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British museums weigh the cost of repatriating exhibits

Apr 11, 2023
Demands are growing for the return of artifacts looted or otherwise acquired during the period of the British Empire.
Museum-goers walk around the Parthenon Galleries at the British Museum. The "Elgin Marbles" may soon be returned to Greece to settle a dispute over the artifacts.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Tracing the history of electronics through the Old Calculator Web Museum

"The first digital use of the transistor for consumers was in a calculator," says Rick Bensene, curator of the Old Calculator Web Museum.
Back in the 1970s, the first microprocessors and transistor technology were breaking ground in calculators.
MarioGuti via Getty Images

Florida cultural institutions are recovering from Hurricane Ian alongside homes and businesses

Nov 7, 2022
Damage along Florida's southwest coast includes museums and theaters that plan to rebuild.
The Venice Theatre suffered major damage from Hurricane Ian's winds and heavy rain, leaving collapsed walls and flooding in the main stage area at the rear of the building, which was built in 1926.
Mitchell Hartman/Marketplace

Are there any financial upsides to museums not charging entry fees?

Oct 10, 2022
Getting rid of an entry fee can save money on staffing and equipment to process the charge.
The Orange County Museum of Art on Sept. 28, 2022 in Costa Mesa, California.
Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

Museums need to innovate to make it through the next 2 years

Feb 21, 2022
Museums don’t expect to see pre-pandemic attendance levels until 2024. For many, going online expanded audiences but not revenue.
Uncertainty about the future is common among museum administrators. Above, visitors examine artwork at Los Angeles' Getty Center in May.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

The barter economy behind major art museums

Oct 28, 2019
The Louvre spent 10 years negotiating with other museums to mount the largest Leonardo da Vinci exhibit ever. Here's a look inside the process.
People take pictures of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Virgin and Child With Saint Anne" at the opening of the Louvre's exhibition in Paris on Oct. 22.
Francois Guillot/AFP via Getty Images

Atlanta museum charts computers' evolution over time

Aug 23, 2019
The Computer Museum of America features massive supercomputers, an evolutionary timeline of computing and a tribute to tech that got us to space.
One of the earliest known computers, a Datapoint 2200, sits in a glass case at the Computer Museum of America.
Stephen Fowler/Georgia Public Broadcasting

For public good, not for profit.

A new museum of economic theory for Paris

Jul 9, 2019
Art, sculpture ... economic theory? The Central Bank of France is behind the capital's latest museum.
One of the exhibitions at Citéco.
ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images

Rockefeller auction at Christie's expected to bring in $500 million or more for charity

May 1, 2018
The items at the auction include everything from David Rockefeller’s gold cuff links to Picasso paintings that were once owned by writer Gertrude Stein.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Will the Met Museum's new ticket policy change its audience? Probably not.

Feb 13, 2018
Data shows a decision to visit a museum is more often a question of lifestyle than of finances.
People congregate at the entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) on March 1, 2017 in New York City. 
Spencer Platt/Getty Images