Museums: By the Numbers

Museums show art, and stay afloat by charging viewers. These institutions sell the experience of viewing art, as opposed to galleries, which do not charge for that, but sell the art itself. The National Endowment for the Arts [Link] has finished a study, using U.S. Economic Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). to look at how art is consumed in Museums. Keep in mind that these numbers are probably somewhat askew because it includes all museums, not just art ones.

Here are a few numbers...

Americans spend $6 billion dollars, as of 2009, on museums, $14.5 billion on performing arts events, $10.5 billion on movie theaters and $20 billion on sports venues.

One-half million attend Museums on an average day. On holidays, 885,000. 1.5 million for the performing arts, 3.4 million see movies, and 2.7 million sports.

Museum attendees spend an average of 2 hrs and 24 minutes on a visit. They enter mostly between noon and one PM. For performance arts and sports, this happens between seven and nine PM. 

 

Museums need to be open during night-time hours.


Source: [Link]