Impact Study of Inside|Out for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Client: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation | Location: Miami, FL | Funding: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
We measured the impact and effectiveness of InsideIOut, a national initiative funded by the Knight Foundation that installs high-quality reproductions of museum artworks in outdoor venues across communities for all to enjoy.
OVERVIEW
In 2018, we partnered with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to evaluate the impact of InsideIOut, a five-museum partnership that brings high-quality reproductions of masterpieces from museum collections to outdoor venues. The five partnering museums were Akron Art Museum, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Pérez Art Museum Miami, and Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Based on the success of the original iteration of InsideIOut developed by the Detroit Institute of the Arts, the Knight Foundation wished to scale the initiative throughout other communities in the United States.
APPROACH
The study included two phases–discovery and community data collection–which built on one another:
An initial discovery phase where we visited participating museums to view their collections, interview key project staff, and review relevant program documents
A data collection phase which included interviews with community partners, questionnaires with community members, and case studies (interviews and observations with community members who viewed one of two art installations in each city)
CLIENT TAKEAWAYS
The Knight Foundation learned that the implementation of the program is equally, if not more important, than the goals, however admirable. While our evaluation showed that community members who engaged with the works of art had a positive experience and felt a more favorable impression of their community and the host museum as a result, very few were aware of or stopped to view the works of art overall.
Our evaluation revealed that the lack of community awareness stemmed from partnering museums’ struggle to find concrete connections between their missions and the broad goals of InsideIOut–to increase awareness of the museums, build relationships with communities, and democratize art. Partnering museums also lacked the resources and support to fulfill the ambitious goals of the program, especially since the funding was short-term in nature. A major lesson learned is that a program as ambitious as InsideIOut requires time, ample resources, and authentic connections to mission.
