The economic crisis hit general market and many branches like culture industry because people has very big problems of money like many firms. Then, people have to spend less money for things that are less important like to go out. Museums are very concerned by this undergone “way of life” with less recreation or leisure.
How face the crisis when you are a cultural institution?
At the beginning of the crisis, many museums knew that hard times will come but they did not know the significance level. Like Brian Ferriso, the director of the Portland Art Museum, that said in 2008 that it was too early to tell what kind of effect the recession will have on his institution and other local nonprofits. To face the crisis they had to make choice to decide between all the competitors like others museums but also like theaters etc. For example, English museums have made a kind of community with libraries and archive to become stronger during these hard times. It is named “Leading Museums, A vision and Strategic Action Plan for English Museums” ; This charted a future based on the museum sector working together towards three objectives - Supporting Excellence; Promoting Partnerships and Building Capacity. Or some museums made construction works like the Victoria and Albert Museum of London : it launched a design competition by October 2010 for a new building on Exhibition Road.
Concerning the Tate Gallery they made a very beautiful website with many items and they want to target people who want to learn thanks to the art and paintings like children for example. They have tags like : “Tate Kids” “Young Tate” or “Schools and Teachers”. They have games or a possibility to create your own gallery of paintings… It is very educational and recreational. It is a way to attract people in the museum. They have a blog too to attract children for a movie project…
The key of the success is that people want to clear their head, then, seing paintings is a very good solution!
