The Kimbell Art Museum, established in 1972, is located in Fort Worth, Texas’ Cultural District. Operated by the Kimbell Art Foundation, the museum grew from the personal collection of Kay Kimbell and his wife Velma, who wished to “encourage art in Fort Worth and Texas” in a “museum…of the first class.” The mission statement created by the board of the Kimbell Art Foundation in 1966 remains the museum’s mission statement today, which guides the museum to focus on “[acquiring] and [retaining] works…that may be said to define an artist or type regardless of medium”; as such, their collection is not historically complete, but is instead comprised of works of overall artistic significance (“History”). The museum website’s homepage is visually captivating and inviting, and aspects of a visitor’s virtual journey are well-defined, but the website leaves room for improvement in its clarity and inclusiveness.
The museum’s mission statement is summarized in a short overview of its history, but clear information about the museum’s purpose is not easily accessible – it is hidden toward the bottom of the homepage under a secondary “History” link, which can be easily lost amongst the videos, links, and photos intended to inspire audiences to visit in-person instead of learn virtually. The full mission statement is not explicitly stated, and the summary solely references the collection and not the museum’s intentions for engagement with the public (“History”). Without this information readily available, visitors are left to interpret whether the museum is aligned with its mission, or whether the museum itself is truly clear on its mission. The website’s overall layout and emphasis on engaging audiences for in-person visits suggests the museum places primary focus on visitor engagement, but there is no way to validate this idea. Not providing audiences with a clear mission statement may give the museum more flexibility in its programming, but it also feels slightly misleading and can even alienate audiences and communities who are looking to support institutions whose vision aligns with their own. Remedying this would be simple, as the museum could include its full, clear mission statement on its “History” page, or perhaps offer a link directly to its mission as other institutions do.
Without a clearly defined mission statement, it is also difficult to discern the museum’s target audience. The website’s “Participate” page includes programs for all ages, as many museums do, and its categories of programming directed toward those audiences are clearly outlined on each related page. The “Adults” and “Kids and Families” pages offer the most robust programming opportunities (some of which are described in both English and Spanish), implying that their target audience truly rests in those demographics. Each activity category links directly to a pre-filtered Calendar page for that demographic and event type, but events for those audiences are overshadowed by a ‘Featured Event’ banner that scrolls across the top of the page. It is not immediately clear that those events are featured regardless of the filters set for your search, and the actually relevant ‘No events have been found based on your criteria’ for some intended audiences disappears beneath that scrolling banner, which is confusing and disappointing (“Calendar”). Locating the museum’s featured events beneath the opportunities (or lack thereof) for that filtered audience would result in a much clearer user experience.
The museum advertises their current special exhibition “The Language of Beauty in African Art” on their homepage with three striking photos of African masks, which are large and colorful and occupy the full width of the page, inviting the visitor to more closely examine the masks and wonder about their origin and stories. Relevant information regarding the exhibition dates and a short synopsis of its character are included alongside a link to purchase tickets. But the compelling visuals of the masks are not accompanied by any further description or option to learn more about the exhibition from this home page; the visitor must click the “Buy Tickets” link to reveal additional information, which is not intuitive placement, nor is it conducive to audiences wishing simply to virtually explore the exhibition (“Homepage”). Perhaps renaming the “Buy Tickets” link as “Learn More” would help visitors understand they can virtually explore the exhibition from that space while still sharing the link to purchase tickets.
Interactive virtual tours of the primary special exhibition and the museum’s permanent collection are offered, but they are not easy to locate, nor are all available virtual tours found in the same place. Creating a centralized page that includes all interactive tours would be beneficial to visitors who simply want to browse the art online. Within each virtual tour, audiences can click through VR galleries to learn more about each object, which includes a close-up view of the object and a thorough description of its history, significance, and visual interpretation (“Interact”). But these interactive tours do not seem to be accessible to the visually impaired through audio components, and interacting with the platform’s mechanics is finicky even for an experienced tech user, which can alienate audiences who are not tech savvy. The museum also offers online audio tours in both English and Spanish, and they’ve created a smartphone app for teen audiences, which includes scavenger hunts and challenges centered on specific artworks (“Interact”). While this app is clearly targeted to teens, adults may still find it to be a fun and interactive learning experience as well, perhaps in combination with a happy hour!
While aspects of the website are presented in Spanish, the website is primarily written in English, and any Spanish materials are buried on random pages on the site. Offering a button for translation and more clearly surfacing the materials that are written or spoken in Spanish would better include those audiences whose primary language is not English. Providing materials in other languages common to the area, such as Vietnamese, would also expand the museum’s audience and encourage new communities to visit.
This website is most successful in providing audiences with abundant information on how to visit the museum in person. Not only are the details of visiting outlined within the “Visit” page, but nearly every other page of the website contains links to information on visiting the museum as well, and a persistent header displays today’s hours and a link to purchase tickets. The museum also offers clear guidance on its operating hours, ticket pricing, where to park, and how to access the museum via car, bike, or public transit (“Visit”). The “Accessibility” page provides abundant information on how visitors with physical, hearing, or visual disabilities can still enjoy the museum, and they seem to provide sufficient accommodation for those in-person audiences via various seating and mobility options, braille guides, and programs available in sign language on advance request (though that interpretation should be validated by a visitor with those disabilities). Also of note, the museum also offers suggestions and participation options for visitors on the autism spectrum and those experiencing Alzheimer’s, dementia, or other mental health disorders, and tours for those audiences can be booked in advance (“Accessibility”). Directly speaking to these audiences on its website and in-person indicates the museum is aware and actively working to improve its engagement with its full community, though accommodating these audiences on other pages on the site would be more comprehensively inclusive.
While the Kimbell Art Museum’s website is not always the most intuitive or user-friendly, it does offer plenty of relevant information about its exhibitions, programming, and beautiful architecture and grounds that inspires the planning of at least one in-person visit.
Works Cited
“Accessibility.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/visit/accessibility. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“Adults.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/participate/adults. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“Calendar.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/calendar. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“History.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/about/history. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“Homepage.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/about/history. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“Interact.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/participate/interact. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“Kids and Families.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/participate/kids-and-families. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“Language of Beauty in African Art.” Kimbell Art Museum,https://kimbellart.org/exhibition/language-beauty-african-art. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“Participate.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/exhibition/language-beauty-african-art. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“Teens.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/participate/teens. Accessed 3 July 2022.
“Visit.” Kimbell Art Museum, https://kimbellart.org/visit. Accessed 3 July 2022.
Originally written July 2022.
Art with an Opinion 