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This museum is doing something incredibly clever to make teens care about art

 An art museum has figured out the secret to making 18th century art appeal to teens: meme-ifying it on Snapchat.

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The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is using the Snapchat username lacma_museum to post photos of its artwork with clever captions, strategically placed emojis, and even the occasional doodle. The joined about a year ago, according to BuzzFeed.

And it's incredibly funny.

LACMA Art Snapchat
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The account was created by Maritza Lerman Yoes and it's currently run by Lucy Redoglia. As the social media manager of LACMA, Redoglia regularly peruses the museum's galleries with her iPhone in hand.

"Sometimes I think of the artwork first, sometimes I think of the caption first," she told Business Insider.

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LACMA Snapchat Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

She also spends time surfing the web for trending stories, popular hashtags, and other content with which teenagers can relate.

LACMA Snapchat Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The museum's mission is both to attract millennials to the museum and circulate images of LACMA's art collection. The Snapchat account allows Redoglia to take a "lighthearted approach" to artistic masterpieces and be "more tongue-in-cheek and more pop culture oriented," she says.

LACMA Snapchat Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

While many museums are striving to become family friendly, it can be tougher to excite teens. Museums of ten forget to "persuade teenagers that museums are for them too," writes Mar Dixon in the Guardian.

Snapchat's median user is 18, so it's great for appealing to teens.

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LACMA Art Snapchat
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

 

Not only is the museum accomplishing its goal of circulating images of its collection, it's actually succeeded in engaging young people in the artwork.

Last week, Snapchat users could create and submit their own captions to LACMA artwork using CNN's Discover feature. The museum received over 1,000 submissions. 

Here is what some Twitter users are saying about LACMA's snaps:

 

 

 

If your Snapchat friends are anything like my Snapchat friends, LACMA will soon become the only Snapchat story you look forward to watching.

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