snip:

>The problem (opportunity) we were discussing was that some museums appear to
>attract a clientele that only includes those who are at the top of the social
>darwinist ladder.  I am begining to think that all the others are being
>excluded by design.  Is art (and museums in general) only for the upper
>middle class/upper class Caucasin segment.  ... Maybe we need to make more of
>an effort.


I agree with you whole-heartedly.  We *do* need to make more of an effort
to welcome everyone to our institutions.  Of course, I don't expect each
museum to be "everything to all people," but many of our institutions
(including mine) could definitely find ways to reach out to more of our
surrounding communities.  Moreover, our institutions could only benefit
from such an increase in visitor diversity.  This seems to be of interest
to many in the museum world, as more and more sessions at conferences have
been focused on this pursuit in the last few years.

To clarify my previous remarks, the disrespect-ers that I've seen in my
institution are not from any particular community, but in fact represent
all sorts of communities.  I've seen just as many, if not more,
overprivileged, repeat-visiting kids wreaking havoc on exhibits than
under-privileged kids who can only afford to come once a year and only if
their school pays.  In my opinion the attitude of disrespect has more to do
with what parents are teaching or not teaching their own kids, than with
anything else.

I don't want to send disrespect-ers packing, but I also don't think museums
should allow disrespect to go unnoticed.  All that has done in situations
in the past is to make the situation worse.  There is no reason why
reaction to disrespect can not be handled in a manner respectful to the
visitor.

On a separate note, Mary McCutcheon re-introduced a good point.

From Mary's message:
 "I put a painting of a very textured aquatic scene up in an exhibit.  It
was done by a Guamanian artist, Mark Del'Isola of Micronesian marine life.
Kids were constantly running their fingers along it as they walked by.  I
indignantly stopped them whenever I could and smugly reported to Mark how
I was doing my best to protect his painting by chastising the rabble. He
was taken aback and declared that he liked nothing more than
to think that people wanted to touch his painting."

If an object is meant to be touched, may it be so.  But then, to expand on
a point from my previous message, it's our job to find creative and
friendly ways to clarify accepted behaviors with objects/exhibits for our
visitors.  Just as much as the next person, I *hate* making an innocent
mistake and having it pointed out to other visitors by a rude or
overreactive staff person.  Often these mistakes and the associated
embarrassment can be avoided.  My point here is, this doesn't need to be
about separating the "unclean" from these objects/exhibits, but should be
about preventing visitors' embarrassment and providing protection for
objects at the same time.

'nuff said for now

Bill


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William H. Stirrat  (Bill)
Evaluator/Market Researcher              ? !
Our Minnesota Science Hall                  o
Science Museum of Minnesota          /( )\
30 East 10th Street                                    /\
St. Paul, MN  55101
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As always, opinions expressed are my own.
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