Research Reports
Remuseum publishes original research that uses data to illustrate ways in which museums can maximize their effectiveness in serving the public, with a focus on museum relevance, governance and financial sustainability.
RESEARCH REPORT #2: ACCESS, SCALE & MARKET SHARE
Remuseum’s initial research report, “Museum Missions & Transparency” (published in the spring of 2024), demonstrated a shift in U.S. art museum missions and highlighted the lack of publicly available data about the field.
Given that nearly all U.S. art museums center the public in their mission statements but share limited data about their public impact, Remuseum followed up on that report by building the first nonproprietary database on operations and impact among over 150 major American art museums, one that uses data to illustrate ways in which museums can maximize their effectiveness in serving the public. Focused on 6 key data points, this database was developed using publicly available data, information provided by museums, and a rigorous academic research methodology.
In this report, the Remuseum database serves to present two key metrics: how effectively museums use their resources to generate visits (measured as cost per visitor) and what percentage of the museum’s regional population visits it in a given year (measured as a percentage of the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in which the museum is located).

RESEARCH REPORT #1: Museum Missions and Transparency
Remuseum seeks to expand the universe of data available for both museum leaders and the public to develop a shared understanding of the field. In partnership with I/O, a nonprofit research affiliate of Indiana University’s Center for Cultural Affairs, and advised by a Task Force of museum and philanthropic leaders, Remuseum has commissioned research that will help museums understand themselves better; help the public appreciate and evaluate their work; and make it easier for outsiders to offer ideas to help museums better fulfill those missions and thrive.
Given the current lack of information available about museums, Remuseum will undertake an ongoing series of research reports, hoping that museums will participate by sharing more data with Remuseum and with the public. Ultimately, Remuseum hopes to offer not just a range of data on museums but also an interactive tool for museums to understand how decisions and investments they make will impact their output and performance.
In April 2024 we released our first research report, one that confirms the fact that almost all American art museums center the public in their mission statements, but not yet in the information they share.
