Corporations That Influence Public Art Museum

In December 2002, the directors of 18 museums located throughout Europe and the United States issued the Declaration of the Importance and Value of Universal Museums. The declaration is an attempt, by the directors of major Western museums, to defend against demands for restitution of museum objects by defining themselves as “universal museums” which are of value to all of humanity. This document fails as a convincing defence against restitution claims for several reasons. First, it dismisses circumstances of older acquisitions without considering the ethics or legality of surrounding the acquisition. Second, while it pronounces these museums “universal,” it approaches this from a distinctly Western perspective and perpetuates colonial and imperialist ideas. Finally, it ignores important debates that are occurring between and within scholarly, professional, and activist communities.

Museums have long served a purpose as cultural staples. For every museum, big and small, careful consideration is used in selecting its contents. When securing new items for a museum, it is most important to consider public appeal, educational value, and cost-effectiveness.

Throughout history there have been many public funding’s that contributed to the world of art. Whether anyone realizes it or not, artists have a lot of responsibilities to try and please the public when they are working for the public. Also, there are numerous regional issues that greatly influence decisions about publicly funded art. Art is very important when forming a sense of nation character, therefore, we should support the public funding of art in America. Art is an important part of society and it can also be a very valuable part of our everyday lives. However, there are many positive and negative effects when it comes to the public funding of art in America. Supporters claim that subsidizing the arts pays for itself. These supporters suggest that the arts are what drive the economy of businesses within a community.

In 1961, Kennedy appointed a Special Consultant on the Arts and made public support for the arts an official policy agenda (Bauerlin and Grantham, p. 6). In 1963 President’s Advisory Council on the Arts was created (p. 7). After President Kennedy’s assassination, President Johnson continued to support Kennedy’s vision of founding a federal arts agency. The next year Johnson signed the National Arts and Cultural Development Act of 1964. This created a 24-member council to “recommend ways to maintain and increase the cultural resources of the nation and to encourage and develop greater appreciation and enjoyment of the arts by its citizens” (p. 15). The Arts Endowment started its first fiscal year with a budget of $2.5 million and a staff of twelve, and its first grant recipient was the American Ballet Theater (p. 19). They provided support to both classical forms of art (such as ballet and opera) and emerging art and art trends (such as pop art and jazz); and provided funding for both established and up-and-coming artists (p. 22). Furthermore, the committee provided support for art education, and archival and preservation efforts such as the American Film Institute (“AFI”) (p. 23).

One of those negatives is that the museum is misunderstood, so they have very few visitors. This is bad because the museum cannot present their works of art to anybody. Few people know about the museum, and the people who do know think it’s boring. This is because often people have the stereotype that only traditional people can go to museums. However, by creating advertisements, and by raising money for the art curator so that they can pick art that is more interesting for the neighborhood, people will be attracted to the museum. Also, as a student, my advice is that they need to make the museum more visible because before I did not know that there was a museum in Manhattan that represented the Hispanic culture. However, now that I am doing this work about the museum I have realized that the Hispanic Society of America is very interesting and an incredible museum to know, and because of that, we have to do campaigns and field trips to make the museum more

I hope to see museums make more concerted efforts to educate the public. Too many exhibits are of the “passive, didactic looking” than like the engaging Object Stories program (Dartt, Murawski). Exhibits should seek to tell untold narratives, and programs should be places of communication and cross-cultural encounters. For too long, difficult confrontations have been avoided, both inside the museum, and by dominant communities

It is also interesting how the Museum Industry has grown significantly since its establishment. While engage in a national discussion concerning the roe of educational institutions and the essence of arts, it seems interesting that this Museum Industry continues to lend is reputation and resources to underscore the key necessity in our lives, just as said by Neil Portnow, who is the CEO of this recording Academy.

While some may view museums as homes of the dusty, decrypt, and decaying, I think back fondly to the memories I've made in them. When I was four and living in a small apartment in Shaker Heights, Ohio, my father would take me to the Cleveland Museum of Rock and Roll on the weekends when he wasn’t busy working on his MBA at Case Western Reserve University. Every time we visited, I would tell my father that I would grow up to be just like Elvis, to which he would laugh and scoff affectionately. When we moved to Glen Allen, Virginia when I was six, we would occasionally drive up to Washington, D.C. to the Smithsonian Museums. On some Saturdays, we would walk for hours through the halls of art I didn't understand (and still don’t really understand) at the Museum of American Art. On other Saturdays, we would go to the Library of Congress, where I would press my forehead against the glass of the observation deck—much to the dismay of security guards. But perhaps the most significant "museum" I've been in is just a short three-minute drive or seven-minute walk from my suburban home: the Twin Hickory Public Library.

State and federal governments wrestle with the many questions that come with the funding of public art. People wonder whether or not government has a legitimate role in the arts and if they do, whether or not the arts should be given funds when so many other needs are present in our society. I believe that art provides many benefits and that if policymakers would begin to understand these benefits that the arts have on government and citizens, then they would find a way to support the arts even through difficult financial situations. “Arts and culture are consistent sources of economic growth, during both good and difficult economic times. Specifically, arts and culture policies and programs increase economic development in states by attracting

There are opportunities though, and they are good opportunities. I was able to identify three that they should pay attention to and really hit hard on. In today’s economy, people aren’t wanting to spend a lot of money. The recession is making people be a lot more conscious about money. Good news, the museum is free. If marketed properly, this could be a huge way to gain new visitors. Plus, art museums have sophisticated connotations that make people feel smart when they go to them. What better way to spend the day than to go somewhere that is free and feel sophisticated? Another opportunity is that new exhibits could attract younger demographics, pending on the exhibit. This could be tricky though because they want to attract everyone, but older crowds are interested in things that younger generations aren’t. They have to be able to balance the attractions so everyone can relate to it and want to view it.

time to visit museums. When public art is funded by the government, the artist’s imagination is

A majority of the nation, up until recent visual and performance art legislation was proposed in congress, hadn't been made aware that they, the taxpayers, were supporting any form of art. It wasn't until the recent attacks on the NEA, an agency designed to fund grants to certain projects, that taxpayers paid attention. The government's funding of the arts is a highly controversial issue that argues some of the most basic philosophical questions regarding the subjective and objective views of aesthetic value.

The relationship between art and commerce has always been subject of hot discussion. Many people look at creativity as a vehicle for economic interest, while others view it as pure dedication for personal creative needs. The world as we live in today sees the creative industry, including visual and performing arts, sound recording, book publishing, and movie making, a highly commercialized global enterprise. People constantly buy and sell art products in a highly active market. Although it is difficult to conclude whether art and commerce is perfectly compatible or mutually exclusive, one thing is true, that the relationship between the two has not stayed constant throughout the history of art. From the early Renaissance period to contemporary and modern time, we see art gets intertwined with business more and more. There are multiple well known historical examples demonstrate the dynamic evolution of creative expression, though new system also brought challenges.

Collections play a crucial role in fulfilling a museum’s mission and purpose. A museum’s collection is defined by its collection policy past and present which in turn helps to shape the museum’s goals and direction. As stewards of collections, museums are expected to maintain the highest professional standards legally and ethically.

According to the American Alliance of Museums, community engagement in museums includes the use of this facility as “a center where people gather to meet and converse and an active, visible player in civic life, a safe haven, and a trusted incubator of change” (Long 141). Different museums