The University Art Museum Analysis - Case Study Example

Museum Case Study Analysis In considering the development of an overriding vision and direction for the Museum there are a number of factors that must be considered. With the firing or resignation of the museum’s previous director a number of competing perspectives on the nature of the museum’s vision and management structure emerged. The previous director has assumed a management structure from an individual with a long history at the institution and shifted the museum’s focus from one largely entrenched in scholarly and university concerns to one with a more populist edge.

Ultimately, this structure did not vibe with the university’s culture resulting in the search for a new museum director. Currently, there are a number of competing perspectives on the direction the museum should take. From an overarching perspective it is clear that there are individuals that believe while the previous director was off-based and abrasive in interviews, his populist vision for the museum was the proper approach to development; conversely, there are individuals that believe that the museum should assume a more scholarly and intellectual path.

Within the second consideration, there is a further variety of opinion in terms of the extent that the museum should service the university. For instance, one individual states that, “I would strongly urge that the museum be considered an adjunct to graduate and especially to Ph.D. education, confine itself to this work, and stay out of all attempts to be ‘popular,’ both on campus and outside of it” (Drucker, pg. 83). This sentiment is a vision of the museum that not only opposes the establishment of a populist structure within the community, but also within the university structure.

While the changes the previous director instituted were appropriate for populist appreciation of the museum, it ultimately seems these aims are better implemented in a different museum environment. One of the important considerations in discarding this previous management structure is noted by an individual that stated, “The city has one of the world’s finest and biggest museums, and it does exactly that and it does it very well” (Drucker, pg. 83). In these regards, continuing the previous directs vision would be a mistake.

The museum’s current mission statement should be to present education and exhibitions programs that blur the boundaries between visual arts and design, technology, music, and contemporary culture and the vision should be to provide a forum for the investigation of contemporary visual culture and seeks to transform the traditional art museum experience, from the ordinary to the extraordinary and personal. These visions balance the conflicting expectations and perspectives of interested parties through a management structure that considers the museum as primarily an institution designed for the university.

In this spectrum of understanding, previous community wide populist notions will be discarded and the museum will increasingly focus its attention on the development of the scholarly and intellectual environment that flourished during the tenure of Miss Kirkoff. While some parties may regret that the museum is not increasingly implemented for the specific and specialized aims of the art history department, it’s understood that appealing to the broader university community will allow the museum to develop and attain resources that will in the long-term better assist these parties.

ReferencesDrucker, Peter F. (1977) Management Cases.