Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The museum world has changed substantially in the past decade and gained more relevance in economic terms. The number of visitors has increased in the United States and in Europe, as museum visits have become one of the most important leisure activities and tourist attractions. Many special exhibitions designed as “blockbusters” attract large crowds comparable to other major events in the leisure industry. Even Las Vegas, the former “sin city,” realized that “more Americans visit art exhibitions than sports events” ( The Economist 2001 ). In response, the casinos started their own art galleries to attract more visitors. In aggregate, increasing numbers of visitors around the world spend considerably more money on the arts than they ever did before. Most museums, however, are struggling for survival and chronically lack financial resources. The decrease of public funding in the past decade, and the increasing competition between art organizations for visitors, public grants, and donations, may explain some of the trends in the museum world and the behavior of museum directorates. The recent efforts of museums to increase their revenue may be seen, for example, as reactions to the “harsher” competition for funding. But museums seem to be extremely rich taking into account their major assets: the exhibits (for art museums the art works). The incentives for the museum directorate, ... log in or subscribe to read full text