Arts and Culture - How Museums Are Changing With Us

Museums Established by Decade

The graphic above shows the number of museums established by decade. A significant increase occurred during the late 1940s when arts programs were funded by the federal government. The numbers increased dramatically during the 1960s and 1970s. The number fell sharply in the 1980s. This corresponds to a time when arts funding and the National Endowment for the Arts fell under scrutiny for controversial shows.

There are currently 15,000 museums in the United States. They average 865 million visits a year, or over 2 million visits a day, an increase of 50% over a decade ago. Indeed, we have seen in previous panels that museums have become quite popular. Many museums have been booking very popular exhibits and have seen boosts in foot traffic and ticket revenues (particularly vital when so many are battling for funding and contributions). But while the great artists still brings in the crowds — Van Gogh, John Philip Sargent, and Jackson Pollock exhibits were among the top museum shows in 1999 — museums have begun to become more than buildings that house a variety of art. They have begun to take on identities.

While final statistics for the 1990s are not yet available, the number of new museums established between 1998-2000 makes this interesting point:

New Museums, 1998-2000

Over a quarter of new museums were "specialized," dealing with social or ethnic issues. Recent museums include those devoted to women, African Americans, and the Oklahoma City tragedy. Science museums are popular because they often entertain as well as inform; many contain exhibits in which visitors can witness or perform experiments. The trend toward combining entertainment and education explains the popularity of children's museums. Such institutions have been around longer than one might think — the first children's museum opened in 1899 — but they have become an attractive tool for schools and parents. Attendance figures support this: the number of visitors jumped 144% between 1996 and 1998.

There are many niche museums in this country addressing a variety of aspects of our culture.

Source: Mihm, Stephen. "Museums: Firsts, Facts and Figures." New York Times, April 19, 2000, p. 20.