Why the Museum Matters
A powerful reflection on the universal art museum, considering the values critical to its history and anticipating its evolving place in our cultural future
 
Art museums have played a vital role in our culture, drawing on Enlightenment ideals in shaping ideas, advancing learning, fostering community, and providing spaces of beauty and permanence. In this thoughtful and often personal volume, Daniel H. Weiss contemplates the idea of the universal art museum alongside broad considerations about the role of art in society and what defines a cultural experience. The future of art museums is far from secure, and Weiss reflects on many of the difficulties these institutions face, from their financial health to their collecting practices to the audiences they engage to ensuring freedom of expression on the part of artists and curators.
 
In grappling with these challenges, Weiss sees a solution in shared governance. His tone is one of optimism as he looks to a future where the museum will serve a greater public while continuing to be a steward of culture and a place of discovery, discourse, inspiration, and pleasure. This poignant questioning and affirmation of the museum explores our enduring values while embracing the need for change in a rapidly evolving world.
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Why the Museum Matters
A powerful reflection on the universal art museum, considering the values critical to its history and anticipating its evolving place in our cultural future
 
Art museums have played a vital role in our culture, drawing on Enlightenment ideals in shaping ideas, advancing learning, fostering community, and providing spaces of beauty and permanence. In this thoughtful and often personal volume, Daniel H. Weiss contemplates the idea of the universal art museum alongside broad considerations about the role of art in society and what defines a cultural experience. The future of art museums is far from secure, and Weiss reflects on many of the difficulties these institutions face, from their financial health to their collecting practices to the audiences they engage to ensuring freedom of expression on the part of artists and curators.
 
In grappling with these challenges, Weiss sees a solution in shared governance. His tone is one of optimism as he looks to a future where the museum will serve a greater public while continuing to be a steward of culture and a place of discovery, discourse, inspiration, and pleasure. This poignant questioning and affirmation of the museum explores our enduring values while embracing the need for change in a rapidly evolving world.
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Why the Museum Matters

Why the Museum Matters

by Daniel H. Weiss
Why the Museum Matters

Why the Museum Matters

by Daniel H. Weiss

Paperback

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Overview

A powerful reflection on the universal art museum, considering the values critical to its history and anticipating its evolving place in our cultural future
 
Art museums have played a vital role in our culture, drawing on Enlightenment ideals in shaping ideas, advancing learning, fostering community, and providing spaces of beauty and permanence. In this thoughtful and often personal volume, Daniel H. Weiss contemplates the idea of the universal art museum alongside broad considerations about the role of art in society and what defines a cultural experience. The future of art museums is far from secure, and Weiss reflects on many of the difficulties these institutions face, from their financial health to their collecting practices to the audiences they engage to ensuring freedom of expression on the part of artists and curators.
 
In grappling with these challenges, Weiss sees a solution in shared governance. His tone is one of optimism as he looks to a future where the museum will serve a greater public while continuing to be a steward of culture and a place of discovery, discourse, inspiration, and pleasure. This poignant questioning and affirmation of the museum explores our enduring values while embracing the need for change in a rapidly evolving world.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780300276855
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication date: 02/27/2024
Series: Why X Matters Series
Pages: 224
Sales rank: 426,586
Product dimensions: 5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Daniel H. Weiss is Homewood Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University and president emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he served from 2015 to 2023. He is the author of In That Time: Michael O’Donnell and the Tragic Era of Vietnam and Remaking College: Innovation and the Liberal Arts.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I A Selective History of the Art Museum

1 Ancient Antecedents 11

2 Reinvention 23

3 The American Experiment 41

Part II Why the Museum Matters

4 A Place of Consequence 53

5 A Forum for Ideas 75

6 An Enterprise for Community 99

7 A Source of Identity and Connection 125

Part III New Directions

8 Evolving Mission/Preserving Values 145

9 Museums for a New Generation 152

Notes 169

Acknowledgments 183

Index 185

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