LAUSR

tackles the issue of how to negotiate the diverse cultural and social contexts in which artworks sit. For a book about gallery education, it is a shame that there are no colour reproductions of the artworks that Hubard refers to in the text, and as a collection of previously published articles, it seems there was a missed opportunity to draw the narrative threads together in a forward-thinking conclusion. For example, the author does not consider how this particularly labour-intensive approach to gallery education might be sustained during a period of massive cuts to museum budgets. Hubard could also look more at how issues of power, privilege and elitism influence art gallery education – the author touches on this at the end of Chapter 3 and this issue could have made an effective conclusion if extended, particularly as constructivist approaches to learning are not universally accepted across museum and gallery learning and may sometimes even be in conflict with the need for museum educators to ensure that audiences get the ‘right’ information. To conclude, in the light of the barriers that continue to exist which excludemany audiences from art museums, starting from the perspective of audiences – their needs, expectations, prior knowledge and experiences – and using this to support them in understanding artworks, is what makes this work so vital and engaging. Audience-centred practice is embedded throughout, and the author speaks with a remarkable element of self-reflexiveness. Hubard has clearly thought throughmany of the issues she addresses in her own practice, and is open about how approaches to engagement might work differently in practice. For museum educators who are starting out, and who want to develop their approaches to facilitation, this book is a valuable addition to their bookshelf, encouraging them to think differently about their own practice and to develop a style of communication that not only works for them but which rightly puts audiences at the heart of what they do.