Nina Simon presented many examples of how the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History have invited their guests to participate in art. The first question I asked was, “How do they save everything that visitors create?” This raises a larger question about what content is worth saving because is everything is important, nothing ends up being important. The bathroom stall example she presented was interesting as I was thinking about this question because the “better” one used post-it notes, a very temporary medium, while the “worse” one used Sharpies on metal, a much more permanent solution. Why did people react in a ruder way when they were given this permanent solution? What did the museum end up doing with all the mason jars that their visitors created? The museum can’t possibly respond to all the suggestions that their guests leave, so how do they still make people feel included?

I read the Lascaux cave article right after Simon’s, and the contrast was stark. At first, I was glad to see that many people were still happy to visit the replicas. After all, Simon had stressed how it is the connection between participants that matters the most, not having the original content. But then, the Lascaux IV design team went to such great lengths to decide on the slope of the floor. To me, this was a debate about accessibility versus authenticity. Ultimately, there was compromise, but I can only imagine how many person hours went into this decision! I imagine if Simon’s team were deciding this, they would take even more liberties to make the caves more accessible and approachable. Still, it is quite impressive the operation they run at Lascaux IV with nearly half a million visitors each year in tight spaces.

“Museums at 2040” started with a line that struck me. “Museums are now libraries, libraries are now schools, and teachers are now museum administrators.” These three different institutions—libraries, schools, and museums—are all reinventing themselves. At a high level, they have similar missions, yet they are competing for patrons’ attentions. Who is the right institution to tackle our new challenges.