Being an outsider looking in (a contractor, and corporate donor) I find that museums often shy away from creating exhibitions that cater to the greater publics interests.

I'M GENERALIZING HERE!

Why?

I know that having an "art of Nascar" exhibition may not fit well into the lineup of exhibitions next to say: Early Female Expressionists, or Decorative Indian Pottery. But there's a great following behind nascar, and may bring a new audience to the museum.

Some of the institutions see this as petty, or not 'culturally significant', but isn't the core mission of most museums to bring culture, and appreciation for the arts? (Or something close to - I'm generalizing again) And isn't part of doing that reaching out to people that aren't in the upper-income bracket or aren't already artistically versed? (Super generalizing) 

My corporate clients spend a great deal of time, and money on 'consumer understanding) research, trying to figure out how to reach their customers effectively, do museums not do the same? Or want to? Are these practices considered 'dirty' - because companies like P&G use this information to sell more tampons, or soap, or dishwashing detergent - is this research not a fit for museums for moral reasons? "We don't want to trick people into coming here"??

I'm interested in your thoughts/oppinionms.

Apologies for the generalizations I write with the purest of intentions.

Thanks 

Micah Zender
Micah A T Zender . Com

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