Since the pandemic, museums across the country continue to struggle with attendance. But some local art museums are getting more people in the door by meeting them out in the community.
As part of their outreach, the Toledo Museum of Art goes into nearby neighborhoods to share glassblowing demonstrations and generate interest in the museum.
The TMA carts out one of the smallest portable glass furnaces there is, called the “Baby Dragon”, for the demonstrations. It takes a few hours to heat up and holds up to 40 pounds of molten glass.
Kacey McCreery is the Community Engagement glass artist with the Toledo Museum of Art. She’s been blowing glass for 22 years.
“It's one of the most amazing materials in the world,” McCreery said. “It's amazing that we can take it out into the community, bring glass to the public, and personally invite them back to the museum so they kind of understand it a little bit more, feel a little bit more welcome.”
One recent Saturday afternoon, they hauled out the Baby Dragon for a glassblowing demonstration at the Toledo YMCA.
The heat from the furnace warmed the crisp air as several curious kids peeked over, looking to get a glimpse of the glass as it disappeared into the Baby Dragon’s burning mouth. Among them were Elysia and Eviana Stiger, who watched closely as McCreery shaped the dripping, glowing glass with a large pair of steel tweezers.
“They're making a pink flower today,” Elysia said eagerly.
Kids have to be at least fourteen to sign up for a glassblowing workshop at the museum because they’re dealing with glass that’s about as hot as lava coming out of a volcano.
Jessica Mack is the Community Outreach Manager at the TMA. She said their programming, which also involves senior centers, community centers, libraries, and local nonprofits, has since expanded from their original two mile radius.
“The hope was that if we kept bringing the art museum to the community around us, that then in turn, they would start visiting the museum,” Mack said.
Making the local art museum more approachable
Adam Levine, the director of the Toledo Museum of Art, said museums can be intimidating institutional spaces for people who’ve never been before. But he said showing up regularly to nearby neighborhoods breaks down that barrier.
“After a while, when the art educator says to someone, hey, would you like to come visit the museum in a couple days? I'm going to be there. I'm going to be doing a program just like what you're doing now. Now the museum doesn't seem so intimidating,” Levine said.
Levine said 6% of TMA's visitors came from within two miles of the museum when they reopened after the pandemic. Now, he said that number is over 22%.
TMA’s attendance rose from 83,633 visitors to 131,733 visitors between 2020 to 2025, an increase of nearly 50,000 people.
Mae Womack visited the Toledo YMCA with her kids, not quite expecting to see colored bins of crushed glass, torches blazing, and the dainty curled stems of glass-blown flowers.
Womack called the art museum a “hidden jewel.”
“Our museum is literally right, literally down the street from where we are right now,” Womack said. “So to know that's going on, they're like, 'OK, I have interest. Mom, can you enroll me in something?'”
Womack said she’s planning on signing her kids up for the museum's summer programs. “A lot of people don't have the resources and they don't look for the resources,” she said. “But all you have to do is ask.”
Ruth Lott went to the event with her grandkids. “When I see young mothers and fathers with their children and they’re all getting involved, you know, that's what the community needs,” she said.
McCreery said the kids gravitate to her glassblowing demonstrations. “It really feels like a gift to be able to share something that I love so much,” she said.
“And I'm not expecting to change everyone's life that's here at this event today, but if it sparks something in even one person, then that is important and valuable and rewarding.”
“This is just not something that you go to and you get your 40 hours in and, you know, it pays the bills,” Community Outreach Manager Jessica Mack said. “This is passion. This is heart. This is a family that we've built in this community.”
“Museums are a wellness resource”
Going out into the community is one way to hook people into a local art museum. At the Flint Institute of Arts, K-through 12 students regularly come into the museum for free art classes.
“Students are always hungry for that kind of thing. What they really need is somebody passionate and excited about the thing that’s going to get them interested,” said Matthew Osmon, Director of Education at the FIA.
“The beauty of this place is that we have the bandwidth, and the intention, and the passion to grab them and say, 'well, no, you should come here,'” Osmon continued. “Come on, let's come here.”
Isaac Vasquez has been coming to the museum every Thursday for the last few weeks. Inside a classroom at the FIA, he spent time intently drawing a design that would eventually become a rubber stamp.
“I just like art,” Vasquez said. “I’m not really like crazy at it. It just is fun to do.”
“It feels good. I think it helps a lot of people,” he said.
Vasquez even snapped pictures of his favorite artworks–the scenic ones–to keep on his phone.
Other students said these classes make a difference to them because they’re free, something they said can be hard to find.
Now, the FIA is reaching out to schools to get more involved. And, like at the Toledo Museum of Art, personal connection makes all the difference.
“I think that some people might have an idea that places like an art museum are for 'other people',” said Rebekah Mikkelson, the Special Projects and Outreach Coordinator for the FIA.
“Maybe the art museum doesn't seem friendly or inviting. And by doing what I do, I make that connection with people and show them what the art museum has to offer,” she said.
“You can have a small win with a student and seemingly, the rest of the day wasn't so great, but because you had that win with that one student that really, really needed you at that moment, that's a measure of success,” Osmon said.
It’s clear they’re doing something right. Attendance at the Flint Institute of Arts has risen back to pre-COVID levels, staff said.
“Museums are a wellness resource,” said TMA director Adam Levine. “People are looking for things to do with each other. They're looking for ways to get out and find connection.”
