In a recent article in The Art Newspaper ("Will US Museums Succeed in Reinventing Themselves?" 1.11.10), author András Szántó writes that the recession is forcing museums to reconsider every aspect of what they do.

And that this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Szántó begins by acknowledging what we all already know--that the Great Recession has been tough on American museums. According to a 2009 survey of North American museums by the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), three out of five institutions lost revenue in 2008.

But he also shares some bleak statistics that point out that museums' problems are bigger than simply shrinking endowments:

• Last summer's NEA Arts Participation Survey found attendance registering "noticeable declines," tumbling from a high of 26% in 1992-2002 to 23% in 2008--back to 1982 levels.
• The Art Newspaper learned in a survey they conducted last month that three out of four Americans don't visit museums regularly.
• The median age of visitors has shot up since 1982, from 36 to 43 years.
• There has been a 12% decline in arts attendance among college-educated Americans.

Szántó argues that the economic downturn is hastening museums' realization that business-as-usual simply doesn't work anymore. With financial windfalls no longer hiding systematic problems, museums are considering moves that seemed unnecessary only a few years ago.

But these forced changes might be museums' saving grace--they may make museums better prepared to handle and confront the realities of the 21st century.

The article goes on to highlight some museums' creative ways of dealing with their challenges:

• Museums have begun to reconfigure their core staff. The Brooklyn Museum, for example, has created teams of curators and support staff that work across departments rather than the isolated pod structure they utilized previously.
• Museums are looking for ways to share resources, including with publications and Web projects, such as with Artbabble, a kind of YouTube for art videos.
• Museums overall are being more careful about accepting gifts and asking donors to cover exhibition and ownership costs.

As Szántó points out, there are still major hurdles to be overcome. Not the least of which is the fact that only 9% of museum visitors are from minority populations, whereas one third of the US population is minority.

There are opportunities as well. The greatest audience development and diversification tool of our lifetime still remains greatly underutilized--the deployment of the internet as a full-fledged programming tool.

"Will US Museums Succeed in Reinventing Themselves?" is a good read--and one that will get your brain thinking.

Has the economy forced your museum to think outside of the box? What creative solutions has your institution come up with for weathering these hard times? What changes are you considering implementing at your institution? Add a comment to this post and let others know.

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