Hello William,

Statistics do not exist in a vacuum.  You have
oversimplified attendance statistics, as if a raw number
means anything without its context, as if the number of
people matters more than the quality of their experience.
When you write "1.8-million for 1999, 1.7 million for 2000,
and 1.1-million for 2001," you omit crucial information.

How many heritage institutions?
What type of institutions?
What type of exhibitions/programs?
What else was going on in those towns, cities, the state,
surrounding states?
Etc.

That heritage institutions may (not) have suffered a drop in
attendance cannot be explained in generalizations --
certainly not by pointing to a specific condition such as
the economy or the events of September 11th.  Drops in
attendance from day to day, week to week, month to month,
and year to year are due to multiple factors including
(among many):

1. perceived economic strength or weakness
2. perceived political stability or instability
3. the subject/duration/quality of a heritage institution's
exhibitions/programs
4. the subject/duration/quality of a heritage institution
competitor's exhibitions/programs
5. current events - i.e., in times of war, museums/monuments
dedicated to war tend to get busier

So, what is at the root of your question?  Are you really
asking: Do people have statistics to demonstrate that a
particular factor affected attendance?  The answer is:
"Probably not."  Or, are you really asking: Can people
report anecdotally what visitors have told them about how
particular factors influenced their decisions?  The answer
is: "Probably."

If you define specifically what you seek -- other than a
count of bodies which should play a minor role in the
evaluation of heritage institutions -- people might be able
to provide useful statistics.

Sincerely,

Jay Heuman, Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator
Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68102
342-3300 (telephone)     342-2376 (fax)       www.joslyn.org

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