As many of you may already know, today is the 7th annual Museums Advocacy Day, so we here at Chapman Collections are spreading the word about the importance of museums, galleries, and collections on view to the public.

Not only are museums and galleries totally awesome, super fun places to visit, but they are crucial in fostering children’s education, while also creating jobs, providing tourism, and contributing to economic development, among the many other benefits to their communities.

 

Here are a few facts provided by the American Alliance of Museums:

• Children who visited a museum during kindergarten had higher achievement scores in reading, mathematics and science in third grade than children who did not.

• Museums directly contribute $21 billion to the U.S. economy each year. They generate billions more through indirect spending by their visitors.

• Museum volunteers contribute a million hours of service every week.

• Over 400,000 jobs, covering everything from accountants to zoologists, can be found in museums.

• In determining America’s Best Cities, Businessweek.com placed the greatest weight on “leisure amenities [including density of museums], followed by educational metrics and economic metrics, and then crime and air quality.”

More than 250 museum workers and supporters are on Capitol Hill meeting with members of Congress and their staff to share these facts today, so please join us in helping to spread the word about the importance of museums in American communities.

 

Have you visited Chapman’s various exhibitions and collections lately?  If not, now is a great time to start!  We’re currently featuring temporary exhibitions at the Guggenheim Gallery, XX REDUX- Revisiting a Feminist Art Collective, and Argyros Forum, To Arms: The Western Front, 1914-1918, as well as our stellar permanent collections on view in Beckman Hall, Leatherby Libraries, and all throughout campus.

Join us in celebrating museums and the importance of arts an culture in your community!

 

 

All text and images under copyright. Please contact collections@chapman.edu for permission to use. Information subject to change upon further research.