Attracting New Audiences Through Public Programs and Alliances - Part 3

Posted by Defne Aydintasbas on March 4 at 12:00 AM Stephen Rustow’s session on museum strategies for the brave new world of tighter resources, which took place on Monday, detailed examples of efficient uses of space. He suggested taking a fresh look at existing collections, programs to attract new audiences through alliances with other organizations, engaging and creating resources online to expand reach over the web over time and rethinking exhibition design.

Rustow outlined examples of innovative public programs from museums in NYC that successfuly integrated new alliances to attract audiences that were otherwise unlikely to visit.

El Museo del Barrio created a neighborhood concert series in collaboration with Carnegie Hall. The concerts are promoted to both audiences allowing Carnegie Hall to have a Spanish-focused series and El Museo to attract music lovers. This and other non-art programs including film, literature, theater and spoken-word, increased the attendance and membership to the museum.

http://www.elmuseo.org/en/event/carnegie-hall-neighborhood-concert-series-celso-duarte-ense

Another creative examples of working with alliances involves the Cloisters Museum and Park, which stays empty a significant amount of time due to the way its collection is preserved. The Met organized a regular schedule of medieval music concerts that match the museum’s mission and collection. The concerts help bring a new audience of concert goers to the museum, increase the revenue and efficiency of the space, and provide a concert venue for the neighborhood otherwise that is otherwise not served by any cultural institutions.


http://www.metmuseum.org/cloisters/events

Rubin Museum of Art organized an exhibition for the first public presentation of psychologist C.G. Jung’s famous Red Book, featuring his theories on the unconscious, the process of individuation and the mandala-like intricate and colorful illustrations by him. To coincide with the exhibition, the museum organized Red Book Dialogues a four-month series of talks pairing a psychoanalyst with notable people from many walks of life including entrepreneurs, writers, designers, philosophers and tarot card readers. They discussed topics relating to life that loosely aligned with Jung’s work. Similarly, there was a film series called Cabaret Cinema that featured a program with movies taking “its inspiration from Jungian themes during The Red Book exhibition.” Rather than obsess about tying everything back to the exhibition, the museum used the exhibition to create a lively public program to engage a variety of people.


http://www.rmanyc.org/pages/load/156#dialogues

Tomorrow’s post will discuss uses of digital resources in order to expand the lifespan of exhibitions and reach to audiences online.

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