This study offers a series of profiles of the audience for American art museums and galleries based on analysis of data from the 1985 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts.

"A great number of museums are characterized by a low number of visits; therefore, in order to become sustainable, museums should pay attention to audience and its internal diversity. In this way, a cultural site can plan tailored strategies to increase the number of visits and re-visits and to achieve community support. For this reason it is necessary to understand the cultural needs of visitors, acquiring appropriate monitoring tools, such as qualitative and quantitative ones."

Early childhood is noted "as 'the golden age of creativity'" and children have the capacity to "use art as a vehicle for conveying ideas. Armed with their experiences of making art, young children enter museums with a sense of wonder, a playful attitude, strong sensory awareness, developing aesthetic sensitivity, wilingness to explore, basic knowledge of art elements, and some personal preferences about what they like or dislike about art." These are what should be nourished when children visit the art museum.

"Traditionally, museums have been visual - ‘Do Not Touch’ - spaces. However, interactive and multisensory media are increasingly being used to help pursue wider democratic goals of appealing to new and more diverse audiences."

"This past summer, Caroline Perkins was on a mission: to comparatively study art museum adult education programs. She was looking for the best ways that museums can “convey art historical content in an engaging manner.” What she found are some profound insights into what works — and doesn’t work — in art museum programming."

Technology is a powerful tool for cultivating community, and the merging of social and tech in museums is occurring more and more frequently. Here are 41 examples of museums building social capital through social media and technological endeavors.

"On average, most visitors spend under $8 per museum visit, including the cost of admission and any ancillary purchases in museum shops and restaurants..."

How do visitors to fine art museums experience exhibitions? Can we classify their experiences? What are the factors that drive different types of visitor experience? We set out to answer these questions by analyzing from sociological, psychological, physiological, and behavioral perspectives the responses of 576 visitors to a special exhibition..."