November 16, 2017
THE INFIRMARY?:
The new Bible museum tells a clear, powerful story. And it could change the museum business. (Philip Kennicott, 11/15/17, Washington Post)
The $500 million Museum of the Bible opens this weekend. (Essdras M Suarez for The Washington Post)When the Museum of the Bible opens this weekend, it will set a new standard for how this country's museums fuse entertainment and education. The $500 million, privately funded project is as large as some of the Smithsonian's premier attractions, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It is rich in content, stocked with historic treasures and carefully plotted to appeal to audiences of all ages. It brings to museum design the sophisticated marketing intelligence of the Oklahoma City-based Green family, who have used a fortune made from the Hobby Lobby retail chain to promote evangelical Christian causes. Their latest venture is a museum that offers a one-stop-shopping cultural experience, with history, art, architecture, theater and music conveniently packaged under one roof.What it does well, it does as well or better than any museum in the country, and its failings, which are significant, will be difficult to detect for anyone who isn't a scholar, or firmly committed secularist.
Posted by Orrin Judd at November 16, 2017 6:23 PM