Blandfords Article On The Modern Wing Of The Art Institute Of Chicago

Overall, it’s not like being a tourist is bad in the first place. Without tourism, the Art Institute wouldn’t exist. It’s not like the museums could survive on artists alone, considering none of the artists I know go to the museum in the first place. If Falk is correct in saying that museums visitors have some kind of interest in the museum they are visiting. I see this as true because who would pay 25$ to go to the Art Institute if they we’re interested, at least a little, in art? Especially when a tourist could go to the Field Museum or Shed for less money. This leads me into my next topic: how the Art Institute of Chicago benefits the city of Chicago.
I never really thought of how museums would benefit a city until I read the following two

Blandford talks about when creating the Modern Wing of the Art Institute, the community helped fund it, the creators found ways to help tie it to the parks, and overall brought more attention to Chicago by making it the world's best art museum. “Chicago’s tradition of strong civic leadership was central to the fundraising strategy for the Modern Wing…. the campaign capitalized on the city’s legacy of civic pride and commitment to cultural institutions” (Blanford 61). The Art Institute gained over $50 million in donations to help create the building. This wouldn’t have happened if Chicago citizens didn’t care. Basically this article opened my eyes into realizing that the city can end up benefitting the Art Institute in more ways then just bringing tourism

“Providing students with educational opportunities is one of the key functions of art museums. This function has clearly been recognized as a key objective of the Art Institute in its mission, i.e., "to assemble a diverse body of intelligent and creative students and faculty in an environment designed to facilitate and encourage the discovery and production of significant idea and images” (Nikolaeva 73). This just talks about students in general, because it’s important for all kinds of students to know the importance of art. Without it, a part of culture would be missing from their lives. Along with talking about how art museums benefit students, Nikolaeva also talks about the Art Institute serves as a resource for artists. “...both those who are already familiar with art and those for whom art is a new experience, is an important activity of many art museums.…. Local artists can be a good resource for cooperative marketing programs of the AIC to increase the gen­eral membership by demonstrating their contribution to enriching the cultural reputation of the Chicago community” (Nikolaeva 74). Bringing together why art culture is important to students, and how the Art Institute can support local artists are two things Columbia students should recognize when thinking about how the museum can benefit