Today’s class discussion was centered around innovation in the museum world. I was particularly interested in talking about how to redefine the success in the museum world. Setting goals and expectations for what success looks like in the museum informs museum practice how programs are designed to entice people to come to the museum.
For example, the Rijks Museum is a highly regarded institution that does not need to explicitly care about equity, inclusion, or accessibility because it will get visitors no matter what. There is little to no incentive to do a better job because the programs won’t influence the current bottom line. The success is currently being defined by how many people are coming to the museum each day, and the number is already so high that any programming or cultural shifts would not be worth the time and resources on behalf of the museum’s bottom line interest. Because of this, the programs in place cater to the needs and perspectives of the majority groups.
Redefining the measure of success allows for more inclusive and transformative programming to take place that keeps the visitor or user at the center. The Street Art Museum in Amsterdam is an example of redefining success because the artists and the community’s needs are more central to the mission rather than the money coming through the door from visitors. Because of this success looks more like ensuring the longevity of the artists careers or that the community identity is being represented through the art rather than focusing on how to just get more people through the door.
Redefining success allows for a wider range of people and needs to be included in the design of programs. As Stephen Weil said in his article, this is important because museums are transitioning from being designed to showcase something to being designed for someone in particular and the success of a museum on this track must keep the user and visitor at the center of the end goal.
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