A deep dive presentation from the Toledo Museum of Art. This presentation was given to the Museum Board of Directors on Feb. 6, 2018.

1. Presentation to the
Toledo Museum of Art
Board of Directors
February 6, 2018
Brian Kennedy
Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey
President, Director and CEO
Toledo Museum of Art

2. History: The Changing Role of
Art Museums Since 1900

3. The British Museum, London, founded 1753, to provide free access to public education for the studious, and
public recreation to the curious. First museum in the world to be open to everyone.

4. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, opened 1872—America’s great encyclopedic art museum, a temple of art, and now a
major tourist destination. The history of the American art museum is the arc between a collection-centric institution, focused on
collecting, protecting, displaying, interpreting, publishing works that represent the epitome of human creativity and
imagination over time, and the visitor-centric institution which privileges audience response and engagement.

5. Toledo Museum of Art’s Green and Wachter designed building, opened 1912. Trustee instructions to architects: “We fondly
imagine that the Museum will be the headquarters for all efforts at civic betterment…” Inspiration for museums like Toledo
was a moralizing one, aiming to edify, inspire, and elevate the aspirations of its community.
Described in 1917 as “a monument to civic development in its broadest and highest sense, crystalizing Toledo’s aspirations
towards life’s higher values.”

6. Brooklyn Museum, 1920’s Brooklyn Museum, 1934
Brooklyn Museum was constructed with a grand portico and staircase. In a radical move in the mid-1930’s, Brooklyn embraced a
more democratic approach, removing the grand staircase, allowing visitors to enter from the ground level.

7. Peristyle Theater, Toledo Museum of Art
Toledo democratizes with the opening in 1933 of a grand concert hall to promote music education and appreciation
within a great art museum. Multi-sensory education is now the core philosophy of TMA.

8. Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, Pompidou Centre, Paris, 1977
The first major example of a visitor-centric approach being embraced architecturally with a great art collection opened
in Paris in 1977. Embracing President Georges Pompidou and his Culture Minister, Andre Malraux’s philosophy of
Cultural Democracy, the Pompidou Centre is entered from a forecourt which functions as a performance space, and
has its escalators on the exterior.

9. Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 1997
The art museum as part of a civic revitalization effort is best demonstrated by the runaway success of the
outpost of New York’s Guggenheim Museum, which opened in Bilbao, Spain in 1997. Bilbao quickly became a
cultural destination for art and architectural tourism.

10. Frank Gehry, University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts, 1992
TMA expanded its art education mission in collaboration with the University of Toledo, constructing the Center for the Visual Arts on its
campus, which opened in 1992. In consequence, the TMA’s longstanding school of art was incorporated into a certified university
curriculum, and many of the museum’s professors became the studio art and art history faculty of UT. From the 1960’s onwards, there
was also a fundamental shift in secondary school education from previous decades, when the Museum was an accepted site for
curricular education, and instead a more competitive and comprehensive curriculum began to diminish the role of art education. Where
in previous decades, Toledo Public School system would routinely send all its students to the Museum, visits now became elective on
the part of teachers and principals, instead of customary. The pressures on art education have continued ever since.

11. SANAA, Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion, 2006
Toledo Museum of Art maintains its aesthetic prominence, avoiding architectural pomp or ceremony, opening in 2006 its new
Glass Pavilion to visitors who enter at ground level. Daily glass art demonstrations are provided free for visitors.

12. The Porous Museum
We are now in the age of the Porous Museum. Museum administrators are faced with increasing economic pressures, the day of
command and control leadership no longer works. Our audience wishes much more direct and collaborative access, especially with the
advent of new technologies, increased leisure and competition for time, and the advent of social media. Museums have to decide
where they wish to position themselves on the spectrum between Temple and Forum.

13. “It is the hope of your trustees that this organization will, in
the near future, be placed upon such financial as will enable
us to have the Toledo Museum of Art open to the public, free,
every day in the year, and it is our aim to strive to this end…”
– Edward Drummond Libbey, 1903 Annual Report
1903: Mr. Libbey Calls for Free Admission

14. “Our attendance has been more than gratifying. In fact, in
this respect, we have outstripped all other museums of the
country, when taking into consideration the difference in
population…Toledo, with the highest percentage of visitors in
the country, maintains also the lowest cost of admission – 13
cents.
…Toledo is the most cultured city in the United States, and so
it is we have accomplished much.”
- George W. Stevens, Eleventh Annual Report, January 8, 1913
January 8, 1913: Director George W. Stevens Praises TMA

15. 1971: Brooklyn Museum Director, Duncan Cameron, writes seminal article
questioning whether the Art Museum is a Temple or the Forum
The concept of the museum as a Temple or the Forum was
introduced by Duncan Cameron in 1971. The opening
paragraph of his article was a shock to the system.
“Our museums are in desperate need of psychotherapy.
There is abundant evidence of an identity crisis in some of
the major institutions, while others are in an advanced
state of schizophrenia….the crisis at the moment, put in
the simplest possible terms, is that our museums and art
galleries seem not to know who or what they are.”1
The Metropolitan Museum in New York, under the
directorship of Tom Hoving in the 1970’s promoted
blockbuster exhibitions, demonstrating an openness to
populism and the courting of popularity. A foray towards
Museum as Temple and Forum.
1 Duncan F. Cameron, Director, The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum, a Temple or the Forum, Curator,
A Quarterly Publication o The American Museum of Natural History, Issue XIV, Page 11

16. The Cloister, Toledo Museum of Art, presenting the Museum as Temple.

17. The Cloister, Toledo Museum of Art, presenting the Museum as Forum.

18. Great Gallery, Toledo Museum of Art, a ceremonial and sacred space.

19. Toledo Museum of Art is now positioned as a Temple of Art and a Forum for
Multisensory Engagement with our community.

20. Art education has generational impact. This is our responsibility to TMA’s legacy and
must be the outcome of our work together.

21. But how do you measure art education?

22. But how do you measure art education?
Total number of students?
Students as a percentage of visitors?
Students per operating dollar?
Number of art classes offered?
Number of scholarships given?

23. But what about this?

24. Isn’t this… Supposed to lead to this?

25. Isn’t this… Supposed to lead to this?
TMA’s Bottom Line: The number of repeat visitors who come to engage with the
Museum’s permanent collections

26. Leading vs Lagging Indicators
Most metrics that museums track are
‘leading’ indicators—that is, they are
precursors to the impact the museum
hopes to have
We need to build a better
understanding for how leading
indicators create the long-term
impact we hope to achieve
These impacts are our lagging
indicators

27. Lagging Indicators are Reflections of Purpose
Measuring for measurement’s sake is
unhelpful and burdensome. We must
count what matters, and what matters
is realizing our purpose.
We need to articulate outcomes
qualitatively before we can translate
those outcomes into quantitative
performance indicators

28. What We’re Doing Today (and Tomorrow)
Relevance Sustainability
Leading Lagging

29. What We’re Doing Today (and Tomorrow)
Relevance Sustainability
Leading Lagging
Participatory
Multisensory
Inclusive

30. What We’re Doing Today (and Tomorrow)
Strategic Objectives Relevance
Short-Term Medium-Term
Master Plan
Arts Community
Earned Income
Participatory
Multisensory
Inclusive
Visual Literacy

31. What We’re Doing Today (and Tomorrow)
Strategic Objectives
Short-Term
Master Plan
Arts Community
Earned Income
Visual Literacy
Complete at least one phase of the master plan
Broaden and continue to create a more vibrant arts community in Toledo
Capture data and maximize revenue from our existing visitors
Confirm and embed TMA’s reputation for visual literacy (including by
engaging their revenue potential)

32. What We’re Doing Today (and Tomorrow)
Strategic Objectives
Short-Term
Master Plan
Arts Community
Earned Income
Visual Literacy
Complete at least one phase of the master plan
Broaden and continue to create a more vibrant arts community in Toledo
Capture data and maximize revenue from our existing visitors
Confirm and embed TMA’s reputation for visual literacy (including by
engaging their revenue potential)
We want you to help us determine the outcomes we
most need to pursue to achieve each of these objectives