Tuesday, September 8, 2015
The Primary Focus of a Museum
Thinking about our discussions in class about the concept of museums as temples for the elite protecting objects or as pleasers of "the lowest common denominator," what do you think should be the main focus of a museum? How could such a primary focus be communicated effectively to an audience? Use examples. Please respond in at least four (4) sentences, and upload to this blog no later than Monday, September 14, 5 pm. Thanks!
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I think the primary focus of a museum should be the education and preservation of various aspects of culture. Whether it’s science, art, a historical site, or whatever else, they are all representative of the cultures in which they exist or have existed. In that way, museums become remarkably important in communicating who we are within the context of the people before and around us. The world is in such a social predicament at the moment, perhaps museums could tap into this to advocate for change in the future. Maybe museums could do more direct outreach to local classrooms, saying things like, “hey kids, if you want to see better examples of this, you should come check out our museum,” and they get extra credit or lollipops or something.
ReplyDeleteI think it is hard to have one particular thing be the main focus of a museum. Museums have to focus on preserving their collections for future generations, but they also have to focus on getting people into the door so that they can continue to preserve those items. So I guess in someways the "most important" things go hand in hand with one another....if you get visitors to the museum you (in theory) are bringing in some kind of income that can go back into the museum which can be used for the acquisitions of new pieces, the restoration of objects already in the collection (I shudder thinking how much money has had to be put into the Fort McKinley Star Spangled Banner over the last 200+ years). All of that being said however, obviously education programs are incredibly important, because as we said in class; it is better to get the kids in when they're younger so that they come back later and have an appreciation for museums as they grow up, so again it's hard to identify the most important thing...but this still goes with that "hand in hand" aspect....You need visitors to have income, and you need income to support programs in the museum, but you need those programs to keep the visitors in! It is almost like a never ending cycle.
ReplyDeleteThe main focus of a museum should be to share art with the public and make it accessible to everyone. Art should never be something that is withheld for a select, elite audience; everyone is entitled to experience art as much (or as little) as they please. An effective way to communicate this to the public is to provide educational programs within the museum. This lets people know that they don’t have to be art or art history experts to be able to enjoy their museum experience- people of all levels of education and experience with art are welcome. The VMFA, for example, provides detailed informational booklets and pamphlets free with all of their special exhibits that include interesting and helpful information about the pieces being displayed, the artist who created them, or the artistic movement they exemplify. Another way to communicate this is to make visiting a museum as cost-effective as possible. If admission to a museum is very expensive, it sends a clear message to those who may not be able to afford it: this experience is not meant for you. A perfect example of this would be a museum like the MOMA, which we have been discussing a lot in class. The MOMA costs $25 for an adult to attend. For a family of four adults to attend the museum would be $100, a price tag which would definitely turn many families away.
ReplyDeleteThe main focus of a museum should be to get their message across to the public in simple ways. It is the job of the museum to translate the jargon-y speak of professionals to the common man. If no one is able to walk away from the experience of a museum able to tell something they learned, the museum was not successful in its main mission. This mission can be met by having exhibits and collections with simple day-to-day speak of common people. As Sarah said above, art should not be only for a select elite. There are many museums that do this in many different ways, but the best example is "children" museums. At these museums, there is little to no jargon talk in exhibits so that younger visitors are able to understand and learn. I think it is one of the worst things for a museum when they have great exhibits that no one is able to understand because the museum has not met its mission as a teacher to the general public.
ReplyDeleteFinding ways to connect with the public should be a museum's top focus. The majority of museums consist of a flight of stone stairs leading to large columns surrounding a closed-off building. To the general public, this can come off as intimidating and daunting. Museums need to find ways to connect with the public to show that they are not a "temple for the elite". Some ways they can do this is by trying to find ways to reach out to them outside of the museum. They could offer monthly newsletters that list upcoming events and activities to get the public interested. This leads into my next example which is to have museums offer activities and events for those new to their collections. This could spark an interest that will make them want to keep coming back to visit. Museums should also try to offer events for elementary to middle school students to keep their interest through their adult life. They could offer tours for field trips and weekend activities that would make it fun, but educational as well.
ReplyDeleteI think the main focus of the museum shouldn't be on the collection as a physical object, but rather on the historical content or historical background suroounding the piece. What made the artist want to create such a piece. As a student and a person who has a bit of an art background, it has always been the historical background that has captured my attention rather then the piece itself. Moving on to the question "How could such a primary focus be communicated effectively to an audience? " I have to admitt, this was a difficult question to answer because I have never been a curator for a museum, but I think the most effective way on focusing on historical background is to somehow tieing it in with audience, almost making it an personally experience. One time, I remembered being introduced to some very old black and white phtotgraphs, in these photographs were depictions of young black and white people dancing and enjoying the night, they almost looked like college students. The curator asked us if the photographs were enjoyable to look at, we answered yes, and she had revealed to us that these young people were living in a time of segeragation and the people that were in the photos had known only a handful of places that still allowed interacial interactions. This really hit home for me because I am in a interacial relationship, and I thought of my relationship being a negative thing is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI think that the main focus of a museum is getting the content to reach the general public. I'm not saying that the preservation should take a second rung to marketing the products. I’m saying that they need to be able to communicate with the general public. I saw this article about how this graphic designer created virtual realities of some of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous works even putting van Gogh himself in some of the scenes. It’s not about which banner is bigger or not. Because the elite can love banners all day, it’s not going to connect the general public and make them want to go into a museum. To connect the public you need something like the technology I mentioned before, to pull them in and get them used to the idea of the observation of actual art pieces. It’s like weening a crack head off of cocaine. It will more than likely take time, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.
ReplyDeleteAsking this question forces us to consider the broader question: what is a museum? Or, maybe more succinctly, why do museums exist? What "purpose" do they "serve?" Personally, I find the thought that something like a museum must serve a purpose (AAM definitions aside) offensive. Such an idea comes from our convoluted and nuance-less capitalist worldview, in which the pieces of our society are cogs in the machine that spits out "productive citizens," who contribute to our "national economy" (you might notice from my liberal use of scare quotes I have a rather biased and maybe not entirely reasonable opinion on this topic). In any case, I believe museums, as repositories and centers for study of our own history, are their own justification for existing. However, what museums need to do is work on communicating their identity to the "lowest common denominator." Museums are unique, in that regardless of your class or level of education a museum's resources are accessible to you (unlike the university). Museums could potentially break the stranglehold academia currently has on the world of knowledge and education, and maybe contribute to a world filled with interesting people who work to forward the human condition instead of ignorant ninnys set on maintaining our unfortunate stagnating status quo.
ReplyDeleteA good example might be the ArtLab at the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington, which allows middle and high schools students to gain important knowledge about contemporary art, a subject often accused of baffling the "average joe." Such programs are a good start, but instead of being relegated to one section of a museum, the missions of such programs should envelop and redefine that of the whole museum.
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ReplyDeleteThe main focus for a museum should be education. By people showing up to a museum it proves that they are there because they are interested in learning more. Some museums simply think that it is enough to just place the exhibition, and that it will bring people in by itself. Museums should make it their goal to attach the story of the item or the history behind it. It will help the audience create a connection with the item. I believe that it should be their goal to educate the younger audience. By getting the younger audience to be excited about museums, then they will grow up loving museums and then take their future kids to the same museum they went to when they were a kid. And this will all occur through the excitement of education.
Meagan Stuck:
ReplyDeleteI agree with others before me, who have written that the most important focus of a museum is the conservation of the collection which it houses. While it is extremely important to get the public through the door and into the 'temple', that is impossible to do without a well kept collection. An example here that could be used, is that the Louvre does not remove the Mona Lisa from permanent display to be cleaned or inspected. While it is important that the public is able to see this work of art, if they continue refusing to inspect the artwork there is a chance that at some point the damage done could be irreversible, and the work would need help beyond simply cleaning, and common preservation efforts. I cannot imagine the toll that would be taken on the Louvre, if the Mona Lisa was no longer able to be viewed.
This could be communicated effectively to an audience, if there was an overall larger focus on conservation and preservation. Perhaps if more museums displayed the information about the process they used in order to keep their collection well preserved, people may not only appreciate the collection and the work of the museum more, but they could even find that process interesting. I know that I personally would love to know more about how museums keep their objects clean and preserved. Maybe this could be done through a video in some portion of the museum, or a display where visitors could see into the area where the art is cleaned, or even through certain labels on walls.
The temple cannot exist without its collection, and I hope that audiences not only understand the importance of this, but that the museums do as well.
A museums primary focus should be on educating its visitors and connecting to the public. Museums have evolved from being a place for the elite to gather to a place for people from all walks of life learn and enjoy history. Museums are very successful with connecting with children through educational programs and hands on activities; but its the young adults that needs more attention. I know growing up and being involved in museums programs really shaped me as a person but there weren’t as many programs offered to kids at the secondary level.
ReplyDeleteTeenagers are so enthralled with social media and the internet, I museums should try to excite young adults with an educational with programs that encourages discussion, reflection, and allows them to connect with history. One way that museums could achieve this would be to hold activity fairs/days the first weekend of each month, where the museum focuses on a specific time period, exhibit or topic. The museum could also administer surveys to local high schools to see what the kids would be interested in. Considering we are in such a tech savvy age museums can take advantage of that by posting "fun fact of the day" or "five things you didn't know" on social media to attract attention, create intrigue, and ultimately bring a younger audience to exhibits.
Because museums are non-profits, I believe that their biggest focus should be on finding more ways to show that they are clearly being beneficial to society. With today’s technology, it is easy to access information about pieces and exhibits without ever visiting them. Personally, I think that the main benefit of going to a museum today is to escape technology and to be entertained by something other than a screen. In order to communicate to the public that they are the main focus of a museum, the public needs to be granted more opportunities to be involved in some of the decision making of the museum. For example, more classes or activities should be offered to the public. To get the public more involved, museums could survey their visitors, asking them what types of classes they’d be interested in taking or subjects they’d like to learn more on. The public would be more likely to enter museums knowing that their voices are heard and valued.
ReplyDeleteI think that the primary focus of a museum should be educating its visitors in a unique and distinct way that makes them think differently. When people come to museums, hopefully they will walk away having learned something the didn't know before. Museums have an obligation to teach people about other societies, cultures, places, and things that they may not be familiar with. Through the use of their collections, museums should be able to connect an object to a larger story or theme that allows the visitors to either make connections to their own lives or simply show them something in a different way than maybe they have thought about it. Museums need to push the boundaries on what they are trying to teach their visitors and in how they do it. For example, in the new American Business exhibit at the National Museum of American History, the exhibit places businessmen such as John D. Rockefeller and JP Morgan next to the likes of some of the largest slaveholders in South during the early 19th century. It is simple ideas like this that can make people think differently about what "business" has meant in this country and even what it means today. As museums continue to find new ways of educating the public, they need to remain fresh in their ideas and challenge visitors to think critically.
ReplyDeleteI struggled a bit with deciding between conserving artifacts/ information and educating the community in creative/engaging ways.
ReplyDeleteI believe these two things go hand in hand in many ways. For instance, conserving artifacts and information is necessary so that the community has things to experience and learn about. However, a lack in engagement efforts could result in dwindling donations, which I'm assuming help to pay for conservation efforts and teams.
If the effort goes toward engagement and the conservation efforts are lacking an end result could be the artifacts being destroyed.. And the museum will no longer have that artifact to attract the community.
That being said, I believe that it is easier to incorporate conservation into engagement than it is to incorporate engagement into conservation. For example, a few years ago the Freer Gallery of Art was struggling to keep one of their main conservators for their Asian artwork because they did not have enough money to keep her. Donations would have been of a great help and community engagement could have helped to supply the donations.
I believe the primary purpose of a museum should be to educate the public while maintaining an exhibit of high standards. Museums should be used not only as a place for study but also for entertainment; although the primary focus should not be to comprise the art work for pleasing the public. Conservation and ethical laws are important in every museum because it ensures that pieces of work will stay in a collection long enough for that work to inspire or educate the public. I believe that a museum could maintain this mission by communicating to the public that their exhibit is for the benefit of the community and that they can set up programs, for both adults and children, that can entertain and educate. A museum should advertise the different collections, programs, and tours that they have to offer in a clear way so that the public has more of a chance to receive an educational experience while visiting the museum.
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