10 Things Museums Won't Tell You

1. "We can't handle a crowd."

American museums will greet some 850 million visitors this year; that's more than the turnout for major-league sporting events and theme parks combined, according to the American Association of Museums. Among the major institutions, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History brought in 7.1 million visitors in 2007, up nearly 27 percent since 2005, while the Museum of Modern Art in New York saw 2.2 million visitors in 2007, a 26 percent increase from 2005. But big crowds can lead to big problems.

Bruce Altshuler, director of New York University's program in museum studies, says it's becoming more difficult to find that quiet, contemplative experience people associate with a museum trip. "Many museums are too crowded to provide a certain kind of aesthetic experience," he says. At special exhibitions in particular, it's often so packed that it's hard to see what's on display, leading frustrated visitors to skip parts of the exhibit. Large crowds also lead to safety and security issues. Museums are especially concerned about having to evacuate visitors quickly in the event of an emergency, says Steve Keller, who runs a Florida-based security firm that specializes in museums.

2. "When we say our admission fee is optional, we don't mean it."

Only 35 percent of museums are free. Most ask for a "suggested donation," while a small percentage, like the Museum of Modern Art, have a set mandatory admission ($20 for adults at MoMA). But good luck telling the difference. Museums are making it increasingly difficult for visitors to decipher whether an admission fee is optional. At New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where a donation is suggested, a sign seems to imply there's an admission fee: "Free Admission if You Become a Member Today!" (A Met spokesperson says the sign causes no confusion for visitors.) "What museums are saying is, 'We want you to pay,'" says Stephanie Weaver, a museum consultant. "But they don't want to turn you away if you don't."

So what's the etiquette for entry? With government funding slipping, now's a good time to pay the full suggested donation. If money is tight, check to see if the museum offers reduced admission or free entry on certain days. Balboa Park's museums in San Diego take turns offering free admission on Tuesdays, and New York's MoMA is free on Fridays as long as you arrive after 4 p.m.

3. "We sometimes display stolen goods."

Museums rank just behind libraries as a trusted source of information, according to a recent survey by the University of North Carolina and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. But some museums are grappling with a credibility issue: the true ownership of their art. Thousands of artworks seized by the Nazis have ended up in American museums. "Sometimes museums will wonder, 'Is this stolen art from the Nazis?' But they'll never come out and say that," says Franklin Feldman, head of the law advisory council for the International Foundation for Art Research.

David Gill, an archaeologist at Swansea University in Wales, says many antiquities that can't be traced are presumed stolen. Countries like Italy, Greece and Egypt are asking museums to return artifacts if their ownership history can't be tracked prior to 1970. Gill says that in the pastyear, about 100 objects were sent back to Italy from museums in the U.S. Sharon Flescher, executive director of International Foundation for Art Research, says museums are "working hard to research their collections to find relevant gaps in the history of ownership."

4. "High culture sure ain't what it used to be."

For years museums have been rolling out special exhibits designed to draw large crowds — and revenue. But today's blockbusters sometimes take hype to a new level. A recent traveling Star Wars exhibit showcased set props from all six films, and Giorgio Armani sponsored a show at the Met called "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy." Tickets can go for $30 or more, and big PR firms and corporate sponsors are joining the party. Companies like Premier Exhibitions, designer of traveling show "Bodies," are partnering with Ticketmaster to sell tickets. (Hello, surcharge!) Museums are even tapping into online sites like YouTube and Facebook to spread the word to younger audiences. High-profile exhibits help attract a broader array of visitors, but these blockbusters aren't always smash hits with the art community. Indeed, some people think the museums are simply selling out to popular culture. "Blockbusters respond so heavily to theperception of what people want to see that they inhibit a museum from exploring other topics," says Elizabeth Rodini, associate director of the Program in Museums and Society at Johns Hopkins University.

5. "Even you are on exhibit here."

Ever have the feeling you're being watched as you stare admiringly at a piece of art? You may be right. Market research and visitor studies are thriving in museums, with staffers noting things like how much time you spend in a given room. At the Exploratorium in San Francisco, a science and art museum, a team of staff "evaluators" follow visitors around and indicate on a map where they stop, what they observe and how they react. Other researchers might categorize you by personality type — "experience seekers" are just there for a good time, while "spiritual pilgrims" seek refuge from the daily grind, according to Weaver, the museum consultant.

Why all this Big Brother-style observation? In part it's to make museums more consumer-friendly. So if you think the new DNA Discovery Center at the Field Museum in Chicago is a bit elementary, you can thank your peers. Through visitor surveys, exhibit evaluators discovered that few people really understood DNA or genetics. So the museum decided to bring the difficulty level of its exhibit down a couple of notches. "We like to make sure that we're not just speaking to ourselves," says Todd Tubutis, project director for the exhibition.