Success Labs Leadership Coaching Series Participants Will Seek Ways to Boost LSU Museum of Art Attendance
The LSU Museum of Art is Baton Rouge’s only dedicated art museum, and it’s home to one of the largest university art collections in the American South, including one of the most comprehensive public collections of Louisiana art. The museum runs outreach programs in the community as well. But even with all this, its attendance has been dropping.Why?We hope to find some answers in the coming weeks as this dynamic, exciting organization serves as our community partner in the next Success Labs Leadership Coaching Series session.The Leadership Coaching Series is designed to challenge high-potential employees and new leaders to expand their leadership competencies as they offer innovative, strategic business solutions to a real-world problem the community partner organization is facing. Participants are divided into two teams and must work together to identify strategies the organization can use to achieve its goal.
LSU Museum of Art’s Challenges
LSU Museum of Art Associate Director of Development Sarah Cortell Vandersypen says she hopes the collaboration can help find ways to boost the museum’s profile and attendance. This is the museum’s first time working with us on the Leadership Coaching Series, although Vandersypen’s husband, Ryan, was a participant in this year’s spring session. She says that using a nonprofit in a leadership development exercise struck her as a wonderful collaboration and a great way for people to give back to the community while building their own skills.The museum is a unit of the university, but because it moved off campus a decade ago and must raise more than half of its annual budget, it relies on the community for a lot of support, Vandersypen says. Its robust educational program includes outreach that targets under-resourced neighborhoods, homeschool events, art literacy programs and more. Inside its walls, however, the museum hasn’t built consistency around a permanent collection. “It takes time to build an identity,” Vandersypen says.Even though the museum has been serving more people outside of its walls, it’s seen an overall decrease in visits, Vandersypen says. Annual attendance has varied between 17,500 and 20,000 over the past four years. She says she has some hunches about why this is happening, such as physical or financial barriers, but she’s looking forward to getting a different perspective from Leadership Coaching Series participants and learning more about how the Baton Rouge community sees the organization.
Seeking Insights
Vandersypen says she hopes participants can provide better insight into the visitor experience and ways to reach communities that aren’t traditional museum-goers but could find value in the museum’s programs. “Museums can be intimidating, but they don’t have to be. We’re trying to build some bridges across the community to allow everyone to access the resources here. What can we do to get people in our doors at least once to see what a great resource it is for the community?”Check back here this fall to read about what the Leadership Coaching Series participants came up with for the LSU Art Museum. And let us know if you’d like to learn more about the Leadership Coaching Series and how your company’s emerging leaders can participate.Success Labs is a full-service, strategic organizational and leadership development company located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy