Art has always depended on wealthy patrons; see the Medicis, Frick and Morgan. In contrast to Europe, where museums receive significant (though now decreasing) state funding, most American museums rely heavily on private donors. And, since the late 1990s, when MoMA’s current push to expand began, its trustees appear to […]

In recent years, the contribution of various disciplines and professionals (i.e., from marketing, computer science, psychology, and pedagogy) to museum management has encouraged the development of a new conception of museology. Specifically, psychology has affected the overall conception of museum and the visitors toward a more holistic vision of the […]

There is an in-depth art experience at the University of Maine’s Art Museum in Bangor just for kids. The week-long art camp focuses on teaching young kids to appreciate and understand art. Campers are creating art in response to what they see in the museum galleries. Kids here get a […]

Organizations need to determine how they fit into the transforming digital landscape and anticipate the changing expectations of their visitor and member base. Looking to the present and the future, here are four big trends to take notice of to ensure the ongoing success of your membership operation.

“It would be easy to opt only for the most established names, but would it be interesting?” Attendance is also important financially because, of course, if your visits fall it can have an impact on your budget and, as a charity, which needs to self-generate 70% of our funding, raising […]

The Musée d’Orsay in Paris has hired its first “Instagram artist-in-residence” to imagine how artists from the past such as Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh would have used social media today. In a statement, the museum said that the purpose of the Instagram artist-in-residence project is to highlight the artists in the museum’s collection by imagining them as […]

You come into your office, juggling your gym bag and a cup of hot coffee, and boot up your laptop to an ominous red and black screen that announces: “All your files and documents have been encrypted!” Congratulations, you’ve been hacked. I know of at least three museums that have […]

While this might be as a result of consumers having too many options when it comes to spending their free time, inflexible marketing plans that haven’t adapted to shifting consumer media preferences, an overwhelmed internal marketing staff, or a lack of ability to innovate upon the traditional museum experience, the bottom […]

Many museums have deployed video surveillance systems for security purposes because it helps them monitor various areas of a museum property: Whether protecting a priceless work of art, an exhibit hall, a storage area, or a parking garage, video surveillance captures footage that can be vital for investigating incidents, and […]

Many museum investment committees push back against sustainable investing, citing their fiduciary responsibility to not compromise the endowment’s performance. This concern may stem from the early history of sustainable investing: divestment from certain industries entirely, while politically symbolic, reduces an organization’s investable universe and creates “tracking error” – deviation from […]