Museum Views Spring

museummuseumVIEWSVIEWS A quarterly newsletter for small and mid-sized art museums Spring 2007 CONTEMPORARY MUSEUM DESIGN by Scott J. Tilden The first American art museum building of architecture and art. Some was erected by painter Rembrandt Peale and ATTRACTING THE PUBLIC 465,552 people visited the new museum building in his father Charles Willson Peale in 1813. n 1943, José Luis Sert, Fernand Léger, and 2002, the year of its comple- Subsequently, Peale’s sons founded small I Sigfried Giedion spoke of the need for public tion. This compares to museums in Baltimore, New York City, and building design to move beyond simple func- approximately 165,000 visi- Utica. Spectacles and musical performances tional considerations. “The people want the tors in 1999 and 2000. These accompanied the exhibitions of art and natural buildings that represent their social and commu- figures are all the more impressive when com- history. P.T. Barnum purchased these museums nity life to give more than functional fulfill- pared to the population of Milwaukee, which is later and brought to them his unique style of ment. They want their aspirations for monumen- 597,000. showmanship. However, the major growth of tality, joy, pride, and excitement to be satisfied.” Of course, this rise in attendance was precise- American art museums awaited the end of the Few contemporary museums illustrate this ly the goal of the Milwaukee Art Museum 19th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art concept of monumentality as well as the trustees. In fact, the broader goal of local busi- opened in 1872 and the Museum of Fine Arts in Milwaukee Art Museum, Santiago Calatrava’s nessmen and politicians was to use the building Boston and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, magnificent winged structure beside Lake to re-brand the museum and the city itself both in 1876. Today over 1300 American Michigan. Given its scale and highly imagina- where “beer, brats, and Laverne and Shirley” museums display their own collections and tive design, the Milwaukee Art Museum has had been the prevailing image. “The art muse- mount temporary shows. In addition, American become an international Mecca for worshipers um has put us in a new league,” museum directors and trustees have used the Continued on page 3 very architecture of the museum to attract visitors. Initially the larger museums created monu- EXPANSION:EXPANSION: A COMPLEX PATH TO SUCCESS OR FAILURE mental structures inspired by the Beaux Arts [Information for the following was taken from an plans and estimates of space needs and fund- movement. Then, beginning in 1938, many article by Martha Morris, associate professor of raising possibilities, and conduct competitions museums built structures reflecting the ideals Museum Studies at George Washington University for the best architect for the job. of “Modern” architecture. (DC) for a 2004 issue of AAM’s Museum News.] As their institutions grew and prospered, actors that lead to successful building pro- American museum directors and trustees relied F PROGRAM PLANNING grams begin with a simple idea: “We need to more and more on the marketing value of do something about this!” The drama then Developing a program plan takes time cutting-edge architectural design to draw unfolds. and care. It should involve all department visitors. Lengthy competitions produced an Building programs that are strategically heads, senior staff, and the board’s building international array of architects who were planned, support the museum’s vision and the committee–a coming together to determine retained to create structures with aesthetic value community’s needs, and are exactly the needs of the as important as the collections inside. built to face down the chal- museum. “All assump- The museum designs that emerged represent lenges of funding and imple- tions regarding pro- some of their architects’ most innovative work. mentation are more likely to gram needs, space The challenges are enormous, mainly because succeed than those that don’t. requirements and adja- museums have two diametrically opposed func- Success requires a master plan, cencies, and human and tions: to display art and to conserve it. Museum feasibility studies and business technical requirements visitors typically want to approach a painting or plans, the use of consultants, should be explicitly sculpture closely and want high levels of light. and the involvement of stake- listed and then tested Conversely, curators and conservators seek to holders. In addition, it requires and re-tested for validi- limit light and the public’s proximity to the art, flexibility in the consideration ty, with the help of out- while also controlling temperature, humidity, of what is possible and what is not, side experts, including and air quality levels. and openness to a variety of new experienced museum In addition to the display of art, there are ideas. Complete and total commit- professionals…. The many other design problems that relate to muse- ment to the project is crucial. well done program um visitors: attracting the public; developing a Otherwise, it’s very simple. plan will simplify and functional plan for galleries and public spaces; guide architect selec- integrating the museum into the neighborhood; tion, design, and con- achieving luxury, tranquility, and voluptuous- STRATEGIC PLANNING struction. It will also ness; and enhancing the visitor’s aesthetic expe- help control costs by Strategic plans support long- reducing the need to rience. Equally important, but not discussed in term visions of improved facili- this essay, are intra-museum considerations such change orders,” said ties, more accessible locations, better collec- Dan Monroe, president of the Peabody Essex as creating working space for museum staff and tion showcases, larger educational facilities, complying with municipal codes. Museum (MA) which was engaged in a major bigger auditoriums, and more. It could take a building program. year or more to develop a program, collect Continued on back page Top left: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (NY): Detail of façade. Wright, Gwathmey. Right: National Gallery of Art, East Building (DC): South side. Pei. DIRECTORS’ CORNER ❖We are guardians HAT OES of the museum’s W D reputation. We nurture the museum’s A MUSEUM image among all constituencies: the IRECTOR O staff, the trustees, D D ? and the public. We by Frank Robinson are responsible for ensuring that the Above all, we are guardians. museum’s public face is open and ❖We are guardians of the museum’s fiscal honest, that it is integrity. We keep watch over balanced budgets, prominent and protect the endowment, pay attention to respected in its col- fundraising and other revenue sources, are fru- lege or university, gal with expenditures, make long-range plans, in its community, and, most important, have honest and open deal- and among muse- ings with colleagues, friends of the museum, um professionals in and the general public. Milwaukee Art Museum (WI): Bridge to museum (wings are opened and extended when wind speeds general. are safe). Saarinen, Kahler, Calatrava. ❖We are guardians of the staff. We promote exhibitions, its respect for people—staff, ❖We are guardians of the museum’s profes- and protect our personnel, their morale and their donors, and visitors, and its commitment to sional standards. We maintain the ongoing sense of community; we raise their salaries service and scholarship. The director is paid to scholarship of the institution and its staff, and when we can; we avoid favoritism and cliques; think about the future, and to worry about it we encourage their professional growth and we make continuing contributions to our fields of expertise. At the same time, we insist on high their ability to do their jobs successfully. We try ❖Above all, we are guardians of our collec- standards in every aspect of the museum, from to be a positive force in helping them to be tions, our acquisitions (and deaccessions), human relations to facilities management to happy and productive. our exhibitions–what is on the walls of our security. And we help our profession as a whole galleries–and the quality of care, management, ❖ to maintain those high standards. We are guardians of the museum’s mission. and publication of those objects. In the most We keep the museum focused on core functions: immediate, everyday, and practical sense, if the ❖We are guardians of our trustees. We help to preserving and presenting the objects in the director is a success in all his responsibilities, choose them and keep them; we make sure they museum’s care, educating and serving our vari- but fails in this one, he or she has failed. This are informed about and involved in the museum; ous audiences, and maintaining the museum as a is the core– and the point– of all the other we take them on as partners in the effort to place of intellectual excitement and fun. activities of the museum. maintain a thriving institution. We protect them from distractions such as irrelevant issues Sadly, all of the above has very little to and staff squabbles; and we protect do with how we allocate our time on a typical our staff from too much trustee involve- day or year. The majority of our time, of course, 2006 STATS ment in the day-to-day running of the is spent on fundraising, and the social responsi- museum. We serve as a bridge between bilities connected with that part of the job. ON CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS trustees and staff, helping each to com- ON CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS Nevertheless, what is outlined above is how municate with the other. We protect and The following statistics, published by the we will be judged (and how we should judge nurture this precious resource. American Association of Museums, were drawn ourselves). If we do everything right, the money from canvassing 186 museums that are actively will come.

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