AIMS and Methods in Museum Education

Abstract

The observation has been made by European experts in the field1 that the emphasis on social responsibility which has been so strong a factor in American museum policy, is a peculiarly native development and as such has been an export item,2 one which, it is reasonable to add, may be delivered in greater amounts to Europe when continental museums are once again able to resume full operation. All this implies a kind of international leadership of intention and, in some respects, of performance. At home we have already “sold” a sizeable segment of our own public on the desirability of museum attendance, presenting them not with fine art alone but the seven arts. By common consent, however, museum administrators recognize that, having attracted to themselves large audiences, it is easy enough to present a concert, film or dance program, but so far as the fine arts are concerned there is little assurance that the right thing is being done by the public. At least half the wanderers through galleries are merely passing the time or gazing out of idle curiosity and they remain only vaguely impressed. It would be well for museum administrators to take inventory of this domestic and export stock-in-trade and check to see how the commodity now so widely used can be improved.