In Brief
Guards at National Gallery of Art in DC Say Supervisors Perpetuate Toxic Workplace
Seventeen current and former guards spoke to the Washington Post, alleging that their complaints are routinely ignored or suppressed by higher-ups.
Museums
Art
Running the Numbers on Attendance at History Museums in the US
In attempting to gauge whether attendance at American cultural institutions is indeed declining, many commentators often conflate “museum” with “art museum,” but art museums comprise only about 4.5% of American museums, while history institutions, comprise about 55.5%.
In Brief
The Museum that Sold the World: Brooklyn Museum Asks $2,500 for VIP Access to Bowie Show
The museum has devised a whole range of ways to entice visitors into shelling out cash for the hotly anticipated exhibition devoted to the late superstar.
Art
As Museum Attendance Declines, One Institute Argues Audience Engagement Is on the Rise
The National Center for Arts Research, which was created in 2012 by the Meadows School of the Arts and the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, says museums "have the highest average number of touch points, both in-person and total."
Art
Is Art Museum Attendance Declining Across the US?
There are signs that attendance in many museums across the country is slowly falling, but the reasons why are still to be determined.
Art
How a Fake Monster Crept Into our Museums
The Fiji Mermaid was an object of fantasy but for a long time it was on display as a specimen that many people believed was real.
News
Metropolitan Museum Will Charge Mandatory Admission to Non-New Yorkers
The museum's president announced that as of March 1, visitors from outside of New York State will be charged a mandatory admission, but will make tickets valid for three days.
Art
Imagining What Museums Might Become
At the CUNY Graduate Center, a multifaceted conversation on the future of museums showed some of the contrasting and competing visions for what they might become.
Art
Can Social Tagging Deepen the Museum Experience?
Museums are reimagining their archives, their collections, and their relationship to their visitors through social tagging.
Art
Go Behind the Scenes of 9 Museums With These Great Online Web Series
These nine museums are using online video series to take viewers behind the scenes of their collections.
Art
In London's Reopened Garden Museum, Horticulture History Is Told Among Tombs
The Garden Museum in London has reopened, showcase a recreation of a 17th-century curiosity cabinet, horticultural art, and the tombs of the deconsecrated church in which it's located.
Comics
When Museum Security Let Down Their Guard
"Everyone wants to touch the art. It's just human nature."