Hearty marketing and public relations congratulations are in order for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who report that 5,240,000 people visited the museum and nearly 40 million visited their website this year. From the press release:
Attendance at The Metropolitan Museum of Art reached 5,240,000 visitors during the fiscal year that ends today, June 30, the Museum has announced. This is the first year since 2001 that attendance at the Metropolitan has exceeded five million. The number, which includes attendance at The Cloisters museum and gardens, ranks among the highest in its entire 130-year history.
“We are pleased to announce this landmark attendance figure, which underscores the vibrancy of the Metropolitan Museum’s exhibitions and collections for its audiences from around the world. It also sends a signal about the enduring importance of culture and cultural institutions to the public, especially during this period of recession,” stated the Museum’s Director, Thomas P. Campbell.
More than 30 exhibitions were presented during the past year. Among the most popular with the public were Vermeer’s Masterpiece The Milkmaid (September 10-November 29, 2009), with 329,446 visitors, and three current exhibitions: Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (April 27-August 15, 2010) with 380,574 visitors to date, Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú (April 27-October 31, weather permitting) with 208,313 visitors so far, and American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity (May 5-August 15, 2010) with 175,033 visitors since its opening. Figures for the three current exhibitions reflect attendance as of June 30.
…Other areas of the Museum experienced notable increases as well. Memberships increased to a record high of 138,000 members. Visitation to the Museum’s website (www.metmuseum.org) also increased by 14% to nearly 40 million. The Met’s five million visitors for Fiscal Year 2010 include more than 195,000 school visitors, representing a 50% increase in school groups.
For as long as I can remember, their website has opened with a featured piece of art from the permanent collection. Here’s today’s:
There’s certainly a lesson here for performing arts presenters, orchestras, and artists. Why not have a streaming track of the day on websites? No one is going to come back to a site every day if there’s not new content every day. And with most artist/orchestra/presenter sites, there’s hardly new content every month.
Also, if you don’t already know about it, the museum’s “It’s Time We Met” photo contest is fantastic: http://www.metmuseum.org/metshare/timewemet.
On February 15, we launched “It’s Time We Met,” our first visitor-contributed photography
contest. Hundreds of visitors submitted nearly one thousand photographs taken at
the Museum’s Main Building or at The Cloisters Museum and Gardens depicting how
they’ve shared their Met experience with friends and family.Out of the 999 submissions, the Museum’s panel of judges selected two winnining
photographs (at right), and five runners-up. The photographers received a prize,
and their winning photographs will be used in the “It’s Time We Met” marketing campaign.
I mean…
(photo by paulrosenberg1962 via Flickr)