Dear Jay and list:

While I don't work at an institution with a cafe, I frequently visit museums
that have eateries, just to eat. For the most part they are places that I
visit on other occasions to view their exhibitions, but as I work in the
arts, any excuse to surround myself with art is a good one! However, these
places usually offer their cafes as destinations in addition to and separate
from the museums in which they are located. One of my favorite such
restaurants is the one located in the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY
(I hope it's still there). While I was a student at the University of
Rochester I became very well acquainted with the museum and their restaurant
was certainly worth a trip on its own merit.

Depending on the traffic and set-up of your museum, my feeling is that
allowing people, and maybe even encouraging them, to visit your facility
just for the cafe or the shop will only make them feel like your institution
is more accessible and more "theirs."

The Newark Museum, in Newark, NJ is another great example. They don't have
an actual cafe, but offer a lunch service, open to the public, in their
indoor courtyard. During the summer on Wednesdays they move the lunch
outside and free jazz concerts. This is a great way to engage local business
people who might just get in their cars and go home at 5:00, never getting
to see the museum. Instead they have a reason to come into the musuem
durning the day and as a result begin to develop a relationship with it. The
Newark Museum does not charge admission but accepts donations upon entering.
Even so, I believe that they would be able to accomplish this type of
program regardless of admission policy.

Hope this feedback helps.

Sincerely,
Shana O'Hara
Program and Operations Manager
Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art
Newark, NJ



>From: Jay Heuman <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Admission for cafe access?
>Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 12:34:56 -0500
>
>Hello All!
>
>Joslyn Art Museum does not differentiate between those who
>are
>visiting for the "whole museum experience" versus those who
>intend just to eat in the cafe.  So, we charge everyone
>admission.
>We have no way (at present) to prevent these cafe patrons
>from
>going to the galleries, and consider our cafe to be an
>amenity
>for visitors.  (We do not have a separate entrance to the
>cafe.)
>
>I would appreciate commentary from those of you who work in
>museums with cafes that do not have a separate entrance.  Do
>you charge admission to patrons who say they only want to go
>to
>the cafe?  If there is no admission charge, how (if at all)
>do you
>keep track of these patrons?  How (if at all) do you prevent
>people
>from going into your exhibition space(s)?
>
>For those without personal involvement in such admissions
>policies,
>what are your feelings as potential visitors to a museum
>that has
>a blanket admissions policy, even if you just want to eat in
>the
>cafe?
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Jay Heuman, Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator
>Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68102
>342-3300 (telephone)     342-2376 (fax)
>http://www.joslyn.org
>
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