WHY THE MUSEUM MATTERS

194pp., hardback, d.w., New Haven, 2022

Daniel Weiss on the art museum, the values critical to its history and its evolving place in the future.

“Daniel Weiss’s informed and personal account explores inclusivity, transparency and trust in governance, plurality in universality, and the value of shared knowledge in the public sphere. The book is not only a good read, it should matter to all museums and their communities looking to the future.” Elizabeth Cropper, dean emerita, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art

“Daniel Weiss’s language is accessible, but his ideas are complex, thought provoking, strategic, and encouraging for the museum’s future. In Weiss’s view, the museum should be challenged, but ultimately it is resilient, a reflection of that same attribute in our culture, in our democracy, and, perhaps, also in ourselves.” Courtney J. Martin, Paul Mellon Director, Yale Center for British Art

Daniel Weiss is Homewood Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University and president emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he served from 2015 to 2023. He is the author of In That Time: Michael O’Donnell and the tragic era of Vietnam and Remaking College: Innovation and the liberal arts.