Why On Earth Am I Looking At This?

Most Museums Have Trouble Connecting To the Public. Maybe It's Time For Some New Ideas.

I recall during my time with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago watching the lines of people forming on Michigan Avenue, rain or shine, to visit one of the greatest art collections on the planet. I was always uplifted by the crowds, but I also worried for these earnest visitors, knowing most of them were underprepared for their pending encounter with the visual arts. Those concerns would be substantiated when I saw those same ticket holders soldiering through the galleries and paying minimal attention to the exhibits prepared …