conceptualising art exhibitions as special events

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Conceptualising Art Exhibitionsas Special EventsMegan Axelsen BBus (Hons), BA a & Charles ArcodiaPhD a aa School of Tourism & Leisure Management, TheUniversity of Queensland , AustraliaPublished online: 22 Sep 2008.

To cite this article: Megan Axelsen BBus (Hons), BA & Charles Arcodia PhD (2004)Conceptualising Art Exhibitions as Special Events, Journal of Convention & EventTourism, 6:3, 63-80, DOI: 10.1300/J452v06n03_05

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Conceptualising Art Exhibitionsas Special Events:

A Review of the LiteratureMegan AxelsenCharles Arcodia

ABSTRACT. Art galleries are increasingly staging special events aspart of their programs and visitor research has shown that a result of thistrend is a change in the demographics of the people who visit galleries.Audiences have become more mainstream and consequently gallerieshave begun to conceptualise their visitors as tourists who have specificneeds and motivations.

This paper explores the literature that frames, and is thus relevant toresearch about short-term art exhibitions. It provides an analysis of thecurrent literature, with a particular focus on the motivations of visitorsattending short-term art exhibitions. The literature supports the argu-ment that short-term visual art exhibitions should be recognised withinthe scope of special cultural events. [Article copies available for a fee fromThe Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address:<[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com>© 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Short-term visual art exhibitions, special events, cul-tural events, motivation

Megan Axelsen, BBus (Hons), BA, is a PhD Student, School of Tourism & LeisureManagement, The University of Queensland, Australia (E-mail: [email protected]).

Charles Arcodia, PhD, is the Deputy Director of Studies, Faculty of Business, Eco-nomics and Law, and Co-ordinator of Event Management, School of Tourism & Lei-sure Management, The University of Queensland, Australia (E-mail: [email protected]).

Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, Vol. 6(3) 2004http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JCET

2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J452v06n03_05 63

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INTRODUCTION

Museums and galleries are at a time of enormous change as they in-creasingly feel the pressure from governments to display greater ac-countability, combined with an emphasis on quality of provision. Aspublic funds to support museums and galleries are generally decreasing,they must increasingly participate in self-funding activities, while at thesame time demonstrate social relevance to justify any public fundingthat they do receive (Hooper-Greenhill, 1995). A frequent response byart galleries to this situation has been the mounting of special events toattract increased visitors and therefore demonstrate social and eco-nomic relevance, as well as financial sustainability (Hooper-Greenhill,1994; Frey & Busenhart, 1996).

There are several consequences of the trend for art galleries to pro-duce increased numbers of special events in order to attract visitors.Such consequences include a change in the demographics of the peoplewho visit galleries, as well as a change in the way galleries conceptual-ize their visitors (Kelly, 1996). Furthermore, the characteristics of suchshort-term visual art exhibitions make them increasingly identifiable asspecial cultural events. Therefore, research into such events is impor-tant to both the events sector as well as to art galleries themselves.

Traditionally, galleries have been seen as entertainment venues aimedat the elite; however, changes in society and consumerism have led to artgalleries increasingly seeing themselves as needing to cater equally to thecultural interests and preferences of all sectors of the population. Theseshifting requirements have consequently caused galleries to change theirfundamental orientations. Despite their changing orientations, gallerieshave remained essentially institutions of public education; however, thepublics to whom they speak are no longer undifferentiated masses, norare they the elite. Visitor research has shown that the public is com-posed of a range of different audiences, each with different interests andexperiences (Digney, 1989). Cultural rights with regards to access togalleries has become important and galleries must now ensure that suchrights are satisfied through according equal representation to all of thediverse social groups. As a result, the educational function of gallerieshas become less about disseminating a single viewpoint of history andculture and more about offering multiple visions and promoting toler-ance and acceptance of those visions (Casey & Wehner, 2001; Hooper-Greenhill, 1995).

While the promotion of cultural and social issues is a changing re-quirement that needs to be embraced by art galleries, so to is the chang-

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ing audiences attending art galleries. Audiences have become moremainstream and consequently, galleries have begun to conceptualizetheir visitors as tourists who have specific needs and motivations. Morevisitors to art galleries display the characteristics of tourists, being satis-fied by just walking through the galleries for an hour or so, and thismeans that a greater engagement with the collection is often not re-quired (Hooper-Greenhill, 1995; Eckstein & Feist, 1991). The conse-quence of this for art galleries is the increasing need to be attentive oftheir audiences’ needs and motivations. In the past, galleries havetended to cater for the elite and have concentrated on increasing thequantity of visitors as opposed to exploring the quality of the experience(Hooper-Greenhill, 1995). Another factor that is influencing galleries tofocus more outwardly on their visitors as opposed to inwardly on theircollections is the growth of the leisure industry, along with the growthin popularity of market research and audience development. Increas-ingly galleries need to “sell” their products and services in order to re-main successful and relevant (Digney, 1989; Hooper-Greenhill, 1994;Eckstein & Feist, 1989). Galleries have found that special events arehelping to make the shifting visitor attraction aims and visitor focusfunctions a reality.

With the modern pressure to demonstrate public relevance, whilealso catering for a diversity of needs and changing audiences, art galler-ies have had to shift their attention from quantity to quality. No longer isit important to know only who is attending arts events and galleries, butit is also important to know why they are attending, as well as theirneeds and how art galleries can respond appropriately to these needs.

Gaps in the Research

Although there have been many studies that have focused on the moti-vations of people who visit museums (Black, 1999; Strand, 1998; Falk,1998; Screven, 1996; Prentice, 1993; Prince, 1990; Bourdieu & Darbel,1990) and a number of studies focusing on the motivations of peoplewho attend art galleries (Prentice, Davies & Beeho, 1997; Selwood,1991; Hooper-Greenhill, 1994; Hooper-Greenhill, 1995; Getty Mu-seum, 1991), there has been little written about the motivations of visi-tors who specifically attend art galleries to attend short-term visual artexhibitions. In addition, the increasing number of special exhibitionsthat galleries are holding reflects the trend that is occurring within theevent sector, in which events are becoming one of the fastest growingforms of leisure and tourism related phenomenon (Getz, 1991). How-

Megan Axelsen and Charles Arcodia 65

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ever, although a number of sources have addressed the growth, eco-nomic impacts and logistics of planning events and festivals, few havefocused on the motivations of visitors who attend special events. Fur-thermore, the studies that have been performed on motivations (Comp-ton & McKay, 1997; Uysal, Gahan & Martin, 1993; Mohr, Backman,Gahan & Backman, 1993; Rossetto, 1998; Carpenter, 1995) have notfocused on, nor recognised the significance of short-term art exhibitionsas special cultural events.

Recognition of Short-Term Art Exhibitions as Special Events

There are three reasons for investing effort into better understandingthe motives of visual art exhibition visitors. First, motivations are a keyto designing better offerings for audiences of visual art exhibitions. It isa marketing truism that people do not buy products or services, they buythe expectations of benefits which satisfy a need (Hooper-Greenhill,1995). Since exhibition elements may be designed to meet differentneeds, it is important to identify visitors’ needs so an exhibition’s de-sign can be tailored to meet those needs. The enhancement and mainte-nance of visitors’ intrinsic motivations therefore needs to be a primarygoal of curators and exhibition managers. If motives are identified, thenthe practical settings of an exhibition can be amended to facilitate thefulfillment of those motives and needs. For example, if social interac-tion was the main motivator among exhibition goers, it would be fool-hardy not to design a programme’s elements to facilitate it.

A second reason for better understanding motives lies in their closerelationship with satisfaction. Motives occur before the experience andsatisfaction after it (Iso-Ahola, 1999). If needs are fulfilled then satis-faction will result. Therefore, in order to monitor satisfaction, thereshould be knowledge of the needs which exhibition visitors are seekingto satisfy. Finally, identifying and prioritising motives is likely to facili-tate effectiveness in other marketing activities. For example, target mar-kets based on benefits may be defined and promotion should then bedesigned around those identified needs and benefits so it appeals to thetarget market (Compton & McKay, 1993).

Art galleries have recognized the growing importance that both tar-get marketing and general marketing plays in a gallery’s ultimate suc-cess. As a consequence, the development of visitor studies has beendriven by the continuing need for galleries to demonstrate that they areconsistently able to attract significant portions of the general public andthat people who visit are actually learning something (Pearce, 1995).


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Both of these criteria are central to the aims of art galleries as public in-stitutions. The increasing profile, from the 1960s, of marketing as a pro-fession and practice has also had a significant impact on galleries’attitudes to visitors. From a marketing perspective, visitor research hasbeen an important tool for devising policies and strategies that have en-abled galleries to better tailor their programmes to their audiences, bothto people who are already visitors and those who are not. Marketing, basedon visitor research has therefore become one of the most important toolsthrough which museums and galleries attempt to attract the widest pos-sible range and greatest numbers of visitors (Casey & Wehner, 2001).

While marketing is important to attract visitors, galleries also in-creasingly need to increase revenue from non-governmental sources inorder to fund special exhibitions. One way for a gallery to do this is todemonstrate to potential sponsors that the gallery has a wide audienceand can attract significant numbers of visitors (Selwood, 1991). Visitorresearch is therefore important to be able to design programmes to attractsuch numbers of visitors. Visitor research is also important as galleriesincreasingly come to see themselves as competitors in a field of optionsin which people may spend their leisure dollars. Research into who vis-its galleries and why they visit is, therefore, important in a gallery’sability to secure and increase market share.

A consequence of the increasing importance of visitor research is thetrend for institutions to become increasingly “visitor focused” (Casey &Wehner, 2001). Knowledge of actual and potential audiences and usagepatterns is very important in gaining public acceptance and frequenta-tion. Furthermore, long-term research can provide gallery and eventprofessionals with the foundations necessary to increase the effective-ness of their strategic planning and audience development efforts.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The event sector is a growing industry and research into this rela-tively young discipline is therefore limited. Professionals within the in-dustry are continuously exploring the parameters of the sector to definewhat types of events constitute “special events,” while also investigat-ing the characteristics that define such events. A type of event that hasreceived little, if any, attention from researchers is the short-term visualart exhibition. Such events are housed in an art gallery and are con-ducted over a short period of time of up to three months and are not partof a gallery’s main collection (Elsen, 1984). Galleries usually partici-


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pate in significant promotion and advertising for such events. Some-times these exhibitions go “on tour” and move from gallery to galleryaround a country (Frey & Busenhart, 1996).

An important attribute of events that has received some attentionfrom researchers in the event sector is attendee motivation. The researchhowever, about the motivations of audiences who attend certain events,has focused mainly on why people attend festivals (Carpenter, 1995;Compton, 1997; Mohr, Backman, Gahan & Backman, 1993; Uysal,Gahan & Martin, 1993). There is also literature within both the museumand leisure sectors about the motivations of people to attend museums(Compton, 1979; Fyfe and Ross, 1996; Hooper-Greenhill, 1994;Hooper-Greenhill, 1995; Prentice, Davies & Beeho, 1997; Rossetto,1998) and, to a lesser extent, art galleries (Braverman, 1988; Pearce,1995; Selwood, 1991). This literature, however, focuses on why peopleattend cultural institutions’ permanent collections and does not explorethe motivations of audiences who attend short-term visual art exhibi-tions.

Research into audience motivations for attending short-term visualart exhibitions is important for several reasons. First, with the growingimportance of the event industry, all events that can be brought togetherunder the events umbrella need to be identified and researched to dis-cover similarities in elements such as motivation. This can thereforelead to the development of standards, as well as to the identification ofresources that can be shared among the organizing bodies of these vari-ous events, such as marketing tools. Secondly, art is becoming moremarket-led as compared to producer-led (Selwood, 1991; Hooper-Green-hill, 1994). In other words, the content of art galleries is increasingly be-ing defined by consumer desires and less by the curator’s choices. Fur-thermore, art galleries have traditionally been seen as elitist, but this ischanging with the increasing conflict between elitism and populism. Asa result, the emphasis and directions of many art galleries are changingto match the economic barriers they are facing. Such economic influ-ences include decreased governmental funding and a subsequent re-quirement for galleries to obtain funding from the private sector(Digney, 1989). Funding from the government sector can usually onlybe obtained if galleries can demonstrate community and cultural rele-vance. In addition when obtaining funding from both the public and pri-vate sectors, galleries need to convince sponsors that funding a certainexhibition is a worthwhile investment. Galleries therefore need toshow that there is an emphasis on the consumer and that they are cus-


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tomer-oriented, user friendly and have an instinct to reach out and servethe public (Selwood, 1991).

Before examining the literature on audience motivation, it is impor-tant to place short-term visual art exhibitions within the context of theevent literature. This involves briefly defining special events and dem-onstrating why short-term visual art exhibitions should be considered aspart of the event sector. The literature on attendance to museums and artexhibitions will then be examined to give some insight into the demo-graphics of audiences who visit such institutions. The literature on cul-tural tourism will be subsequently examined as it gives importantinsights into motivations of people to attend art galleries. This leads intothe final section of the literature review which will specifically examinethe literature on motivation.

Special Events

From the definitions of special events in the literature, short-term vi-sual art exhibitions can certainly be considered as special events. Getz(1997) suggests that a special event “is a one-time or infrequently occur-ring event outside the normal programme or activities of the sponsoringor organising body” (p. 4), and this definition captures the essence ofshort-term art exhibitions. It is important to recognise short-term visualart exhibitions as special events to be able to consider how such eventscontribute to the Tourism, Travel, Hospitality and Leisure industries.By being recognised as part of the event industry, short-term visual artexhibitions can attract interest and employment from event profession-als and consequently ensure parallel increased professionalism withinthe gallery sector. Furthermore, by being recognised as part of the eventindustry, short-term visual art exhibitions also open, both for them-selves and for the galleries they are hosted in, a variety of opportunitieswith regards to marketing, professional guidance and potential employ-ment of event professionals.

While researchers can propose that short-term visual art exhibitionsshould be considered part of the event industry, the ultimate recognitionof this point comes from the industry itself. Through the hiring of eventprofessionals to work on special exhibitions, galleries are coming to ac-knowledge that such exhibitions are special events which can benefitfrom the employment of event professionals. For example, in the stagingof an exhibition entitled “Warm and rich and fearless,” a gallery in Brit-ain appointed a Community Events Coordinator to develop links withthe community. The main tasks of the coordinator were to promote the


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exhibition to local ethnic communities and consult them regarding ap-propriate participative links, while also translating their needs into cre-ative projects that might include practical workshops, demonstrations,involvement in displays and interpretation (Hooper-Greenhill, 1995).

Attendance at Museums and Galleries

It is important to recognise short-term visual art exhibitions as spe-cial events to be able to compare them to and encourage them to shareresources with other like events. However, it is also important to realisethat visual arts events are also closely linked with the museum sector.Information about audiences attending art galleries have, to date, comefrom the research performed by professionals within the museum sec-tor. Although such information is useful in identifying the demograph-ics of audiences attending art galleries, the information is about thosepeople attending permanent gallery collections and does not considerdifferences in the demographics of audiences attending short-term exhi-bitions.

Research worldwide into who attends art galleries has producedsome interesting similarities that suggest audiences of art galleries havea particular composition and that the audiences throughout the worldwho attend museums and galleries share similar demographics (Pearce,1995; Eckstein, 1991; Bourdieu & Darbel, 1990). It is important, how-ever, to note that such information is referring to Western countries.Patterns that have emerged from audience surveys include the findingthat audiences for the arts are often more highly educated and of higheroccupational standards. Arts audiences also tend to have higher incomeaverages than the population as a whole. Furthermore, professionals,managers and other white-collar occupations are overrepresented in thearts audience, as are students and housewives. Participation in the arts isalso likely to rise with both income and education. It has also emergedthat women are slightly more likely to attend arts events than men(Pearce, 1995; Eckstein, 1991; McHone & Rungeling, 1999; Hooper-Greenhill, 1995; Bourdieu & Darbel, 1990). While far from conclusive,when taken together, these studies suggest that most Western art galler-ies may well be serving similar segments of their national populationsand that, in large part, this receptivity seems to be a function of the samedemographic factors. This however is not surprising given that such in-stitutions are the creation of certain social groups and they serve theneeds of those groups best (Johnson, 1993).


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Cultural Tourism

Many tourists are keen to learn and experience the culture of placesthey visit and this is achieved through visiting cultural assets such asmuseums and galleries, as well as attending cultural events (Rossetto,1998). The attendance of tourists to such cultural assets and events hascome to be known as cultural tourism and the definitional discussions ofcultural tourism consistently stress the words enhancement, preser-vations, and enlightenment with regards to culture (McHone & Run-geling, 1999). Cultural tourism definitions focus on the intellectual,spiritual and aesthetic needs of the visitor as well as the need to satisfythe human need for diversity through raising one’s cultural level andgiving rise to new knowledge, experience and encounters (Rossetto,1998). Understanding the phenomenon of cultural tourism is increas-ingly necessary as more and more tourists seek authentic, high quality,interactive tourism experiences (Rossetto, 1998). It is important to un-derstand what motivates people to seek cultural experiences so plan-ners, marketers and policy makers can make informed and relevantdecisions. Furthermore, the selling or marketing of local places to tour-ists is now significant business and the opportunities provided byshort-lived, unique special art exhibitions make them an important com-ponent of cultural tourism (McHone & Rungeling, 1999).

Motivation

There is little research about the motivations of audiences attendingshort-term visual art exhibitions, but the literature about the motivationsof audiences who attend other similar cultural events in the events sec-tor, such as arts festivals, can provide a useful foundation for researchinto motivations of audiences attending short-term visual art exhibi-tions. Before focusing on the motivations of audiences attending artsevents, it is important to review general motivation literature as well asthe literature concentrating on motivation within both a museum andevents context.

Motivation is one of the most complex areas of event research asthere are many factors that influence people to choose to attend certainevents. A motive is an internal factor that arouses, directs, and inte-grates a person’s behaviour (Iso-Ahola, 1980). A decision to visit anevent is therefore a directed action which is triggered by a desire to meeta need. Although motives are only one of a multiple of variables that ex-plain behaviour (others include learning, cultural conditioning, social


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influences and perceptions), motives are the starting point that launchthe decision process (Compton & McKay, 1997).

It has been proposed that locals and tourists visit attractions becausethey have some interest in them or expect to derive some benefit and sat-isfaction from the experience (Compton & McKay, 1997). Therefore,attendance to such events is seen as part of a person’s leisure activities,and a critical ingredient in the definition of a leisure experience is per-ceived freedom. This means that attendees should have a strong sense ofintrinsic motivation to attend an event. Intrinsic motivation is the freechoice to participate in or attend certain activities of a person’s own in-terest, enjoyment, satisfaction, and personal-development, or for thegoals of their own choosing, but not for external awards (Iso-Ahola,1986).

Although leisure is based on choice and freedom from restraint of ex-ternal rewards, there is a presence of intrinsic rewards as participants ofleisure activities often perceive a connection among behaviour-perfor-mance-outcome. People therefore often become more serious about lei-sure because of intrinsic rewards. Two such intrinsic motivations arechallenge and social interactions (Iso-Ahola, 1999). People seek out ac-tivities that allow them to match their skills with challenges, while alsoseeking out leisure activities linked with social experiences. This socialinteraction involves interrelationships, companionships, friendships,and social support.

While many researchers have focused on motivation and have subse-quently developed different theories from their findings, three theoriesare of particular interest when examining the motivations of audiencesto short-term visual arts exhibitions. The first of these is Maslow’s hierar-chy of needs which recognises that an individual’s motivation changesover time. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs describes five different levelsof motivation of which people need to feel like they have achieved eachlevel before moving onto the subsequent level (Westen, 1996). At themost fundamental level, people are concerned with biological needs;moving up the ladder to safety and security needs; relationship and ex-tension needs; special interest and self-development needs; and finally,at the top of the ladder, fulfillment and self-actualisation needs. Subse-quent research by Pearce (cited in Rossetto, 1998) found that peopletend to climb the ladder as they become older and more experienced andthis is important when considering motivations of audiences to short-term visual arts exhibitions because it suggests that audiences should beolder, as attending art exhibitions is often seen as an activity associatedmore with special interests and self-development.


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A second motivation theory argues that motivations develop out ofpush and pull factors. Push factors relate to the needs and wants of indi-viduals that lead to the desire to attend particular events. Such factorsinclude desire for social interaction and relaxation, the need to escape,to experience something different and to learn about oneself. The needto experience and be involved in and stimulated by cultural activities isanother push factor. Pull factors relate to the characteristics or attrac-tions of a particular exhibition (Rossetto, 1998).

Related to push/pull motivational theory is the framework proposedby Mannell and Iso-Ahola (1987) with regards to tourist motivation.Their work elaborates on the intrinsically motivated leisure behaviourand proposes that leisure consists of self-determined, competence eval-uating behaviour. Two dimensions therefore operate simultaneously tobring about tourist behaviour: the desire for change from one’s dailyroutine (escape), and the desire to obtain intrinsic personal rewards andinterpersonal rewards through travelling into a contrasting environment(seeking) (Uysal, Gahan & Martin, 1993).

Motivations to Attend Events

Previous studies about the motivations of people attending specialevents have examined events such as food festivals, fiestas, pageants/balls and music events (Carpenter, 1995; Compton & McKay, 1997;McHone & Rungeling, 1999; Mohr, Backman, Gahan & Backman,1993; Uysal, Gahan & Martin, 1993). While previous studies have ex-amined a number of different types of events and the motives that haveemerged from these studies have differed for the different events, anumber of similar motives have emerged. Several of these factors thatmotivate people to attend cultural events have been recognized in thecultural tourism literature and these include a personal need to escapefrom daily routines, a desire to learn about other cultures, meet new peo-ple, be with friends and relatives, and to improve one’s education,knowledge, awareness or esteem. People are also attracted to the uniqueexperience (Rossetto, 1998).

Studies into other, more general events have identified several fac-tors of importance with regards to motivations to attend events. Theseinclude hearing about an event and believing it sounded like fun, attend-ing for a change of pace from everyday life, enjoyment of specialevents, attending for the chance to be with other people who are enjoy-ing themselves, and attending for the like of having a variety of things tosee and do (Uysal, Gahan & Martin, 1993). A study by Compton and


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McKay (1997) found the dominant motivations to attend festivals weregrouped into the following domains: novelty/regression, cultural explo-ration, recover equilibrium, external interaction/socialization, gregari-ousness and known-group socialization. Although it was not significantin festival motivations, status and prestige was another motivation con-sidered by the researchers. Mohr, Backman, Gahan and Backman(1993) identified the most important motivations for festival attendanceto be family togetherness, meeting or observing new people, nostalgia,learning and social content.

Control over one’s experience is a motivational factor that has beenidentified by Carpenter (1995). This is the freedom to choose or elect toengage or not engage in activities offered at special events. Further-more, important to control is the ability for visitors to spend as little oras much time as they have available while also having the ability tochoose the level of participation desired at the time.

It is recognised by many researchers of motivation that motivation ismulti-attributed, which means it is influenced by many factors such asage, occupation, social class, family, and culture. However, the degreeto which socio-demographics affects the propensity of visitors to citecertain motivations is different for different studies and no research hasbeen done into visual arts events. Several authors have pointed out thatit is a fallacy to assume that the decision to attend an event is the resultof only one motive. Instead, it is likely to be a result of multiple simulta-neous motives (Compton & McKay, 1997).

Motivations to Attend Art Galleries and Museums

Research and literature into art galleries and the museum sector isconsidered to be a quite separate discipline to events. However, becausethis study is proposing that short-term art exhibitions should be consid-ered as an integral part of the events sector, it is important to examinethe motivations of people visiting an art gallery’s permanent collectionto be able to compare and contrast these with the motivations of peopleattending events.

There is significant literature about what motivates people to visit mu-seums and art galleries, however it should be noted that such studies ex-amine motivations with regards to a museum or art gallery’s permanentcollection/display (Braverman, 1988; Eckstein & Feist, 1991; Fyfe &Ross, 1996; Hooper-Greenhill, 1995; Pearce, 1995; Prentice, 1997;Selwood, 1991). The literature about museum visiting identifies severalfactors that motivate people to attend art galleries, such as the desire to


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seek social or recreational experiences. Furthermore, the museum litera-ture proposes that informal education and social interaction, as well asgeneral interest and curiosity are important motivational factors. Learn-ing was another prime motivational dimension identified in the literature,as was escape from routine by relaxing with friends (Prentice, 1997).

Within the museum literature, researchers appear to agree that moti-vations of visitors can be divided into three general categories: schol-arly visitors, visitors with specific interests, and visitors in search ofrecreation (Schouten, 1983). Furthermore, there is a general consensuswithin the literature that visiting an art gallery as a leisure activity is in-trinsically motivated. It is an activity that people choose to participate infor interest, enjoyment, satisfaction, and personal-development, or forthe goals of their own choosing, but not for external awards.

The desire to educate oneself by visiting an art gallery is an importantmotivation that has emerged from the museum literature. However,Braverman (1988) contends that most informal adult learning beginswith issues perceived as meaningful to one’s life, and not because of agrand desire for a liberal education. Therefore education can be seen tobe intrinsically motivated as people participate in areas that they find in-teresting. Learning motivations can therefore also be seen as hedoniclearning motivations that relate to the multi-sensory and emotive as-pects of one’s experiences.

As well as personal educational goals, the literature also identifies thesocial-educational role that art galleries have within society. Provisionof art in the public sector has a social function to increase access to cul-tural goods such as visual literacy, knowledge of all sorts, and apprecia-tion of previously inaccessible forms of art. Art galleries are expected toaid in the expansion cultural horizons of previously excluded groups,while also facilitating people’s access to “excellence” and open up op-portunities for personal fulfillment. Due to personal motivations andgoals, as well as public and social expectations, education is becomingincreasingly important to art galleries (Selwood, 1991).

Social Interaction is a second motivation identified as important toart gallery visitors. Visitors tend to view exhibits of art as social in na-ture. Many people attend in groups numbering from two to four. Assuch, this form of consumption can be placed within the purview of acivic activity, that is one which is somewhere between purely privateand purely public (Braverman, 1988).

Fyfe and Ross (1996) believe visiting an art gallery is not an attributeof individuals so much as a social relationship that is interwoven withdynamics of households, families and life-histories. Furthermore, Fyfe


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and Ross (1996) propose that classes are not fixed and some people visitart galleries as a strategy to increase their perception of their class sta-tus. This proposal is supported by a study by Selwood (1991), whofound that some people visit art exhibitions/galleries in order to attain astate of having been there or to be able to say that they have been there.Such people tend to have been conditioned from childhood to be a gal-lery visitor or have enjoyed tertiary education in the arts or humanities.Others who feel that they “must” go are cultural pilgrims who attend be-cause of the source status that visiting a gallery bestows on them.

Curiosity is another important motivational factor for art gallery visi-tors. Kelly (1995) suggests that media-wise, the more outrageous or al-ternative the angle, the more coverage and attention are gained out ofcuriosity. Curiosity has also been related to education, as well asself-identity and empowerment (Fyfe & Ross, 1996). Discovering thepast and the “other” through art is a personal project of self-identifica-tion insofar as to “find that you are part of something else” while simul-taneously gaining a sense of self-knowledge.

Crompton (1979) identified novelty to be one of the main motives forparticipating in cultural activities. Visits to art exhibitions provide the op-portunity for social interaction with family and friends, as well as forlearning, discovery, emotional and spiritual enrichment, self-awareness,personal fulfillment and social status. There is also the desire to experi-ence something new, authentic, unique and beautiful (Rossetto, 1998).

Other reasons, identified in the literature, that visitors have cited asmotivations for visiting art exhibitions include: the theme of the exhibi-tion; it is a habit to come to exhibitions; because they come to galleriesquite often; someone recommended or suggested it; reviews; profes-sional interest; something to do (boredom); artists’ reputation; and senseof obligation (Selwood, 1991). Many people also believe that visitinggalleries contributes to a person’s quality of life and their making sense ofthe world. Therefore, by visiting galleries many people hoped to open uppossibilities for personal and private experiences (Selwood, 1991).

Gaps in the Research

Accompanying the transformations occurring in museums and galleriessince the 1970s has been an explosion of interest in both the understandingand examining museum visitors, as well as in the professionalisation ofvisitor research (Pearce, 1995; Selwood, 1991). As a result, evaluationsof exhibitions are now quite widely carried out. However, while there isa significant amount of literature about the audiences who attend gen-


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eral museums, there is relatively little published about the visitors to artgalleries and even less about visitors attending special art events andshort-term art exhibitions.

Although there has been significant research carried out about mu-seum attendance, the results of this research has often been poorly dis-seminated within the museum profession and results have tended tolodge within institutions rather than contributing to the broader devel-opment of knowledge about museum and gallery visitors (Pearce,1995). This catchment of results within institutions and subsequent in-adequate dissemination of knowledge is perhaps due to two factors.Firstly, many of the results are obtained from private studies which stemfrom expensive commercial consultancies. Secondly, the competitiveatmosphere between museums and galleries that has developed fromscarcity of funding means that these institutions are often reluctant toshare research outcomes. Furthermore, most statistics on gallery audi-ences are drawn from the published reports of work generally carriedout by governmental bodies or market research firms. These, on awhole, have tended to produce large-scale quantitative results that ob-scure detail at the local level (Hooper-Greenhill, 1995). The paucity ofresearch in the gallery field ensures that there are few written accountsof how specific exhibitions have been developed and how new audi-ences have been recruited. As a consequence, there are few reports ofinnovative work that researchers can turn to, and therefore there is aneed for more independent studies.

While event management researchers have completed a number ofstudies about the motivations of people who attend events, and museumprofessionals have similarly completed studies into the motivations ofpeople attending museums and art galleries, there has been no researchcombining the two. Furthermore, while there are many studies that havefocussed on who is visiting galleries and special arts events, there hasbeen little research completed about the individual decisions and moti-vations that influence potential visitors in their choice of whether or notto attend an art event. Therefore, there is a need for research to be com-pleted into motivations of people who attend short-term visual art exhi-bitions, which can be considered as special events. Such studies wouldhave relevance to both the events sector as well as the museum sector.

Summary of the Literature

The literature review has explored the findings of research that is rel-evant to art galleries, special events and motivations. The literature de-


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fines a special event as a “one-time or infrequently occurring eventoutside the normal programme or activities of a sponsoring or organis-ing body” (Getz, 1991, p. 4). From the literature review it is apparentthat short-term art exhibitions are a type of event that have received lit-tle, if any attention from researchers. It is also apparent from the litera-ture that it is important to recognise short-term visual art exhibitions asspecial events to be able to further consider how such events contributeto the Tourism, Travel, Hospitality and Leisure industries.

The literature revealed that an important attribute of events that hasreceived some attention from researchers within the events sector isevent attendee motivation. However, the existing research does notcover the motivations of people attending short-term visual art exhibi-tions. Motivation is one of the most complex areas of event research asthere are many factors that influence people to choose to attend certainevents. It was revealed in the literature that previous research into themotivations of people attending art galleries has found that importantmotivational factors include education, social interaction, perception ofclass status, curiosity, novelty and habit to attend. The motivations at-tributed to special event and cultural event attendees, according to theliterature, include escape from daily routine, desire to learn about othercultures, experiencing something different, attending with friends andrelatives, unique experience and a desire to improve one’s education,awareness, knowledge and esteem.

REFERENCES

Black, G. (1999). Pulling in the visitors. Museums Journal, 99 (12), 14-15.Bourdieu, P., & Darbel, A. (1990). The Love of Art. California: Stanford University

Press.Braverman, B.E. (1988). Empowering Visitors: Focus Group Interviews for Art Muse-

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tions, World-Leisure Recreation, 37 (1), 14-15.Casey, D., & Wehner, K. (2001). Accounting for Audiences in Australian Museums.

Year Book Australia. Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics.Compton, J.L. (1979). Motivations for Pleasure Vacation. Annals of Tourism Re-

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of Tourism, 24 (2), 425-439.Digney, J. (1989). The importance of Audience Research to Barbican Art Gallery’s

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Elsen, A. (1984). The Pros and Cons of the ‘Blockbuster’ Art Exhibition. CAMA Con-ference. Adelaide.

Eckstein, J., & Feist, A. (1991). Attendances at Art Museums and Galleries. CulturalTrends, 12, 10-79.

Frey, B.S., & Busenhart, I. (1996). Special Exhibitions and Festivals. In Ginsburgh &Meger (Eds.), Economics of the Arts. Selected Essays, Elsevier Science.

Fyfe, G., & Ross, M. (1996). Decoding the visitor’s gaze: Rethinking museum visiting.In S. McDonald & G. Fyfe, Theorizing museums: Representing identity and diver-sity in a changing world. Oxford: Brackwell Publishers.

Getz, D. (1991). Festivals, Special Events and Tourism. New York: Van NostrandReinhold.

Getz, D. (1997). Special Events: Best Practices in Modern Event Management, (2nded.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Hooper-Greenhill, E. (1994). Museums and Their Visitors. London/New York: Rout-ledge.

Hooper-Greenhill, E. (1995). Audiences–A Curatorial Dilemma. In S. Pearce (Ed.).Art in Museums. London: The Athlone Press.

Insights: Museums, Visitors, Attitudes and Expectations (1991). Getty Center for Edu-cation & Paul Getty Museum, Santa Monica.

Iso-Ahola, S.E. (1986). A Theory of Sustainability of Leisure Behavior. Leisure Sci-ences, 10 (3), 203-215.

Iso-Ahola, S.E. (1999). Motivational foundations of leisure. In E.L. Jackson & T.L.Burton. Leisure Studies: Prospects for the Twentieth Century. Pennsylvania: Ven-ture College.

Johnson, R. (Ed.) (1993). Pierre Bourdieu: The Field of Cultural Production–Essayson Art and Literature. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Kelly, J. (1995). Visual arts attendances on the increase. Museums Journal, 95, 13.Kelly, J. (1996). Status Queue. Museums Journal, 96, 21-23.Mannell, R., & Iso-Ahola, S. (1987). Psychological nature of leisure and tourism expe-

rience. Annals of Tourism Research, 14 (3), 314-329.McHone, W.W., & Rungeling, B. (1999). Special cultural events: Do they attract lei-

sure tourists? Hospitality Management, 18, 215-219.Mohr, K., Backman, K.F., Gahan, L.W., & Backman, S.J. (1993). An Investigation of

Festival Motivations and Event Satisfaction by Visitor Type. Festival Managementand Event Tourism, 1, 89-97.

Pearce, S. (1995). The Public Interest in the Art Museum’s Public. In S. Pearce (ed.).Art in Museums. London: The Athlone Press.

Prentice, R., Davies, A., & Beeho, A. (1997). Seeking Generic Motivations for Visitingand Not Visiting Museums and Like Cultural Attractions. Museum Managementand Curatorship, 16 (1), 45-70.

Prince, D.R. (1990). Factors influencing museum visits: An empirical evaluation of au-dience. Museum Management and Curatorship, 9, 149-168.

Rossetto, A. (1998). Cultural Tourism in Australia: Characteristics and Motivation.BTR Occasional Paper No. 27I, Australia: Department of Communications Infor-mation Technology and the Arts.

Screven, C.G. (1996). Museums and their visitors. Museum International, 48, 59-62.


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Selwood, S. (1991). Investigating audiences: Audience surveys in the visual arts, a re-source pack for arts administrators. London: Art and Society–London Art Board.

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Inc.


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conceptualising art exhibitions as special events

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