museum
A Place of Inspiration
Happy New Year everyone. I hope you had a safe and joyous holiday.
In today's competitive economic environment, more than ever, non-profit organizations are looking for ways to prove their value to their community and to potential funders. Museums are no exception, and like most, we try to impress by describing ourselves with numbers and statistics. From the turnstile to the balance sheet, numbers provide a convenient and logical means to measure and compare an organization's impact on its community.
Here are some statistics that you might find interesting. The FIA is the second largest art museum in Michigan and has more than 150,000 visitors annually (a 40% increase over the last 5 years.) The FIA has the 11th largest Museum Art School (classroom space) in the U.S. and enrolls more than 2,700 students each year. The FIA also serves 25,000 K-12 students both on and off-site; has 2,400 college student members; has more than 8,000 artworks in the permanent collection; and had more than 260,000 people view FIA art works on loan to exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad in 2011.
These numbers make for compelling reading and certainly can be a point of pride, but they don't tell the whole story. The most important service the museum provides cannot be calculated numerically or described statistically—yet it is the reason many people visit. The FIA provides an aesthetic experience that helps visitors see, think, and feel differently about themselves and the world they live in. For most people in the community, the FIA's building and collections serve as examples of what should be prized as valuable and enduring.
Of course we will continue to strengthen our appeal to potential funders but for me, the true measure of a museum's value starts when the individual visitor makes the un-measurable personal connection with a great work of art. As long as the FIA remains a place of inspiration and a social and intellectual escape, where people gain a better understanding of the past and renewed optimism for the future, then it is my belief that the community will continue to appreciate its deeper value and respond enthusiastically and generously with participation and support.
John B. Henry III, Director
Happy New Year everyone. I hope you had a safe and joyous holiday.
In today's competitive economic environment, more than ever, non-profit organizations are looking for ways to prove their value to their community and to potential funders. Museums are no exception, and like most, we try to impress by describing ourselves with numbers and statistics. From the turnstile to the balance sheet, numbers provide a convenient and logical means to measure and compare an organization's impact on its community.
Here are some statistics that you might find interesting. The FIA is the second largest art museum in Michigan and has more than 150,000 visitors annually (a 40% increase over the last 5 years.) The FIA has the 11th largest Museum Art School (classroom space) in the U.S. and enrolls more than 2,700 students each year. The FIA also serves 25,000 K-12 students both on and off-site; has 2,400 college student members; has more than 8,000 artworks in the permanent collection; and had more than 260,000 people view FIA art works on loan to exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad in 2011.
These numbers make for compelling reading and certainly can be a point of pride, but they don't tell the whole story. The most important service the museum provides cannot be calculated numerically or described statistically—yet it is the reason many people visit. The FIA provides an aesthetic experience that helps visitors see, think, and feel differently about themselves and the world they live in. For most people in the community, the FIA's building and collections serve as examples of what should be prized as valuable and enduring.
Of course we will continue to strengthen our appeal to potential funders but for me, the true measure of a museum's value starts when the individual visitor makes the un-measurable personal connection with a great work of art. As long as the FIA remains a place of inspiration and a social and intellectual escape, where people gain a better understanding of the past and renewed optimism for the future, then it is my belief that the community will continue to appreciate its deeper value and respond enthusiastically and generously with participation and support.
John B. Henry III, Director
