Beyond the Exit: MoMA Design Store & the Extended Museum Experience
Wershbale, Anna C.
Wershbale, Anna C.
Abstract
American art museum attendance soared following World War II as museums became popular education and entertainment destinations for the growing middle class. Shaped by the influence of 1980s Reaganomics and the effects of neoliberal funding policies, museum shops developed from small information desk ventures into a vital source of public relevance and financial sustainability. When given creative liberty and economic attention, the now standardized amenity presented the opportunity to sell institutional ethos. In light of neoliberal capitalism’s tendency to construe value primarily in economic terms, shops reveal how the art museum strategically assigns new meaning to its collection, mission, and cultural function. My thesis examines the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Design Store, which opened in 1989, as a unique case study of commercial innovation centered around the valuation of art history. This study critically analyzes four distinct elements of MoMA’s retail endeavor: period context, branding, spatial organization, and product offerings in relation to the museum's curatorial strategy of collecting and exhibiting “good design,” as well as emerging concerns of authenticity and sustainability in art. The Design Store’s mission promises an extended museum experience beyond the exit. The store’s evolution demonstrates art museums’ potential to meet shifting public demands for enjoyable experiences that are educational, ethical, and revenue-generating.
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2024-04-01
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Art and Art History