Quote:
Originally Posted by jaga185
^^^ That's probably why it's struggling, most people may have the same reaction to it... equaled with a bad word of mouth...
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They did have a good exhibit last year;
The African Presence In Mexico: From Yanga to the Present.
It did personally interest me, so others might not have felt the same way about it. However, had it been something else that didn't grab my attention, I probably would have been slightly disappointed in the Museum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tgannaway89
It's sad to see the millions that were pumped into it. It attracts very few visitors, is small, cramped, and off the beaten path. An established museum like ITC could do wonders to draw visitors to that side of downtown.
I debated the need for this on another forum a while back. I think it is too concentrated. Why would anyone care to visit a museum dedicated to Hispanic culture when you can see that free anywhere else in the city. I predict the Briscoe Museum will do well.
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I think your first paragraph describes the reasons why it "is failing/failed." But when you say "why would anyone care to visit a museum... when you can see that free..," I think this can share the same logical answer when asking why people visit any museum, park, or cultural center around the country. Yes we do have alot of visitors here, but Museums is probably very low on the list of things to do when people visit here. I don't think its that people DON'T want to go, I just think that people don't PLAN to go. We've gone over this on other threads but people probably think of Six Flags or Sea World before they think "museums" or "art" in San Antonio. Its a sad fact, and thats another way that the tourism industry has hurt SA. I'm not saying its an overall bad thing, its just that if all the other sectors had the same amount of attention in the last 50 years, we wouldn't be discussing this here on a thread talking about redevelopment of a park DT.
If the Museum can hang on for another 5-10 years, I think it could stand a chance in the long-term. With more interest in the arts locally and SA slowly getting its art reputation up a bit with events like Luminaria, I see the overall Art sector get more of a national and possibly even international draw.
And now it seems as if the
ITC has become a Smithsonian affiliate as well.