Operating Support

Weisman Art Museum is an accessible portal into innovative arts experiences that spark discovery, critical thinking, and personal transformation ensuring that people of all ages, ethnicities, and abilities participate in the arts. Outcomes: over 150,000 visitors, artists, scholars, and community organizations that represent the diversity of our community participate in free museum art experiences; and more than 50 community and University partners will participate in collaborative planning and delivery of Weisman Art Museum exhibition, program, and outreach activities that reveal the perspectives of a diverse community. Actual visitorship was much more conservative than originally expected. A natural drop in museum engagement is expected after a major grand reopening but that was not factored into fiscal year 2013 goals. Staff changes, including departures and maternity leaves among education, marketing, and curatorial staff, also heavily impacted our fiscal year 2013 audience goals. And light rail construction continues to impact visitors' perception of our accessibility. Despite this new reality, Weisman Art Museum welcomed more than 178,000 visitors (55,800 onsite and 122,593 online) and met our campus and community collaboration goal with 53 partnerships by yearend. In fiscal year 2013, Weisman Art Museum introduced a new program evaluation process to create a more comprehensive review of activities. Feedback is captured through paper surveys at public programs and electronic surveys sent to audience members and to teachers following events and educational programs. These surveys measure the success of a program through quantifiable and anecdotal visitor experiences, simultaneously creating a profile of our visitors by obtaining demographic information as well as measuring individual participation in the arts community. Internal administrative and operational process evaluations are also completed by staff following all programs. 2: Use the intellectual and creative resources of a great university to advance the goal that Minnesotan's believe the arts are vital to who we are. Outcomes: multiply our ability to extend influence to statewide audiences through support for over 500 Minnesota educators through a combination of topical educator workshops, pre-teacher licensing, University courses, and student scholarships; and facilitate the engagement of over 100 students and community 18-34 year olds in skills related to museum work and the arts through courses, connoisseurship, arts administration, and internships. At midyear, we adjusted our ambitions to reflect the more conservative realities previously mentioned. In addition to directly engaging 37 Minnesota educators, 2,547 email announcements were sent to Weisman educator email subscribers and to the Art Educators of Minnesota listserve. An Artful Writing Workshop announcement was sent to 903 Weisman education subscribers and to 450 Art Educators of Minnesota subscribers. A Summer Teen Architecture Workshop invitation reached 744 Weisman education subscribers and Art Educators of Minnesota subscribers. 450 email subscribers received an invitation to customize their Weisman/classroom experience during fiscal year 2013. Through Weisman Art Museum's new evaluation process, the museum is better able to determine current audiences; establish methods of diversifying and improving visitorship; tailor programs as necessary to fit specific audience interests and needs; and address program flaws and visitor concerns. These approaches allow a more complete view of Weisman visitor experiences, and more accurately highlight opportunities for improvement.