Museum 2.0

AUGUST 1, 2012

Here's what happened: In 2010, amidst severe financial woes and declining audiences, the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA (MOCA), hired Jeffrey Deitch, a NYC gallery owner, to be their new director. Deitch--and to an even greater degree, Eli Broad--have expressed clearly that they want to expand the audience at MOCA.

Artist 52

Artist Museum Arts Director 52

Museum 2.0

MARCH 21, 2012

Focus on family audiences. Engagement with local artists. One of the things we love about exhibiting local artists is that they are often here to talk with visitors about their work. It's not unusual to see an artist showing a visitor how she constructed something or created an effect. This was amazing.

Museum 49

Museum Denver Artist Milwaukee 49

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Last week, Douglas McLellan of artsJournal ran a multi-vocal forum on the relationship between arts organizations and audiences, asking: In this age of self expression and information overload, do our artists and arts organizations need to lead more or learn to follow their communities more? Here are three of my favorites.

Arts 45

Arts Museum Artist Tucson 45

Museum 2.0

JULY 26, 2010

I'm fascinated by these places because of their ability to attract diverse audiences to idiosyncratic experiences, and I'm curious how they stay afloat. From a museum perspective, I think there's a lot to learn from these venues' business models, approach to collecting and exhibiting work, and connection with their audiences.

Culture 49

Culture Alternative St. Louis Los Angeles 49

Connection Cafe

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Denver Zoo. The Denver Zoo raised more than $60,000 for the SNUGG – a Safe Nurturing Upright Gateway for Giraffes, which is a large, padded, weatherproof chute that zookeepers can secure giraffes in for medical care and other procedures. These organizations based their campaign on a specific cause that would appeal to a mass audience.

Arts 20

Arts Wisconsin Los Angeles Denver 20

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

The program is an experimental playground that bridges artists, students, chefs, comedians, hairdressers, bartenders, dancers, wrestlers and even tattoo artists to produce a community-led event. Collaborative programs with diverse groups bring in a variety of visitors causing new audiences to interact and connect.

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Museum Program Participatory Community 49

Museum 2.0

MAY 9, 2012

It was terrific to have a packed room and a long, open conversation (we split the session into half presenting, half audience discussion) about these issues. And I talked about some of the challenges of finding the right income and expense models for a museum that operates more like a community center than a traditional cultural institution.

Reflection 43

Reflection Columbus Museum Participatory 43