Overview

Stephen E. Weil has long been considered one of the museum community's most insightful (and frequently wittiest) commentators. In this volume of 29 essays, his overarching concern is that museums be able to ""earn their keep"" - that they make themselves matter - in an environment of potentially shrinking resources. Museums matter, according to Weil, when their staff's traditional object-related skills are directed towards enriching both the individual lives and the general well-being of the communities they serve. What makes museums so special, he says, is the varied ways in which they may choose to perform that service. Museums have the potential to kindle individual ambition, to strengthen community ties, to stimulate inquiry, to impart knowledge, to provide aesthetic experiences, and more. Also included in this collection are reflections on the special qualities of art museums, an investigation into the relationship of current copyright law to the visual arts, a detailed consideration of how the museums and legal system of the United States have coped with the problem of Nazi-era art, and a series of provocative training exercises for those anticipating entry into the museum field. The publication of these essays in one volume ensures that even those previously published in highly specialized journals will get the wide exposure they surely deserve.

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9781588340009

Table of Contents

Reviews

An outstanding selection of informed and informative essays about the difference that museums make, their role in preserving and showcasing history and art to the public, cost-related problems plaguing museums today, and a great deal more. Enthusiastically recommended as a most thoughtful and authoritative treatise on these notable and noble institutions. --Midwest Book Review Mr. Weil's work will assist us all to understand that even our most enlightened assumptions require daily visits if they are to be fresh. And, it seems clear to me after experiencing this collection, such visits must not be paid alone, but in groups of colleagues from across every museum stratum. --Curator: The Museum Journal.. .Must-read for museum professionals, supporters, and funding sources, and [it] will certainly be relevant to anyone interested in the future of museums. --Science

<p> An outstanding selection of informed and informative essays about the difference that museums make, their role in preserving and showcasing history and art to the public, cost-related problems plaguing museums today, and a great deal more. Enthusiastically recommended as a most thoughtful and authoritative treatise on these notable and noble institutions. -- Midwest Book Review

<p> An outstanding selection of informed and informative essays about the difference that museums make, their role in preserving and showcasing history and art to the public, cost-related problems plaguing museums today, and a great deal more. Enthusiastically recommended as a most thoughtful and authoritative treatise on these notable and noble institutions. -- Midwest Book Review <p> Mr. Weil's work will assist us all to understand that even our most enlightened assumptions require daily visits if they are to be fresh. And, it seems clear to me after experiencing this collection, such visits must not be paid alone, but in groups of colleagues from across every museum stratum. -- Curator: The Museum Journal <p>. ..Must-read for museum professionals, supporters, and funding sources, and [it] will certainly be relevant to anyone interested in the future of museums. -- Science <p>

Author Information

Stephen E. Weil has published three books with Smithsonian Institution Press, including A Cabinet of Curiosities: Inquiries into Museums and Their Prospects (1995). Following a forty-year career as an attorney and museum executive, he now serves as the Emeritus Senior Scholar in the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Education and Museum Studies.

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