Downturn Spurs New Offerings at Museums
March 19, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Lean economic times have museums experimenting with creative strategies for getting people through the doors, The New York Times reports as part of a special section of museum stories.
Yoga nights at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a get-together for cyclists at UCLA’s Hammer Museum are among the nontraditional offerings as major museums seek new audiences amid declining endowments, donations, and sales.
“We can’t just be about art anymore,” the Hammer Museum’s director, Ann Philbin, said. “Museums are the new community centers.”
Elsewhere in the special package, the Times explores the unique challenges faced by zoos making tough budget decisions; profiles Neal Benezra, who guided the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art back to fiscal health after the dot-com bubble burst; and reports on the emphasis among museums nationally on attracting more families with kids.
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