As museums and galleries start to rely more heavlily on local audiences and domestic markets, what does this mean for their programming and marketing strategies? Eileen Kinsella and Tim Schneider explore the challenges.
Before the shutdown hit New York City museums in March, 70 percent of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s visitors traveled to it from other cities and countries. Now, since the museum’s August 29 reopening, that number has dwindled to just 20 percent, leading the Met, and institutions across the globe, to grapple for the first time with what it means to run a museum without tourists.
As social distancing shrinks visitor capacities, ticket sales are down and museums are feeling the financial hit. They are also having to retool programming for their newly local audiences.
Before the shutdown, the Met welcomed anywhere from 15,000 visitors to 25,000 (on a peak summer day). Now, capacity is 14,000, and the Met is currently using its timed ticketing system to generate audiences of about 5,000 visitors per day.
With loans and traveling shows curtailed, the museum will be relying heavily on its own collection to create exhibitions, Met director Max Hollein said... Keep reading on artnet
Before the shutdown hit New York City museums in March, 70 percent of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s visitors traveled to it from other cities and countries. Now, since the museum’s August 29 reopening, that number has dwindled to just 20 percent, leading the Met, and institutions across the globe, to grapple for the first time with what it means to run a museum without tourists.
As social distancing shrinks visitor capacities, ticket sales are down and museums are feeling the financial hit. They are also having to retool programming for their newly local audiences.
Before the shutdown, the Met welcomed anywhere from 15,000 visitors to 25,000 (on a peak summer day). Now, capacity is 14,000, and the Met is currently using its timed ticketing system to generate audiences of about 5,000 visitors per day.
With loans and traveling shows curtailed, the museum will be relying heavily on its own collection to create exhibitions, Met director Max Hollein said... Keep reading on artnet