On Fri, 16 Feb 1996, Claudia Nicholson wrote:

> However, I am wondering if it is possible that many of us have forgotten
> our audiences when we prepare exhibits.  Is it possible that we are doing
> our work to impress our colleagues? ....
> I am worried that if we do our work to impress our colleagues (academic
> historians OR museum professionals) that the public gets left out of the
> equation and the resulting controversy, a la Enola Gay, is inevitable....

Adam Gopnik wrote an article called "The Death of an Audience" in "The
New Yorker" (Oct. 5, 1992), where he basically accused New York City art
museum professionals of being so caught up in "talking" to other arts
professionals, including critics and art historians, through their
exhibits that they were leaving their potential audience way behind.
Except that he concluded that the result was not controversy, but
apathy.  I don't agree with everything he said in that piece, but he has
a point.  You might find it interesting reading.

--Helen Glazer
[log in to unmask]