<p> Single donor museums like the Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston, the McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and The Barnes Foundation in Merion and Philadelphia, provide an intimate experience for their visitors, donors, supporters and staff members. They must compete with larger, more encyclopedic museums, with larger budgets and more resources. Like all museums, they hold art in the public trust and are responsible to the public. Contemporary museology asks not only that all museums protect their collections and educate the public, but that they also engage with their communities. None of the single donors highlighted had to donate their art, their money or their homes, but all chose to. Each museum chose to expand or relocate in response to difficult problems, whether financial, logistical (need for more space) or legal. Each engages new publics in creative ways. Certain predictable problems arose for each and they creatively resolved (and continue to resolve) those problems. Lessons learned from the experience of four single donor museums may suggest new thinking for those anticipating similar expansions or moves.</p>
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1553850 |
Date | 23 May 2014 |
Creators | Walker, Mary H. Molly Giles |
Publisher | The University of the Arts |
Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | thesis |
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