ConsultEcon Management & Economic Insight

Museums are important to a community’s cultural, educational and economic well being.  ConsultEcon is proud to be a member of the museum community and provide market, economic, business and planning services to create successful new museums and support existing museums to remain economically vital while maximizing community benefits, mission achievement, and their market potential.

 

Fine Art Museums

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts:  Richmond, Virginia
For the major expansion of this venerable art museum, we prepared an attendance potential analysis; and comprehensive departmental business plans for earned revenue generating departments.  These are a basis for repositioning the museum’s overall operating strategy and its funding relationship to the Commonwealth of Virginia.


Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM):  Miami, Florida
This museum has moved to a major new architecturally significant building in Museum Park.  We worked with the Pérez Art Museum Miami on an ongoing basis regarding attendance potential, operating and pre-opening planning.  This work included a market study with attendance potential analysis; an operating plan for the new museum; and pre-opening operations, capital cost, and cash flow analyses for the 120,000 square foot museum.


Taubman Museum of Art:  Roanoke, Virginia
Prepared a market study, operating plan, pre-opening budget and economic impacts analysis for this new, architecturally significant 67,000 square foot museum.  This is a relocation of the Art Museum of Western Virginia.  We also prepared a phased pre-opening operating plan and budget.  In addition, we supervised the evaluation of an IMAX® Theater that was proposed for the project.  The new museum opened in 2008.


New Mexico Museum of Art:  Santa Fe, New Mexico
For this art museum affiliated with the Museum of New Mexico system, ConsultEcon participated in a process with an architectural team that established a preferred program of spaces for a major museum expansion.  ConsultEcon supported this process with a market study, comparable art museum benchmarking study, and attendance analysis for alternative expansion scenarios.  A second phase of work included creating an operating plan for the expanded museum.


Telfair Museum of Art:  Savannah, Georgia
The 64,000 square foot Jepson Center for the Arts was part of a major expansion for the museum.  We prepared a comprehensive market study and operating plan for the newly expanded museum complex, including ramp-up of operations to new museum opening.  The expanded museum opened in 2005.


Laumeier Sculpture Park:  St. Louis, Missouri
Prepared the economic components of a master plan for this major sculpture park in St. Louis County.  This 100-acre park is the venue for one of the country's outstanding sculpture parks and includes major site works by leading artists.  Our work included preparing market and operating analyses of the expanded park as part of the master plan, which included the addition of a 43,000 square foot facility dedicated to exhibit galleries, expanded and improved existing facilities, parking and additional retail and food service venues.


McNay Art Museum: San Antonio, Texas
Prepared a Strategic Business Plan that focuses on enhancing the museum’s major exhibition capacity in its new Stieren Center for Exhibitions that opened in 2008.  Important issues included ticketing approaches, exhibition policies and balanced organizational growth within the context of available operational and endowment funding.  The strategic business plan was developed iteratively with McNay Art Museum leadership and in concert with the museum’s advisors and consultants.


Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art:  Hong Kong, SAR, China
This museum was envisioned to present Chinese modern and contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance art and new media within the context of international art.  We prepared a market study and operating plan for this museum as part of a large, mixed-use visual and performing arts complex in West Kowloon that also considered shared operational resources within the complex.  We also prepared a phased pre-opening operating plan and budget.


Ohr-O'Keefe Museum:  Biloxi, Mississippi
This museum is dedicated to the pottery and legacy of George Ohr.  We prepared attendance projections and operating potential for the proposed new Museum.


Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art:  North Adams, Massachusetts
Reviewed the feasibility and viability of this project for a major funder.  Recommendations to “right size” the facility were prepared and implemented.  It was successfully developed.


Figge Museum of Art:  Davenport, Iowa
Prepared an analysis of market potential, an operating plan, and evaluation of project economic impacts for the relocation of the Davenport Museum of Art to a new 70,000 square foot museum on the banks of the Mississippi River.  The new museum opened in 2005.


Tampa Museum of Art:  Tampa, Florida
This work evaluated the market and attendance potential for a proposed new Tampa Museum of Art, planned for a site adjacent to the current museum.


Museum of Modern Ink Painting:  Hong Kong, SAR, China
This museum’s vision was to focus on internationally significant modern and contemporary works of art inspired by Chinese ink traditions.  We prepared a market study and operating plan for this performing arts complex in West Kowloon that also considered shared operational resources within a multi-venue arts complex.  We also prepared a phased pre-opening operating plan and budget.