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Looking
outward, looking forward
Carnegie
Museums plans to expand to better serve audiences
For the past decade,
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh has been very conscientiously redefining
itself. We began by looking
outward, to our many and diverse audiences, to see what they expected from
us. Then we worked to meet their
expectations. We tailored the
missions of our museums to reflect what we had learned about our audiences
and ourselves, and we developed programs and services to fulfill those
missions.
Here are just a few
examples of our new, more “audience-centric” approach. Carnegie Museum of Art now regularly
mounts major exhibitions of international importance, such as Aluminum by Design and Light!. The Museum of Art stayed open late on Thursdays to
accommodate visitors during Light!’s
popular run. Carnegie Museum of
Natural History opened the doors to its Africa!
exhibition to every seventh-grader in the Pittsburgh Public Schools
system. The Andy Warhol Museum is
now open six days a week and also has later evening hours. On Friday nights, The Warhol welcomes
visitors for free to its galleries.
Carnegie Science Center recently began staying open later on weekends
to give teens a fun and safe place to congregate.
By embracing the needs
and wants of our diverse audiences, we have increased attendance every year
for the past five years. We now
reach 1.6 people annually—more people than ever before in Carnegie Museums
of Pittsburgh’s history. Now it is
time for our buildings and facilities to catch up with our efforts. We want them to be as approachable as
our employees, exhibitions, and programs have become. We want our buildings to reach out and
welcome people. Once inside, we
want people to move with ease through our galleries as well as through our
cafes, gift shops, classrooms, and restrooms. We want enough space to show the types of special exhibitions
that our audiences have told us they want to see. In short, we want all of our visitors to
enjoy their experiences at our museums to the fullest.
We already have made
progress. Most of our cafes have
been refurbished and have added more variety to their menus. One of our stores—at Carnegie Science Center—has
been remodeled, and we plan to remodel the others. We have been updating signs and other
“way-finding” devices to help visitors navigate more easily through the
museums.
Many more exciting
changes are in the works for our facilities in Oakland and the North
Shore. Here is just a preview of
our plans.
First, we plan to build
a joint visitor service center for Carnegie Museum of Art and Carnegie
Museum of Natural History. We
intend for the center to be a landmark that does its part to reestablish
Oakland as the cultural and educational heart of the city. The center will include a distinctive
main entrance on Forbes Avenue and a foyer that passersby can see into and
that provides quick access to either museum. The center also will include new amenities for individuals
and groups.
At Carnegie Museum of
Natural History, we are planning to renovate our venerable Dinosaur
Hall. The hall is already ranked
among the best dinosaur halls in the world by the Discovery Channel and is
home to many original finds, including an actual T. rex skeleton. The
renovated hall will reflect the latest findings of our renowned scientists
and include even more of our vast collection, supporting the museum’s
mission to use its knowledge and collections to engage people in an
integrative understanding of the Earth.
At Carnegie Museum of
Art, some of the galleries will receive necessary repairs. Otherwise, we will focus on increasing
support for the Museum of Art so that it can continue to host major
exhibitions such as Aluminum by
Design and Light! that
fulfill its mission of presenting and collecting exceptional works of art.
And, of course, you
already know of our plans to redesign Carnegie Science Center. The Science
Center will soon make its final selection of the architect who will design
its new building. The building will
not only be an icon of the revitalized North Shore, but will also help the
Science Center fulfill its mission to promote science and technology literacy
among the region’s youth by offering approximately 80 percent more space
for exhibits. Plans for the
additional space include an exhibit called CyberCity that celebrates Pittsburgh’s international stature in
the high technology community.
The Andy Warhol Museum
may seem a little new for major renovations. However, in its seven years of existence The Warhol has
evolved from a single-artist museum into a diverse forum for the arts,
politics, and community-based activities.
To suit its expanded identity, we are exploring options for a
possible expansion of The Warhol’s facilities so that audiences can enjoy
even more performance art and community activities at the place whose
mission is to be “more than a museum.”
All of these plans
demonstrate our ongoing commitment to our vision at Carnegie Museums of
Pittsburgh: to set national standards for engaging our audiences, integrate
into our community, and promote our region. CARNEGIE magazine will keep readers informed of our progress
over the coming years.
Ellsworth H. Brown
President, Carnegie
Museums of Pittsburgh
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