatives, and professional development programs at The Warhol.

The Andy Warhol Museum’s Learning and Public Engagement department rapidly adapted our on-site programming by pivoting to online learning and digital engagement during the COVID-19 closures back in March of 2020. We quickly realized the benefits of remote learning such as:

• reaching a global audience
• not being limited by the physical real estate of the studio, classroom, or galleries
• and being able to take full advantage of our museum’s collection and archives instead of being limited by what is currently on view.

Our first rapid response to the museum’s closure was our MakingIt video series. It was our way of maintaining Warhol’s relevancy while sustaining engagement with our audiences. By adapting Warhol’s artistic processes and techniques using common, household materials, we were able to reach students, families, and makers of all ages virtually from the comfort of home. Our MakingIt video series is available on YouTube and has been a huge success, we were even shortlisted by Kids in Museums for the Best International Digital Activity Family Friendly Museum From Home award.

Our second response was the launch of our virtual tour offerings. Through live videoconferencing, participants can discuss works of art in our galleries, watch presentations, and participate in live art-making activities while sharing in two-way conversations with museum educators. We’ve tailored many of our online lessons exploring Warhol’s life, artistic practice, and legacy for a virtual experience and we’ve been tailoring our virtual experiences for groups based on their unique needs. From Pop Art to silkscreen printing, virtual tours can easily be scheduled online and scholarships are available for schools demonstrating need.

Although The Warhol is now open to the public through timed ticketing, we remain committed to our virtual audiences through digital engagement and online learning. As we collectively learn to “navigate the new normal”, we count on educators like you to help make our museum programming better, so we hope that you will visit us virtually, field test our online lessons and resources, and try one of the various artmaking techniques in our MakingIt video series on YouTube.