Warming Up to the Museum: One Sexy Event at a Time
by Courtney Spousta
Picture this: a young, single professional is skimming classified ads in the San Francisco Bay Guardian to find out about upcoming Thursday evening events. “Let’s see . . . There’s a D.J. at Slim’s and a local author reading at the library and. . . . What’s this? ‘Sex, Sake, and Sushi’ at the Asian Art Museum?” The ad promises a “casual and innovative approach to Asian art [with] cocktails, complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a chance to meet others interested in Asian art.” To the young professional, the event sounds interesting, social, and fun.
Organized by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco on Jan. 14, 1999, “Sex, Sake, and Sushi” attracted approximately 1,800 people in their mid-20s and 30s. The museum-sponsored evening of food, alcohol, music, and art was targeted at young adults craving a hip cultural scene in a safe and sophisticated social setting.
This program and others like it are evidence that today’s art museum experience involves more than the traditional viewing of objects. It also is about dining, shopping, relaxing, listening to music, seeing, and being seen. Despite protest from traditionalists, the emergence of new and innovative programming targeted specifically at young single adults, often termed Art After Hours, is transforming the art museum into a venue for meeting and mingling, where the sociability of the place is the impetus for the visit.
In many American cities, art museums are now considered the ideal locale for meeting prospective dates. For the “Best Place to Meet an Artsy Man/Woman,” suggested the Seattle Weekly, “try the Seattle Art Museum.”1
It’s not such a new idea. In the 1972 Woody Allen film, Play It Again, Sam, the protagonist decides to search for romance at the Museum of Modern Art. “What I need is a more intellectual girl,” he muses to himself. At the museum, the character approaches a young woman in deep contemplation before a painting. After an attempt to discuss the art, he asks, “What are you doing Saturday night?” “Committing suicide,” she answers. “How about Friday?” he counters.
In a Feb. 9, 2000 San Francisco Bay Guardian personal ad listed under the “Missed Connections” section, a museum visitor related his own social experience and designs at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA): “You saw me. I saw you at MOMA Cafe 01/16. You’re an attractive brunette, wearing brown top and Levi’s, sitting with bearded friend. I’m a single male, brown hair/eyes, reading paper while trading glances with you. Let’s do something historic.” Much as Woody Allen’s character staked out the museum in hopes of finding a date, this person found and lost a potential mate. In fiction and in real life, the idea of the art museum as a setting for romantic fantasy is repeatedly restated and reinforced to the public.
In American Generations, author Susan Mitchell argues that “perhaps no trend has so dramatically changed the lifestyle of young adults as the rise of singlehood over the past few decades.”2 According to a U.S. Census Bureau report released in August 2005 "Examining American Household Composition: 1990 and 2000," single adult households surged to over 27 million, displacing two-parent families with children as the most common kind of U.S. household. Young adults are postponing marriage much longer than their counterparts in previous decades. These numbers continue to increase and it is estimated that by the year 2010, that figure is expected to grow to more than 34 million, meaning more single adults will be searching for safe places to meet and mingle.
There has been no lack of discussion in the museum profession about the inherent social dimensions of a museum visit. In Planning for People in Museum Exhibitions, Kathleen McLean writes that “entertainment and social interaction make up a large portion of a person’s museum experience.”3 AAM’s Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums asserts that “museums are, or should be, important social and community centers.”4 And John Falk and Lynn Dierking’s groundbreaking book, The Museum Experience, explains that “museums are social settings.”5 None of the authors were probably referring to the singles scene, but it’s a phenomenon that deserves a closer look. Yet art museum professionals seem reluctant to apply terms such as “social scene” and “entertainment” to special events and programs.
In a 1961 museum conference, Daniel Catton Rich expressed his concerns about the museum becoming too popular and consumer driven: “At the pace we are going and the varieties of museums we are inventing, they may soon become the cocktail lounges or drive-ins of our day. 6 And more recently, at the 1997 AAM annual meeting held in Atlanta, Ga., Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Philippe de Montebello voiced his fear of “ the shift in emphasis . . . from the work of art to the museum itself as the primary experience.”7 Both of these concerns are over the art losing its value in the public’s opinion while other museum activities, such as shopping in the bookstore or dining in the café, take precedence over exhibitions: a change in the traditional museum experience.
In conjunction with my master’s thesis, in 2000 I sent a survey to 100 mid-sized, urban art museums across the nation.8 My goal was to learn about the prevalence of young adult programming in art museums and to analyze current trends, issues, and organizational components associated with the events. Twenty questions were posed: six yes-or-no questions, 10 open-ended questions, and four multiple-choice selections. They ranged from the basic—such as “What types of activities are offered?”—to the more complex—“Why is this audience important to your museum?”
Forty-six art museums responded. Eighty percent said they offered programming targeted specifically to younger adults aged 25 to 35. Seventeen of these programs follow a standard after-hours formula: a happy hour or cocktail hour event with live music, appetizers, and assorted activities, including tours, performances, lectures, and films. The frequency of the events differs from museum to museum, but more than half offer a monthly event for young adults. Five art museums offer several events each month. Eighty-six percent serve food and alcohol and present live music. The average age of attendees is 30, with an age range of 25 to 40.
In response to the question “Would you consider these events to be a good place to socialize and meet other people?” all museums but one responded yes. Ten percent went so far as to describe the events as purely social opportunities. At the Brooklyn Museum of Art, “‘First Saturdays’ is frequently cited by the public as a ‘singles’ destination.”9 Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts’ “Fine Arts Mixer” is where “people come expressly for the purpose of meeting others.”10 And Indiana’s Fort Wayne Museum of Art’s event is “seen primarily as a social event [by] many single young adults.”11 Twenty-three museums attributed the social atmosphere to the drinks and music. Five museums found that a concentration of people with similar interests is the catalyst for the elevated social environment.
Eighty-one percent of museums surveyed responded yes to the question, “Is this program changing the general image of the museum?” Seventeen percent of those respondents believe that the events enhanced the public’s perception of the institution. At the Milwaukee Art Museum, after-hours evenings “help to offset some of our [museum’s] perceived elite or stuffy image.”12 The Nevada Museum of Art in Reno believes it now “projects a more ‘hip’ image.”13
As part of my case study research, I surveyed participants at AsiaPop held at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in April, 2000. This evaluation was two-part: I surveyed forty-eight attendees, individually, as they presented their ticket for the event, prior to entering the main hall, and for comparison, I surveyed nineteen attendees as they exited the museum, at the end of their stay. Methods for both the entrance and exit evaluation were identical. The results from this survey revealed that it is the combination of the event’s offerings—the music, food, alcohol, after-work hours, exhibitions, and sociability—that is the main impetus for attending.
The Asian Art Museum’s Art After Hours series has drawn wide attention in the San Francisco Bay Area from museum professionals, the press, and the general public. Its programs, like those at other institutions, are part of an effort to diversify museum audiences and attract new members. Museums no longer want to be just a place to take the kids or out-of-town guests, as the marketing of their after-hours programming reflects.
At the Asian Art Museum’s “Sex, Sake, and Sushi” event, the sex in the title referred, at least literally, to traditional Japanese erotic artwork, known as shunga that were projected onto the museum’s walls, while the sake and sushi were served free of charge. The 1,800 people who attended the one-time Thursday evening event far surpassed the museum’s anticipated audience of several hundred. A Feb. 11, 1999, article in the San Francisco Chronicle titled “Art for the Heart” reported: “It’s singles night at the Asian Art Museum . . . . While patrons share a passing interest in art, they mostly hope to attract one another.” The themed titles of subsequent After Hours included “Body & Soul,” “AsiaPop,” and “China Underground.”
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s (SFMOMA) late-night events for young adults exhibit all the luster and hipness you’d expect from a museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Although the museum’s events are nowhere advertised as raves (underground dance happenings that attract young partners who often enhance the experience by using synthetic drugs), they are commonly referred to as such by the public and press. Likewise, the promotional materials resemble the style of rave flyers, featuring bright, vivid colors and detailed listings of the DJs and sound system equipment.
Initiated in May 1998 and centered around a Keith Haring exhibition, SFMOMA’s dance event, titled “PoP,” drew approximately 2,000 attendees. A more recent program, “Formula,” held on May 19, 2000 attracted about 4,000 people. Both events were planned jointly by the museum and Blasthaus Events, a special events promoter in San Francisco dedicated to electronic and digital arts. In a June 2, 2000, article titled “It’s Party Time at Museums,” The Wall Street Journal highlighted these “raves” and voiced concern that “partying has gotten so popular in some places that educational programming is getting bumped for lack of space.” The Dallas Museum of Art and SFMOMA were cited as having to “rearrange nighttime concerts and lectures because their social calendars have become so booked.”
As a form of audience development, after-hours programming is becoming standard fare across the country, in art museums and other types of institutions, such as Chicago’s John G. Shedd Aquarium, which hosts “Jazzin’ at the Shedd.” From baseball caps and T-shirts sold in museum stores to advertise the programs to prominent promotion of the events on museum Web sites are prime evidence: Art After Hours is popular at institutions across the country and not just at the most cutting-edge, high-budget museums. The similarity in the program designs is uncanny, and the program names often invoke the buzzwords of the targeted age group; for example, “Good Fridays,” “Thank Van Gogh It’s Friday,” “Steel Lounge,” and “X-Night.”
Art museums are not alone in this effort to attract the under-30 crowd. Religious organizations also host evening events targeted toward young, single adults. The San Francisco Jewish Community Center designed special classes and social activities that provide a context for meeting others using the tagline “socializing with spiritual substance.” Sessions have included “The Darth Vader Within: Meeting Our Darker Side,” and “The Five Levels of Pleasure.” A new activity, “Express Dating,” is planned for the future; this will be a conversation-based pair-off to help accelerate the matchmaking process.14
Makor, a Jewish cultural center in New York, combines the lures of a bar, art gallery, cinema, and performance space to attract a young Jewish audience. However, there are no overt attempts at actual matchmaking. As noted by the Jan. 10, 2000 issue of the New Yorker, “The directors of the center, after conducting extensive focus-group research, decided that they’ll attract more Jewish singles if they keep the matchmaking agenda under wraps.” By offering activities and amenities that this audience desires, Makor is attempting to reach the group on its own terms.
The museum profession continues to debate and struggle over the balance between its educational mission and its social and entertainment value. This may be due to the media’s overt depiction of after-hours events as “meat markets,” or it may be that museum staff still insist that the art museum is hallowed ground: part temple, part cultural palace, and part scholarly resource. Anything beyond that may seem to conflict with the core mission. One museum professional said, “I will deny to the day I die that I coordinate a singles event. People have called wanting information on singles events. This is not what we are designing. That happens and that’s fine. But if people were coming here [only] to meet other people, we wouldn’t find them in the galleries or screenings.”15 Still, to advertise an event as a way to meet and mingle with like-minded people and then disown or downplay the singles atmosphere might send mixed messages or seem hypocritical.
The museum profession continues to debate the balance between its educational mission and its social and entertainment value. Meanwhile, Art After Hours programming at some institutions has proved to be much more than an excuse for a party, leading to a new approach to developing adult educational resources and introducing a group of non-traditional museum visitors to the institution. Of course, providing live music and drinks will not automatically turn the audience into avid museum learners, but there are ways to encourage heightened activity and participation. At the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, events usually include a trivia contest, a hands-on art activity, films, gallery tours by curators, and “Rant or Rave”—an opportunity for attendees to voice their opinions about a selected piece of artwork.
Developing an “art adventure group”—a small group of adults that meet on a regular basis to discuss the art with curatorial staff in a casual and inviting atmosphere—is another way of creating a deeper connection to the art. The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., features “Art on a Shoestring,” a monthly workshop for novice collectors of modest income. By introducing programming concepts like these at after-hours events, institutions can deepen the audience’s connection to the museum experience.
Young adult audiences differ from place to place. As such, it probably would be unwise for an art museum to copy the after-hours programming developed at another institution. But inviting a group of young adults into the decision-making process is bound to make a program more relevant to its community’s needs. For example, the Asian Art Museum sends e-mail announcements of upcoming after-hours events to a list of interested and connected people. The names and e-mail addresses are collected through give-aways and drawings. This effective advertising campaign arose from discussions with San Francisco’s young professional community, which is extremely comfortable with and dependent on the Internet.
Across the country, after-hours programs are successfully attracting a young, single adult audience. People are having fun in the museum, looking at art as they socialize with each other. Art After Hours is helping to open the museum doors to a vital and growing community. The museum is proving a hip place to be. And however nontraditional that may be, it presents an opportunity that most institutions will want to explore.
Endnote
Although this article is based on research done at the end of the twentieth century, today we find museums still struggling with the same issues. The provocative titles and themes to after-hours programming continue; yes, sex does sell. As a museum professional, I am motivated by the innovation of creative and new examples of the standard equation. One such program is presented by P.S.1 Moma in Queens, New York. During the summer months, every Saturday from 3 till 9 pm, visitors can enjoy an event entitled Warm Up held in an outdoors area and featuring live performances and DJ sets. And yes, this follows the normal after-hours programming formula. Yet P.S.1 adds a great twist that does meet institutional goals by holding an annual young architects competition with the task of transforming the courtyard of the institution into a scene of summer wonderment with a budget of $60,000. Now in its sixth year, the program continues to draw large crowds and great hype. Both Nokia and Target are contributing sponsors. Now we can ask, how many of the thousands of people in attendance will venture inside to view exhibitions, but I assure you that a percentage will.
Author
Courtney Spousta was the After Hours Program Coordinator at Seattle Art Museum and the Curator of Education at Maryhill Museum of Art. She currently works at the University of Portland as Multicultural Programs Coordinator. The content of this article is based on her master’s project completed at John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA in August, 2000. Her thesis continues to be in high demand and has been purchased by many museums nationally including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Andy Warhol Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts. She looks forward to helping museums garner greater support from the young, single and extremely important audience through consulting work. For further information please contact her at cspousta@yahoo.com.
1. “The Best of Seattle 1993,” Seattle Weekly, June 23, 1993.
2. Susan Mitchell, American Generations (Ithaca, N.Y.: New Strategist Publications, Inc., 1998), 234.
3. Kathleen McLean, Planning for People in Museum Exhibitions (Washington, D.C.: Association of Science and Technology Centers, 1993), 5.
4. Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums (Washington, D.C.: American Association of Museums, 1992), 15.
5. John Falk and Lynn Dierking, The Museum Experience (Washington, D.C.: Whalesback Books, 1992), 53.
6. Daniel Catton Rich, “Museums at the Crossroads,” Museum News 39 (March 1961), 36.
7. Judith Dobrzynski, “Glory Days for the Art Museum,” The New York Times, October 5, 1997, sec. 2.
8. Courtney Spousta, “Culture, Cocktails, Mingling, Meeting: The Phenomenon of Art After Hours Programming” (master’s thesis, John F. Kennedy University, 2000).
9. Survey response by Victoria Quinn, Manager of Visitor Services, Brooklyn Museum of Art.
10. Anonymous survey response.
11. Anonymous survey response.
12. Anonymous survey response.
13. Survey response by Loretta Cooper, Director of Development, Nevada Museum of Art.
14. Lisa Davis, “Schmoozing My Religion: Urban Singles Look for Love Along the Spiritual Path,” San Francisco Weekly, December 29, 1999, 10.
15. Anonymous source.