In the wake of COVID-19, many museums and other arts organizations have rapidly moved their programming online to help audiences in their community and around the world continue to feel connected. According to David Resnicow, president and cofounder of Resnicow and Associates [fn]Resnicow and Associates works with Wallace staff on many of our arts initiatives.[/fn], a communications agency serving cultural institutions and enterprises, there are additional steps museums should take to thrive in the long-run.
Resnicow writes in ARTnews:
During the past month, museums across the globe have been faced with suddenly transforming themselves from physical spaces designed to immerse visitors in installations and on-site programs into producers and distributors of online multimedia content. Without any preparation or playbook. Rather than deliver visitors to the museum, museums must now deliver themselves to the visitor.
The medium is the museum.
My firm has spent 28 years working with major museums’ communications offices in crafting the ways they present themselves to the outside world. In this new world, the communications office finds itself playing a leading role, not a supporting one. It constructs the virtual front door to an amorphous venue that simultaneously welcomes visitors and presents programming. Of course, museums have long produced digital content to support their real-world initiatives, but with the digital realm now the lone space available for engaging the community, they are navigating uncharted territory, with vastly differing visitor patterns and audience reach.
To read the full op-ed, click here.
