 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Museum reports vigorous attendance
Thursday, January 20, 2000 By Caroline Abels, Post-Gazette Cultural Arts Writer
Attendance at the Carnegie International has been robust enough to delight officials at The Carnegie Museum of Art.
The museum reported that 32,444 people in November and 34,631 in December saw the contemporary art exhibition, which opened Nov. 6 and will close March 26.
The Carnegie records only the total number of people who paid admission to the Oakland building in which both the art museum and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History are housed. The museums share admission desks, and visitors are allowed to wander between both museums.
That means the admission figures for the International most likely include people who went to the Oakland facility to see natural history exhibits rather than contemporary art. They might also include people who showed up to see something in the art museum other than the International.
The art museum might not know how many people intended to see the International, but they know the show has had a major impact on museum attendance. They compare this year's attendance with that of November 1998, when 26,425 people came to the Oakland building. In December 1998, 27,271 came. This past Thanksgiving weekend, there was a 42 percent increase in attendance over the same weekend in 1998.
During the 1995 International, 29,869 people came in November and 25,635 came in December. During the 1991 International, the numbers were 35,699 and 31,416, respectively. (The numbers, including those for this year's show, do not include attendance at special events, such as parties and press previews . The November attendance numbers are for the entire month, not just the weeks of the International.)
Officials at the art museum say the admission figures are not intended to shed light on whether people came to the Oakland building to see the International. Rather, because the art in the International is spread all over the museum - there is also a piece in the natural history museum and one in the Carnegie Library - the figures reflect the number of people who saw at least part of the show.
"There is no place you can go in the building without seeing the International," said Tey Stiteler, the art museum's communications manager.
The scattered nature of the show is also why the museum cannot have a guard stationed at a door with a "clicker" - there is no one door to speak of. Stiteler said the museum uses clickers in the Heinz Architectural Center and at exhibits that are more compact.
|
||||||||
