Final Thoughts

“Every public institution should always have before it an ideal of public service far above that which it dares hope attain. It should not have its eyes on the ground or be for a moment satisfied with what it has done” (p. 178). As an early museum theorist Dana’s ideas were radical. His views on education, worth, and composition of a museum were accurate in my opinion. I enjoyed reading his rationale as well as his basic museum ideology. His ideas on lending were intriguing and adventurous. However, the aforementioned quote was probably my favorite in the book. It is not only a good guide for museums but for life. However, in his writings on the Newark Museum, Dana seemed to be pretty satisfied with his work, and I wonder if that stunted any of his later writings. Granted, as a leader in the Newark Museum, Dana would have had great interest in touting the museum but he did not tell the reader where the weaknesses of his museum were. He seemed to believe his small museum had the perfect balance, and was a trendsetter of the museum world. Dana spent much of his writing encouraging the use of local and common goods. And yet when he wrote of what the Newark Museum featured, he wrote they showed “Greek and Renaissance sculpture in casts; small American and other bronzes; the work of engravers of the first rank; the printing of American’s leading printer” (p. 160). Granted he also mentioned some that they displayed “Newark-made jewelry, Newark-made buttons and medallions, leather goods, textiles” (p. 176). Moreover, his vignette on bathtubs was a great idea that I loved, but it did not sound like Dana ever acted completely on that notion of beauty in the most common artifacts as he never mentioned whether the museums broadening ideas of beauty ever translated into an exhibit (p.174-175). I wonder what collection, the everyday objects or rare artifacts, won in the end. If only there was a means to discover where they were housed in comparison to traffic flow, how much of the museum’s funds were dedicated to the different collections, and how the museum field reacted to the Newark Museum.

Today, the Newark Museum’s websites declares it is the largest museum in New Jersey, quite the accomplishment considering its humble beginnings that Dana mentions. I have never been to the Newark, but I wonder if Dana’s ideas can still be seen today. It certainly seems like there might still be an element of him in these exhibitions http://www.newarkmuseum.org/OngoingExhibitions.html Then again, I would like to think there is an element of Dana in most museum exhibits today.