1
00:00:18,616 --> 00:00:22,576
Hi, I want you to indulge me
for just a moment and I want you

2
00:00:22,576 --> 00:00:24,246
to close your eyes and relax.

3
00:00:24,696 --> 00:00:26,106
Sit in your chairs.

4
00:00:26,146 --> 00:00:27,756
And I want you to think

5
00:00:27,756 --> 00:00:30,656
about your earliest memories
of an art museum.

6
00:00:31,206 --> 00:00:33,476
What are the things
that come to your mind?

7
00:00:34,256 --> 00:00:35,593
Is it the building?

8
00:00:35,916 --> 00:00:37,478
Is it the architecture?

9
00:00:37,866 --> 00:00:40,086
Is it the people that you were with?

10
00:00:40,176 --> 00:00:41,720
Is it the objects?

11
00:00:42,047 --> 00:00:44,606
So I want you to keep that
in the back of your mind

12
00:00:44,606 --> 00:00:47,386
as I talk with you today
because we'll come back to it.

13
00:00:47,396 --> 00:00:49,719
But for now, open your eyes.

14
00:00:51,226 --> 00:00:53,076
I first fell in love with art museums

15
00:00:53,076 --> 00:00:54,486
when I was a little girl.

16
00:00:54,626 --> 00:00:56,866
And my father would take
my twin brother and I

17
00:00:56,866 --> 00:01:00,556
to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art
in Kansas City, Missouri,

18
00:01:00,556 --> 00:01:02,286
on the family free days.

19
00:01:02,296 --> 00:01:04,956
And I remember going through the plaza,

20
00:01:04,956 --> 00:01:06,966
sitting in the back of the car.

21
00:01:07,386 --> 00:01:09,326
And he would drive us through

22
00:01:09,326 --> 00:01:11,546
and I would see the sculpture garden.

23
00:01:11,816 --> 00:01:13,396
And I would get so excited

24
00:01:13,396 --> 00:01:15,466
because I knew what was about to happen.

25
00:01:16,246 --> 00:01:19,206
And we would go and as he would
try to find a place to park,

26
00:01:19,266 --> 00:01:21,436
the excitement would well up in me.

27
00:01:22,136 --> 00:01:26,186
And I would see Rodin's "The Thinker"
sitting outside of the museum

28
00:01:26,186 --> 00:01:28,316
with his hand underneath his chin,

29
00:01:28,456 --> 00:01:32,206
his body tense in concentration,
his elbow on his knee.

30
00:01:32,614 --> 00:01:34,434
And we would walk by him

31
00:01:34,596 --> 00:01:36,856
and go underneath these beautiful columns

32
00:01:36,856 --> 00:01:40,946
and these front doors
that just beckoned me in.

33
00:01:40,946 --> 00:01:42,896
And we must have been there quite a bit.

34
00:01:42,896 --> 00:01:44,576
We must have spent some time there

35
00:01:44,576 --> 00:01:46,646
because I remember becoming very familiar

36
00:01:46,646 --> 00:01:48,866
and finding these really beautiful things

37
00:01:48,886 --> 00:01:52,426
that I connected with including
Jan van Huysum's floral still life.

38
00:01:53,126 --> 00:01:55,336
It's a memento mori
called "Vase of Flowers".

39
00:01:55,746 --> 00:01:58,896
And I remember thinking that if
I could stand there long enough,

40
00:01:58,956 --> 00:02:01,326
I could hear the buzzing of the bees

41
00:02:01,486 --> 00:02:03,776
or I could touch the softness
of the petals

42
00:02:03,896 --> 00:02:07,096
or I might even be able to, you know,

43
00:02:07,236 --> 00:02:08,886
smell the flowers themselves.

44
00:02:09,756 --> 00:02:14,086
I also remember the exquisite
beauty of a Caravaggio painting

45
00:02:14,326 --> 00:02:15,576
of St John the Baptist.

46
00:02:15,576 --> 00:02:19,816
And I remember his soft skin
and his hair and his red cloak.

47
00:02:19,816 --> 00:02:23,186
And I remember the cake
of dirt underneath his toenails.

48
00:02:23,186 --> 00:02:24,986
Like these are the things I remember?

49
00:02:25,076 --> 00:02:29,806
And I just think back and can't believe it
because I thought

50
00:02:29,806 --> 00:02:32,626
that they had put
all of these things here just for me.

51
00:02:32,626 --> 00:02:34,036
I was a six year old kid

52
00:02:34,036 --> 00:02:36,266
and they had put them there just for me.

53
00:02:37,046 --> 00:02:40,616
And now, I've spent twenty years
working in art museums

54
00:02:40,616 --> 00:02:42,426
creating opportunities for people

55
00:02:42,426 --> 00:02:46,176
to engage with one another
and with art and with culture.

56
00:02:46,406 --> 00:02:48,366
And I've thought a lot about the reasons

57
00:02:48,366 --> 00:02:50,186
that people love to go to art museums.

58
00:02:50,376 --> 00:02:52,896
And I've also thought
an awful lot about the reasons

59
00:02:52,896 --> 00:02:54,436
that people don't like to go.

60
00:02:54,496 --> 00:02:57,006
And I'm really interested
to see what will happen

61
00:02:57,006 --> 00:02:59,176
with art museums
in the twenty first century.

62
00:03:00,336 --> 00:03:02,136
Now I have a quiz for you.

63
00:03:02,646 --> 00:03:04,846
Museums in the United States
are often compared

64
00:03:04,846 --> 00:03:06,676
to two other kinds of institutions;

65
00:03:06,886 --> 00:03:08,416
can anybody guess what they are?

66
00:03:08,486 --> 00:03:10,521
Just shout it out.

67
00:03:12,336 --> 00:03:13,566
Audience: Banks.

68
00:03:13,566 --> 00:03:17,396
Dana Kletchka: Banks, okay,
well that makes sense, anything else?

69
00:03:17,566 --> 00:03:19,336
Audience: Libraries.

70
00:03:19,336 --> 00:03:21,746
DK: Libraries, okay we have
churches and libraries.

71
00:03:23,376 --> 00:03:24,886
And this makes a lot of sense.

72
00:03:25,476 --> 00:03:28,836
All three of them
are repositories of culture.

73
00:03:28,836 --> 00:03:31,186
They all have very specific locations.

74
00:03:31,186 --> 00:03:34,946
They all have inspiration
and knowledge that we're seeking.

75
00:03:36,276 --> 00:03:39,646
They represent the richness
of our culture intellectually,

76
00:03:39,876 --> 00:03:41,636
spiritually, and creatively.

77
00:03:41,986 --> 00:03:45,786
But for an awful lot of people,
they are places of boredom

78
00:03:46,196 --> 00:03:49,606
and stillness and quiet, right?

79
00:03:49,936 --> 00:03:51,276
We all know the rules.

80
00:03:51,466 --> 00:03:52,761
No talking.

81
00:03:53,056 --> 00:03:54,259
No touching.

82
00:03:54,416 --> 00:03:55,745
No food or drink.

83
00:03:56,026 --> 00:03:57,066
No photography.

84
00:03:57,066 --> 00:03:59,006
I could go on, but I won't.

85
00:04:00,022 --> 00:04:02,666
And these rules are there
for a reason, right?

86
00:04:02,666 --> 00:04:04,126
To keep things safe, you know,

87
00:04:04,126 --> 00:04:06,166
you've got to have things all ready to go.

88
00:04:06,666 --> 00:04:11,086
However, they also tend to alienate people

89
00:04:11,606 --> 00:04:13,016
and that also makes sense.

90
00:04:13,016 --> 00:04:17,396
Even in the United States,
art museums are the repositories

91
00:04:17,396 --> 00:04:20,486
of culture that are descended
from kings and queens.

92
00:04:20,776 --> 00:04:23,846
They are housed in these
intellectual spaces

93
00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:26,814
and in these incredible
architectural buildings.

94
00:04:27,006 --> 00:04:30,636
They represent experiences
that most of us can only dream of.

95
00:04:31,296 --> 00:04:35,806
They are representative
of the power of community

96
00:04:36,106 --> 00:04:37,566
and of countries even.

97
00:04:38,106 --> 00:04:40,966
So it's no wonder to me
that a lot of people find museums

98
00:04:41,036 --> 00:04:45,096
to be boring and elitist
and perhaps even unnecessary.

99
00:04:45,776 --> 00:04:49,726
But I'm here to argue that art museums
cannot exist without you

100
00:04:49,726 --> 00:04:51,306
in their current iteration.

101
00:04:51,536 --> 00:04:53,776
And I would say that
because we live in a world

102
00:04:53,776 --> 00:04:56,706
where people are driven
to seek new experiences,

103
00:04:56,706 --> 00:05:00,506
to find out new information,
and to connect with one another,

104
00:05:01,486 --> 00:05:03,996
that you cannot exist without art museums.

105
00:05:04,896 --> 00:05:07,116
Now, the National Endowment for the Arts

106
00:05:07,116 --> 00:05:09,160
came out with a study a few years ago.

107
00:05:09,256 --> 00:05:13,376
And it basically said
that participation in the arts

108
00:05:13,376 --> 00:05:15,946
is down dramatically
over the last twenty years,

109
00:05:16,196 --> 00:05:17,506
whether it's ballets

110
00:05:17,506 --> 00:05:20,116
or orchestra concerts or exhibitions.

111
00:05:20,386 --> 00:05:23,076
People are not walking
and getting their behinds in seats

112
00:05:23,076 --> 00:05:25,246
and they're not walking
through the galleries.

113
00:05:25,246 --> 00:05:27,396
And on one hand that's really distressing.

114
00:05:27,456 --> 00:05:29,586
But on the other hand,
we kind of know why.

115
00:05:29,776 --> 00:05:31,506
There are people who have said

116
00:05:31,796 --> 00:05:34,136
that even though they
aren't going to these kinds

117
00:05:34,136 --> 00:05:36,526
of cultural things
they would otherwise like to go

118
00:05:36,526 --> 00:05:38,256
and they gave three big reasons.

119
00:05:38,256 --> 00:05:39,828
And the first one is time.

120
00:05:40,306 --> 00:05:43,956
We don't have enough time
to do the things that we need to do

121
00:05:43,956 --> 00:05:46,456
much less the things that we want to do.

122
00:05:46,716 --> 00:05:49,626
And there are some people
that even more it's difficult

123
00:05:49,626 --> 00:05:51,926
for them to find
the transportation to get there

124
00:05:51,926 --> 00:05:53,396
or find a way to get there.

125
00:05:53,596 --> 00:05:56,366
A second thing - and if you have
young kids you know

126
00:05:56,366 --> 00:05:57,472
what I'm talking about.

127
00:05:57,546 --> 00:06:01,776
If you have kids under the age of six,
it is very difficult

128
00:06:01,836 --> 00:06:04,956
for you to find the time
to get your kids, get them ready,

129
00:06:04,956 --> 00:06:07,226
put them in the car,
schlep them over there,

130
00:06:07,246 --> 00:06:10,066
and then once you get there
there's nothing for them to do.

131
00:06:10,983 --> 00:06:13,936
And I know that as a parent
I am not going to go through that

132
00:06:13,936 --> 00:06:17,536
because I don't want to hear
the whining once we get there, right?

133
00:06:17,546 --> 00:06:20,516
And the third reason that people
are who would otherwise

134
00:06:20,516 --> 00:06:23,136
want to engage with culture,
the reason that they're not

135
00:06:23,136 --> 00:06:26,256
is because of social experiences
and the lack thereof.

136
00:06:26,726 --> 00:06:29,066
And for me this
is the most poignant reason.

137
00:06:29,336 --> 00:06:31,816
They don't want to go
to these things alone.

138
00:06:32,556 --> 00:06:36,326
Even in situations where
money is a difficulty,

139
00:06:36,416 --> 00:06:38,316
that's something that can be overcome.

140
00:06:38,506 --> 00:06:41,526
But the social part
of not being with anybody

141
00:06:41,526 --> 00:06:44,176
is not something people want to overcome.

142
00:06:44,176 --> 00:06:46,986
So I'm not going to do that yet.

143
00:06:47,236 --> 00:06:49,836
Okay so the National Endowment
for the Arts

144
00:06:49,836 --> 00:06:51,936
also had another study that came out,

145
00:06:51,936 --> 00:06:53,736
so this is really paradoxical.

146
00:06:54,703 --> 00:06:57,666
They actually said that people
are engaging with culture just

147
00:06:57,666 --> 00:06:59,176
as much as they did before.

148
00:06:59,176 --> 00:07:01,776
And I know you're probably
sitting there thinking

149
00:07:01,776 --> 00:07:04,146
"Dana you just told me
that people aren't going

150
00:07:04,146 --> 00:07:05,746
to art museums, so what's up?"

151
00:07:05,746 --> 00:07:07,326
And what's up is technology.

152
00:07:07,326 --> 00:07:09,486
People are interfacing with technology.

153
00:07:09,486 --> 00:07:11,056
They are downloading podcasts.

154
00:07:11,056 --> 00:07:13,526
They are watching videos of concerts.

155
00:07:13,946 --> 00:07:15,999
They are pulling up Google Art.

156
00:07:16,046 --> 00:07:18,076
They are looking at exhibitions online.

157
00:07:18,086 --> 00:07:20,136
And they are engaging
with culture in a way

158
00:07:20,136 --> 00:07:22,936
that makes the most sense
to them in terms of time,

159
00:07:22,936 --> 00:07:26,436
in terms of space, in terms of safety,
and in terms of cost.

160
00:07:26,976 --> 00:07:31,016
Now, I think that the problem with this

161
00:07:31,016 --> 00:07:34,256
is that it doesn't give people
the kind of experience

162
00:07:34,556 --> 00:07:40,021
that you can get if you go
to a rich, social, interesting place.

163
00:07:41,026 --> 00:07:45,716
There is no replacement
for actually going to a space

164
00:07:46,206 --> 00:07:49,356
and being with other people
and having a relationship with them

165
00:07:49,356 --> 00:07:51,946
and the discussions that can happen.

166
00:07:52,536 --> 00:07:56,336
Art museums occupy
a rich space in our culture

167
00:07:56,476 --> 00:07:57,956
and there's a reason for that.

168
00:07:57,986 --> 00:07:59,856
You can go there and you can see things

169
00:07:59,856 --> 00:08:01,546
that you've never seen before.

170
00:08:01,646 --> 00:08:04,606
You can learn about times
and places and other people

171
00:08:04,606 --> 00:08:06,656
that are otherwise unimaginable.

172
00:08:07,176 --> 00:08:08,446
Museums inspire us.

173
00:08:08,446 --> 00:08:11,296
They help us to think
and they help us to consider our place

174
00:08:11,296 --> 00:08:12,846
in the world, in a world

175
00:08:12,846 --> 00:08:15,846
that I would argue right
now needs a lot of that.

176
00:08:16,376 --> 00:08:19,471
However, you have to go.

177
00:08:20,396 --> 00:08:24,024
You have to be there
in order to experience this.

178
00:08:24,856 --> 00:08:28,186
The NEA study that I initially
told you about actually said

179
00:08:28,186 --> 00:08:31,886
that the main reason people go
to museums is because they want

180
00:08:31,886 --> 00:08:34,466
to spend time with friends
and family and they want

181
00:08:34,466 --> 00:08:37,546
to learn something new
but you can't do it unless you go.

182
00:08:39,256 --> 00:08:41,996
Right now you can look up
anything you want online.

183
00:08:42,635 --> 00:08:45,766
There is no shortage
of the information that you can find

184
00:08:46,236 --> 00:08:50,446
on artists and paintings
and sculptures and exhibitions.

185
00:08:51,066 --> 00:08:54,386
But you can't experience it
unless you are there physically

186
00:08:54,386 --> 00:08:55,696
in person.

187
00:08:56,187 --> 00:08:58,186
I want to make sure that everybody knows

188
00:08:58,186 --> 00:08:59,916
that I'm not a luddite.

189
00:08:59,916 --> 00:09:03,456
I am just as addicted to my iPhone
as everybody else in this room -

190
00:09:03,456 --> 00:09:06,958
and I know some of you in this room, 
so you know what I'm talking about.

191
00:09:06,958 --> 00:09:09,676
And I really think
that there are some amazing things

192
00:09:09,676 --> 00:09:12,386
that museums are doing
with technology right now in terms

193
00:09:12,386 --> 00:09:13,726
of educational engagement.

194
00:09:13,726 --> 00:09:14,696
It's working.

195
00:09:14,696 --> 00:09:18,696
However, I want you to go back
to your original thought

196
00:09:20,106 --> 00:09:22,846
about being in a museum that I asked you

197
00:09:22,846 --> 00:09:24,767
to conjure earlier today.

198
00:09:25,226 --> 00:09:28,736
I am willing to bet
that that thought does not include

199
00:09:28,736 --> 00:09:31,286
interfacing with a screen.

200
00:09:32,636 --> 00:09:36,446
Right now, art museums
are doing a million different things

201
00:09:36,826 --> 00:09:41,346
to bring you in, whether it's K-12 tours

202
00:09:41,566 --> 00:09:43,406
or university experiences,

203
00:09:43,706 --> 00:09:47,676
whether it's musical performances
or poetry readings.

204
00:09:47,946 --> 00:09:51,846
Sometimes we have little kids
coming in with Pre-K groups

205
00:09:51,846 --> 00:09:53,596
and reading groups and visits.

206
00:09:54,306 --> 00:09:56,416
And all of these require you.

207
00:09:57,676 --> 00:10:01,796
Your thoughts, your ideas,
your understandings of the world,

208
00:10:01,986 --> 00:10:06,146
your friends and your family
all belong in an art museum.

209
00:10:08,366 --> 00:10:14,371
And if a six year old girl
from Kansas can be so inspired to go

210
00:10:15,296 --> 00:10:19,236
into this grand museum
and the things that I see can inspire me

211
00:10:19,236 --> 00:10:22,016
to want to work in an art museum
for the rest of my life,

212
00:10:22,796 --> 00:10:25,016
just think about the experiences

213
00:10:25,016 --> 00:10:27,476
that you can have in an art museum.

214
00:10:28,406 --> 00:10:29,830
Thank you.

215
00:10:29,830 --> 00:10:31,427
(Applause)