RE: Opening More Than Doors: Grappling with Deaccession

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Opening More Than Doors: Grappling with Deaccession

in museum •  7 years ago 

So... what exactly is thinking beyond the market economy? Can anyone cite a worthy example for discussion in the case of a cultural nonprofit, past or present?

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I couldn't think of anything beyond Nina Simon's examples of zoos or Britain's regulations on sales out of the country. Outside of museums, does it make sense to re-tool an institution to function like the Green Bay Packers? The community invests in the team and then gets returns on their investment.

Or like food co-ops where community members work within the store, have a say in the products, and daily operations?

Brief Google searches didn't immediately reveal anything that collaborative in public history.

I don't know of any innovative examples, but museums have traditionally operated outside the market economy. By identifying an object as worthy of protection, it was withdrawn from the market; its value to the public greater than to any one person. I get the sense that the strong art market may have changed this, but think about the Barnes example: Barnes wasn't buying works of art as investments for himself but as priceless assets of his audience. I think the market economy is a relatively new intruder in many of America's museums, actually, but I could be wrong?