Hi Indigo, Generally, a well-written op-ed piece. Though I cannot disagree more. You, after all, are not an average visitor. Sadly, you fall in step with your criticism. To be specific, while you state at the beginning ("it's unfair to stereotype what the museum-goers want when they go to a museum"), you stereotype art museum workers at the end ("I just think that museum folk often take for granted that which they've been entrusted to care for"). Some artwork here has extended labels which are about the artist (approximately half the text) and about the artwork (approximately half the text). Some artwork doesn't get an extended label as there is limited time I can devote to such research and writing when exhibitions must be developed and hung, educational programs must be developed, tours led, meetings attended, telephone calls returned, letters written and mailed, grants completed, etc. "Museum folk" are people, with reasonable limitations. One of those reasonable limitations is presenting information for the average visitor. The average visitor spends little time looking at each artwork, and significantly less than half visitors read labels. So, if the average museum-goer doesn't even care about the artist's name or the title of the artwork, what should make "museum folk" think the average museum-goer cares about the complicated symbolism to which you refer? Eager-to-learn visitors can approach "museum folk" and ask for more information. For me, that would be a highlight of my day, my week, my month! Sincerely, j heuman, Education Curator Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art Utah State University 4020 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-4020 t 435.797.0165 | f 435.797.3423 Education costs money, but then so does ignorance. Sir Charles Moser, b. 1922 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).