It seems no one has replied on-list yet to your inquiry of 10 days ago.
Maybe it was too many questions, some quite hard to answer.  I put it
off, but I'll take a stab at it now.  Please let me know what conclusions
you reach.

Ann Harlow, Director
Hearst Art Gallery
Saint Mary's College of California
Moraga, CA 94575-5110
510-631-4643/fax 510-376-5128
[log in to unmask]

On Mon, 29 Jan 1996, Julia Moore, Indianapolis Art Center, wrote:

> We are in the process of rethinking how we do exhibition openings, and I
> would like to pick your collective brain for a moment.  Could you please
> send me your thoughts on the following questions?  I am particularly
> interested in responses from those who have experienced the opening
> phenomenon in contemporary art museums/centers, university
> museums/galleries, and galleries that deal primarily with local or regional ar
t.
>
> How often do you change temporary exhibitions?
> --Six times a year.
> Do you have an opening reception with each change?  If not, how often do you
> have openings?
> --Yes; one recent exception to the usual public reception was to have a
campus reception on the opening day followed by a family festival with a
reception at the end a few days later.
> What is the typical attendance for such openings?
  --Anywhere from around 60 to around 250
Do you consider this low, high, or satisfactory?
  --We consider under 100 disappointing.
Have you noticed certain factors (such as weather,timing, nature of the work
shown, whether the artist is local or not, etc.)impacting your attendance,
and how?
  --Yes, all of the above, plus football games on Sunday afternoons in
January.
> What measures have you tried to increase attendance at openings, and to what
> extent have they been successful?
  --We have tended to serve a pretty fine spread of goodies.  We often
provide a lecture in conjunction with the reception.  Both are helpful, I
think.
> What day of the week do you have your openings, and what time of day?
  --Most often Sunday 2-4 or 3-5; sometimes a Friday night preview of a
show opening Saturday.  Weeknight early evenings are difficult because of
our suburban location/rush hour traffic.
> Do you coordinate your openings with other happenings in your community, and
> how does this affect attendance?
  --I can't think of a case in which we've done so in recent years.  Rather,
we try to avoid times when we know other potentially competing events are
happening.
> (this is a philosophical question, so get ready)  What do you see as the
> purpose for openings?  For example, do you see them as marketing tools for
> the artist, for your institution, development opportunities, social
> occasions, or some combination?
  --a marketing tool to get as many people in the door as early in
the exhibition as possible to get the word-of-mouth snowball effect
going.  Certainly it's something artists and their friends have come to
expect, too, so I wonder if you'll be successful in making changes.  Oh,
there's also the use of members-only receptions as an incentive for joining.
> What do you think is the IDEAL way of operating and conceptualizing openings?
  --Well, ideally money would be no object and the staff and public would
have a great time celebrating a great new show.  The real-life compromise
is to keep costs moderate, invite members and special guests only or
invite the public and sell drinks or put out a donation jar, and have a
good enough mailing list that you find the attendance worth the effort.