Taking the social muse out of museums

Once upon a time, it could have been easy to think of museums as a little bit “high-brow”—if not downright snooty—centers of culture. But according to a story in today’s Wall Street Journal, museums are starting to look at themselves the way Mr. and Ms. Middle America might… and it’s leading to some cultural change in the category. Click here to read the WSJ.com version of the story.

Implications: Whether attributable to the advance of Gen X and Gen Y, or perhaps in response to the changing economic climate… it just makes sense that “Cathedrals of Culture” become a little more main-stream in their approach to woo visitors and supporters.

I suspect that museums will not be the last category to benefit from a little down-to-earth self-evaluation.

Mike Anderson