Indigo,

While I began reading your message thinking, "Yes, she's on to something."
And, without doubt, there are kernels of good advice.  But there is a
healthy dose of 'pie in the sky' thinking about typical art museum visitors.

We on this list are NOT typical.  We do not represent a cross-section of the
general population.  We are privileged.

Indigo can't help but acknowledge she fit one (or more) "type(s)" of art
museum visitors.  She is curious, open to challenge, receptive to learning.
There are other factors (socio-economic, education, geography, etc.), I'm
certain, that qualify Indigo as a "typical" art museum visitor.

Most people, generally, are as Indigo describes.  But I'll go further.  Most
people suffer a deficit of attention, of patience, of education, of
tolerance, of curiosity, of abstract thought, of concrete action, of time,
of money.  These are people seeking practical solutions to their very real
-- totally unavoidable, time-consuming, "un-abstract" -- situations.
Frankly, visiting art museums is likely not an option for a number of
reasons . . . regardless of what and how museums teach (or don't teach as
Indigo accuses).

Didn't anyone else notice, the original post was so loaded with
generalizations and vague "hot-button" words?  Yet knickers got all bent out
of shape.  Get real.  Museums matter to a select crowd AND, yes, we must
advertise to try to attract more people, to teach more people.  But, in the
broad scheme, your local AAA baseball team matters to few, reading the
newspaper matters to few, voting in elections matters to few.  Apathy is
widespread, and increasing.

So, have a reality check, drink some coffee or tea, and keep doing the great
job you are doing . . . despite the ignorant and mean-spirited implication
that art museums have fallen down on the job!

Sincerely,

Jay Heuman, Curator of Education
Salt Lake Art Center
20 South West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

T 801-328-4201
F 801-322-4323
E [log in to unmask]
W www.slartcenter.org

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