{"id":128,"date":"2010-02-22T16:01:17","date_gmt":"2010-02-22T23:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tatianaserafin.com\/speakers\/?p=128"},"modified":"2010-03-28T12:17:42","modified_gmt":"2010-03-28T19:17:42","slug":"the-art-of-managing-museums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tatianaserafin.com\/speakers\/the-art-of-managing-museums\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Managing Museums"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, I visited the American Museum of Natural History<\/a> in New York and as I\u00a0was listening to the explanation of the big bang, I realized the person\u00a0speaking to me on my headphones was Whoopi Goldberg. The science was pure\u00a0and factual, and yet, the delivery was so friendly and so magical, that\u00a0even a lay-person like me was completely engaged.<\/p>\n

As an art museum\u00a0director, I reflect on how science museums, zoos and botanical gardens\u00a0have been so much more effective at adapting to 21st century needs and\u00a0attracting diverse audiences. Art museums in the United States have a\u00a0tough challenge in this respect, as the arts are less and less a funding\u00a0priority in schools. From a very early age, the message tends to be that\u00a0art does not quite mesh with life as do math, language and sports. The\u00a0arts are also competing these days with endlessly-increasing entertainment\u00a0and social offerings. Despite and maybe even because of all this, museums\u00a0are placing more efforts than ever on attracting new audiences; and\u00a0methods to do so have become quite creative.<\/p>\n

Museums today, are assuming outreach roles way beyond traditional ones.\u00a0The definition of diversity has expanded beyond the \u201cmulti-culti\u201d 1980s socio-economic and cultural model. Approaches have widened with activities\u00a0that stretch across disciplines and interests: MoMa<\/a> offers yoga classes in\u00a0their galleries; and Queens Museumof Art<\/a> has cooking workshops, for example.\u00a0The\u00a0Bass Museum of Art<\/a> (which I manage) has a jazz series and monthly Sunday classical concerts.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0fact, museums are following what leading art fairs so effectively set into\u00a0motion: embracing lifestyle and social activities to attract young\u00a0professionals, socialites, and the general public to its doors with happy\u00a0hours, parties, programs for seniors and wine-tasting events. Finally,\u00a0museum cafes are being upgraded and museum restaurants are becoming, more\u00a0and more, destinations in their own right (see January 29, 2010 New York\u00a0Times article: \u201cAfter the Putti, the Baby Calamari\u201d<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Partnerships have become essential and very effective in accessing diverse\u00a0audiences. Art museums collaborate with nearby public schools, for\u00a0example, not only to offer students guided visits, but also through\u00a0in-school initiatives such as museum-led hands-on workshops, teacher\u00a0training and artists\u2019 visits.<\/p>\n

The Bass Museum initiated IDEA@theBass, an\u00a0in-school program in collaboration with Stanford University<\/a>, which uses\u00a0art as a catalyst to promote critical thinking skills. In Spring 2010,\u00a0this program will enter all six Miami Beach public schools (for now). It\u00a0will engage school children with repeat experiences with art and\u00a0creativity; and most importantly, it will reach each and every student\u00a0from K-3rd grade. Museums also partner with numerous other cultural\u00a0organizations, local governments and social service agencies to seek new\u00a0communities.<\/p>\n

Art museums, yet, still do need to go back to the museums of science,\u00a0botanical gardens and zoos to observe and learn more about how to\u00a0communicate. The other day, a very smart person recommended we look for\u00a0new ideas beyond museums; to street fairs, malls and online communities.\u00a0Another smart person, someone on my board in fact, is very conscious of\u00a0and always stresses the importance of bilingual exhibition labels, pod\u00a0casts and well-trained docents.<\/p>\n

Thinking back on Whoopi Goldberg and her\u00a0explanation of the big bang, a lot can be done by museums simply in the\u00a0area of \u201cdelivery\u201d. Once we have a visitor at our door, let\u2019s work on\u00a0making the museum-visiting experience just plain fun.<\/p>\n

Silvia Karman Cubina
\nExecutive Director and Chief Curator
\nBass Museum of Art, Miami Beach\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

An independent curator since 1997, Cubina was most recently the director of The Moore Space, Miami, from 2002-2008. In the past, she held the position of Adjunct Curator at inova, the Institute of Visual Arts; University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; and positions at The Mexican Museum in San Francisco and the Cuban Museum of Art in Miami. At The Moore Space, Cubina organized exhibition projects with artists such as: Allora & Calzadlla, Carlos Amorales, John Bock, Sean Dack, Jeppe Hein, Tracey + The Plastics, Jonathan Monk, Aida Ruilova, Hernan Bas, Jim Lambie, Patty Chang, Joan Jonas, Yang Fudong, and numerous group exhibitions. In 2007, she worked on French Kissing in the USA, a group exhibition that takes its title from a 1986 hit song by Blondie, to present the emerging scene of French artists. Independently, Cubina has worked on exhibitions such as None of the Above: Contemporary Work by Puerto Rican Artists at Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT; Quirky, Odd and Out of Sorts at MACLA, San Jose, CA; Landmark\/Allora & Calzadilla at the Escuela de Artes Plasticas in San Juan; Quisqueya Henr\u00edquez; Habitat en Tr\u00e1nsito\/Pi\u00f1ones (In-Situ), Javier Cambre\u2019s project for the 2002 Bienal Exhibition of the Whitney Museum of American Art; Pep\u00f3n Osorio: Door to Door at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San Juan; Arte del Nuevo Medio: Doce Propuestas Electr\u00f3nicas at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico; and she was the Puerto Rico commissioner to the 1997 Bienal de Sao Paolo. Cubina has participated in Project Rooms at ARCO and ArtMiami, has lectured extensively and participated in numerous grant panels and award selection committees, most recently as a juror to the Guggenheim Museum\u2019s Hugo Boss Award for 2006. In 2007, she was a finalist for the Walter Hopps Award for Curatorial Achievement and will participate in the Center for Curatorial Leadership program.<\/em><\/p>\n