We spent a little time talking about the subject of the painting, and then got a lot of history about how the National Gallery acquired it.
From there we did a group, hands-in cheer of “Mu-seum!” (down on the mu up on the seum) and then took off from there to the crown jewel of the collection. From the get-go, our tour guide told us that art history, composition, symbolism and all that are really interesting, but that if that’s what we wanted, we should buy a book, because that’s not what she was going to talk about. The Museum Hack tour was like and not-like any museum tour I’ve ever been on. JMMers are ready and rarin’ to go on our Museum Hack adventure! I suggested that we take the whole staff to a Hack Tour of the National Gallery-the closest Museum Hack location. When I got back to Baltimore I told my colleagues about it. Still, it was clear to me that this kooky guy was on to something. Gray was only able to say something like “we’re working on it” to the conference attendee who asked him about how very white and mostly male his staff seemed to be. At a meeting whose theme was about the importance of inclusiveness and accessibility, the $90 – $150 per person price tag of Museum Hack tours definitely gave folks pause. The Museum Hack motto takes no prisoners and its bright colors are pretty indicative of the exciting and invigorating experience JMMers were about to have.
The ballroom was full of museum professionals on the edge of their seats. He reported meteoric growth of his crazy idea (from hobby tours for his friends 5 years ago to a multi-million-dollar business today). Gray’s address at MAAM was full of passion for museums and art. I had heard of the company before, but this was my first in-depth view of what this irreverent organization (their motto is “Museums are F***ing Awesome”) actually does. Tracie:When I saw Nick Gray, the CEO of Museum Hack, give the keynote address at the Mid Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) in the Fall of 2016, I was intrigued.
I was delighted that the whole professional team had the opportunity to experience it.” The Museum Hack logo
“Professional development takes many forms,” says JMM director, Marvin Pinkert, “whether or not ‘Museum Hack’ represents a path we might follow, in the future it is without doubt a ‘best practice’ in the field of museum tours.