IN THE NEWS
American Museums Have New Missions. Have Their Operations Caught Up?
Observer, Stephen Reily, July 24, 2024
While more American museums center the public in their mission statements than ever, there exists significant gaps between trust and transparency aspirations and reality.
Art is as old as human history, but art museums as we know them are relatively modern institutions that have always adapted to reflect their times. From the founding of the Louvre after the French Revolution (turning royal collections into public goods) to the American museums founded by plutocrats with missions to educate the public to the “Bilbao effect” that invested in museums as tools for urban revival …. read more.
Stephen Reily appears on Heidi Zuckerman’s “About Art” podcast
June 25, 2024
Stephen Reily, Founding Director of Remuseum, and Heidi Zuckerman discuss museums as legacy businesses, the unsustainable nature of the current economic model of museums, innovation, the Director’s role, artists and what we can learn from them, new ideas and initiatives, what’s working, and of course why art matters!
Few U.S. Art Museums Are Upfront With Data That Could Help Them Achieve Their Public Service Missions, Research Reveals
Barron’s, Abby Schultz, May 14, 2024
Most U.S. art museums have shifted their stated missions to emphasize public service and engagement over preserving objects, yet few institutions openly offer basic information on how they are run, according to a study published on Tuesday.
Remuseum, an independent research project based in Bentonville, Ark.—supported by entrepreneur David Booth and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art—and I/O Research, a nonprofit affiliated with Indiana University and its Center for Cultural Affairs, conducted the study as part of an initial wave of research aimed at helping museums innovate and meet the considerable challenges they face today, says Stephen Reily, Remuseum’s founding director. ….. read more.
The dawn of the entrepreneurial museum
The Art Newspaper, Julia Halperin , 20 February 2024
With traditional philanthropic models on the wane, US institutions like the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and the Andy Warhol Museum are engaging in unconventional partnerships and launching spin-off businesses
Picture this. You are walking around a water-recycling facility in Ventura, California, admiring its surprisingly forward-thinking public art. On the drive home, you spot an ad for the local symphony on a passing billboard. ….. read more.
![Commercial partnerships: Idea House 3 at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is a store for high-end design, Photo: Rosie Kelly](https://remuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/the-idea-house-3-1024x683.webp)
Commercial partnerships: Idea House 3 at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is a store for high-end design, Photo: Rosie Kelly
A new organisation wants to empower US museums to reallocate resources from objects to people
The Art Newspaper , Claire Voon, 30 June 2023
Remuseum, launched by the Crystal Bridges Museum with support from the Ford Foundation, has appointed Stephen Reily as its founding director
Three years on from the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought systemic issues in US museums into sharp relief, how much has really changed in the museum field is up for debate … read more
![Early American art galleries at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art](https://remuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/crystal-bridges-1024x682.webp)
Early American art galleries at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art