MOST, not all, "science" museums have become edutainment centers.
If you go to art museums/galleries in, for example, Paris you will see
a HUGE cross section of people. You will also see youngster and
pre-schoolers in groups doing their versions of some the "greats."
Perhaps we should look to HOW our culture values what it does. (Also,
how are Boards constituted. ...or, rather, where does funding come
from.)
Lois
Lois Brynes, Principal
DeepTime Associates
P.O. Box 58
Rockport, MA 01966
USA
[log in to unmask]
land 978 546-8574
On Mar 2, 2005, at 6:26 PM, Mary L. Kirby wrote:
> There is a sort of elist stigma to some art museum, in my opinion.
> Granted that some of this reaction may come from the general
> atmosphere.
>
> For example, when he was small I took my grandson to an educational
> activity at his local science museum. I did not know what the nearby
> art museum offered so I did not sign him up for something there.
>
> Now, 10 years later, when Grandmother is in town it is cool to go to
> the Science Museum, but he refused last year to go with me to the art
> museum. (His mom and sister went, and then we went to the science
> museum to its blockbuster exhibit too.)
>
> Some of it may be cost. As a member of the Texas Association of
> Museums I make visits to the Dallas Museum of Art about every year or
> less. I have yet to get in their special Wendy Rives collection which
> costs extra.
>
> If I could afford to go to New York, MOMA's $20 would take them off my
> things-to-do list.
>
> I do believe the science museums deliberate efforts to say: "Hey, this
> is what makes this work. Isn't it cool?" is part of the attraction,
> where the art museum presents you with a wierd abstraction or a
> convuluted political comment and assumes you can understand.
>
> Once at the DMA, when viewing a traveling exhibit by a German artist,
> I laughed outloud after reading some of the material incorporated in
> the painting. The couple nearby was surprised at my reaction and I
> translated the German and explained the symbolism. They nodded
> understand and drifted on. The security guard came up and thanked me,
> because he had stood there for months without a clue as to why these
> large (6-8' high by maybe as much as 12' wide) paintings in dark
> shades were significant.
>
> I have 3 years of German, courses on German history, a summer living
> there, and the equivalent of a BFA, so I could understand the
> commentary. Without the insight, they were just some brown and black
> abstract squiggles on photo montagues with occassion white accents.
>
> But sometimes I think the leading donars and the boards want the art
> museums to be their priviledge domain where the maddening crowd just
> doesn't get it.
>
> Mary Kirby
> [log in to unmask]
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Steven"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 10:25 PM
> Subject: Re: Art Gallery Problem
>
>
>> I apologize for my lack of precision in my earlier post. When I
>> mentionned attendance levels, what I should have said was
>> participation levels, but in many cases these go hand in hand. There
>> have been numerous studies in Europe, North America, and Australia
>> since Bourdieu and Darbel in 1969 that have all confirmed that art
>> galleries almost always draw a smaller audience than other types of
>> museums, and that the art gallery audience is almost always far
>> wealthier and more educated than that of other types of museums.
>> Approximately 75 percent of the population in these areas does not
>> attend a public art gallery at all in any given year. In effect, art
>> galleries are less "public" because virtually none of the "general
>> public" attend. Some authors who have described this are J. Mark
>> Davidson Schuster, David Halle, and Tony Bennett. The remarkable point
>> is that over the past 35 years art galleries have been aware of the
>> large and recognizable group who have been historically excluded, and
>> they have tried to become more inclusive with no recognizable success.
>> Does that help to clarify why I'm researching what the problem is? Why
>> do only unusually wealthy and educated people attend public art
>> galleries? Should institutions that somehow exclude the large majority
>> of the population from participating receive public funds?
>> Thanks for all of the comments so far, I would love to receive more,
>> Robert Steven
>>
>>
>> On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 09:45:04 -0500, Diane Gutenkauf
>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> Why do you believe "public art galleries" receive lower attendence
>>> than
>>> other types of museums? What evidence do you cite for this
>>> assumption?
>>> Aren't you generalizing a tad? As my college philosophy professor
>>> used to
>>> say "Define your terms."
>>>
>>> Many factors determine a museum's attendence level, I would not
>>> attribute
>>> a low attendence simply to the museum's "type."
>>>
>>> Diane Gutenkauf
>>>
>>> On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 00:01:03 -0500, Robert Steven
>>> <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> >Do you think there is an intrinsic problem with the insitution of
>>> the
>>> public art gallery that causes it
>>> >to receive lower attendence in general than other types of museums?
>>> What
>>> do you think that
>>> >problem is? Is there a solution? Your advice will inform my
>>> research on
>>> this subject.
>>> >Thanks very much,
>>> >Robert Steven
>>> >
>>>
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