How Museums Build Communities through Art and Empathy

How Museums Build Communities through Art and Empathy KIM SAJET, DIRECTOR OF THE SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY SPOKE AT OUR LUNCHEON. BELOW ARE SOME OF THE TOPICS SHE DISCUSSED.

The original idea of a museum was the increase and diffusion of knowledge.  It was a place where we would put what we thought was important. And often we didn’t even understand what it was that we were collecting. It was a place that was about sciences, humanities, and it was a place of wonder and learning.

Suddenly things started to change. There was a shift away from museums as a center of learning to museums as a form of “edutainment”.  We were having this idea of the blockbuster. It was about spectacle, scarcity of an object, celebrities, and it also was tied to international diplomacy. Museums need to promote the economic impact of their exhibitions and facilities to justify their existence.