mountshang

Does anyone know of any websites or listserves (worldwide) devoted to the concerns of the patrons of a specific museum? Internet sites that would discuss the issues of their museum's acquisitions, de-acquisitions, permanent displays, and temporary displays ?

In the U.S., museums are private corporations, each run by a self-perpetuating board of directors, comprised of civic leaders and major donors.
Other patrons have no voice in decision making other than their personal decision to attend/not attend or pay/not pay for a membership.

Just looking at my local museum, the Art Institute of Chicago - some decisions have a broader scope:

*restricting a new wing of "contemporary" art to just things done "in a contemporary manner"
*Scaling down the frequency of 'blockbuster' exhibits of Monet/Degas/Van Gogh etc
*restricting access to the collection's database to
one computer, behind the counter in the library

..and some decisions have a narrower scope:

* exhibiting a 50-foot Chinese scroll in an 8-foot case
* selling a painting by Toulouse Lautrec
* keeping a once-famous statue by Albin Polasek in the basement for 80 years and finally giving it away to a suburban botanical garden.

But regardless of scope -- there are many issues that affect the people who use museums -- and now the internet offers them an opportunity to collaborate on their concerns and present them to management.

Has anyone seen this happen yet ? Or has anyone
seen blogs devoted to exhibits in specific museums ?
I began my own last month: http://www.mountshang.blogspot.com

Chris Miller