Briana,
Thanks for participating. We hope you continue to do so. I too am glad you
agree with Indigo, as she is quite wise in these matters. As a budding
professional, do have any solution suggestions?
I think the point of the thread so far has been that there is concern over
the relatively low visitorship to art museums, and especially return
visitation by the general public. ("general public" being defined for this
purpose as the non-regular-art-musem-goers) Art museums have a strong
tendency to support elitist points of view, whether intentionally or
unintentionally. And the general public tends not to support or attend art
museums for some reason, of which there are many potential options. I for
one am not seeking to place blame on any one segment of society or on art
museums. Solutions are far more useful than accusations.
We have lots of cool activities we do with kids and adults, we use big
type, and we advertise our behinds off. We are even free for all 345 days
of the year that we are open to the public. We install a minimum of 12
major rotating exhibitions every year, in addition to the galleries of
permanent collection objects always on view. There are adult and childrens
programs that go with each of those rotating exhibitions. We are certainly
capable of offering more over time, especially if funding increases. We
encourage visitors to return in every way we can think of, we offer
subsidized bus rides, free memberships, and full color publications(free).
Programming options do not seem to be the problem. The problem is getting
visitors in the door in the first place and/or getting them to return, not
teaching them about art once they get here.
Perhaps it is a catch-22. Until we solve the long term problems of elitist
perception, and educational inadequacy in art (as well as elsewhere) the
visitorship will remain low, but as long as the visitorship remains low we
can not effect the long term issues.
Mark Janzen
Registrar/Collections Manager
Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art
Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection
Wichita State University
(316)978-5850
Briana
Flinchbaugh
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SE.LSOFT.COM> Re: Art Gallery Problem
03/04/2005 12:06
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Museum discussion
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<[log in to unmask]
SE.LSOFT.COM>
I have never posted to this list before, but this discussion thread is
fascinating to me. Indigo, I think you have hit the nail on the head. As
a
graduate student in Museum Education, I have spent a lot of time looking at
the ways in which various types of museums attempt to educate and engage
the
public. I grew up going to art museums and when I entered this degree
program, I thought that I wanted to work for an art museum. However, I
have
come to believe that there ARE some fundamental problems in many art
museums.
I have observed a general attitude (even in this discussion)that if
visitors
are not interested or engaged in art, it can be blamed on just about every
factor imaginable, other than that the museum might need to change
something. The public is accused of being "AD/HD", anti-intellectual, or
just plain unable to "get it". Schools are accused of not doing enough
education about art. Society is accused of being too consumer and
entertainment driven.
While all of these things may be true to some degree, the fact is: museums
hold the relics of our culture in trust for the public. If visitors don't
"get it" for whatever reason, it is the museum's responsibility to address
the problem. Art museums need to stop imagining that exhibiting a painting
on a white wall with minimal information is the way to inspire some sort of
spiritual experience.
Art museums lag behind other types of museums in addressing the needs of
the
public. If visitors are intimidated by art museums, it is not due to some
flaw on their part; it is because art museums are intimidating places that
continue to treat the public as fundamentally "uneducable".
I still can't figure out what's so wrong about wanting to have fun while
you
learn. God forbid learning should ever be so enjoyable that it might be
called "entertainment."
I will always be an art lover, but I think I'd prefer to work for a history
museum.
Briana
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