QUICK TAKES - March 11, 2009

The French, who have spent much of the post-World War II era bemoaning the infiltration of American pop culture into their own, are about to import some of the contemporary hallmarks of American museum culture: “hands-on” displays aimed at making museums more attractive to kids, and educational outreach programs that will augment public schools’ art instruction with museum resources and know-how.

And it’s France’s greatest bastion of art, the Louvre, that is leading the way -- accepting a grant of about $1.3 million from the Philadelphia-based Annenberg Foundation to add kid-friendly multimedia displays and other gizmos to some of its own exhibits, and to create DVDs, online features and lessons that can circulate in the schools.

The Annenberg grant is being channeled through American Friends of the Louvre, a nonprofit that fosters ties between the venerable museum and the U.S. public.

-- Mike Boehm