The Mission Statement of Museums

The mission statement, a sentence or few that can make or break the objectives and purpose of an institution. A mission statement includes questions such as, “What do we do?”, “Why do we do what we do?”, “For whom”, and “How?”. In this case, two museums are being evaluated based on their mission statements. These museums include the “Smithsonian Museum of American History” and “The Metropolitan Museum of Art”. Both, are well-known museums whose mission statements may be an aspect of these institutions that are neglected by most. 

The mission statement of the Smithsonian Museum of American History states, “We help people understand the past in order to make sense of the present and shape a more humane future.” So does this mission statement fit all the expected aspects that define what a mission statement is? Well, the “what do we do” is answered by, “We help people understand the past,” the “why do we do what we do is answered by, “to make sense of the present and shape a more humane future,” and the “for whom” is vaguely answered by “people.” One of the aspects of a mission statement this is not included in this museum’s is the question of “how” this institution is going to accomplish the objectives it has laid out. 

A second mission statement pertaining to museums is that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This museums mission statement says, “The Metropolitan Museum of Art collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and idea”. So does this mission statement fit all the expected aspects that define what a mission statement is?  Well, the “what do we do” is answered by, “collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across all times and cultures”, the “why do we do what we do is answered by, “to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and idea”, and the “for whom” is once again vaguely answered by “people”. Symmetrical to the mission statement of the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the “how” is again left out. 

Other similarities between the two mission statements provided by these museums can be seen by the fact that they both vaguely represented “for whom” their institution caters to by simply using the word, “people”. Along with this similarity is the neglection of the “how” aspect of a mission statement by both museums as stated above. On a more positive note, both museums clearly expressed the “what do we do”, and the “why do we do what we do” guidelines of a mission statement. 

Although mission statements serve to express the objectives, outline, and even what the institution is, not all measure up to this definition and all that it entails. Both of these museums were able to express some aspects of a mission statement in clear and powerful ways, but seemed to lack and even totally disregard others. Even though these statements from these massive institutions are not causing any lack of attraction to these places of art and history, the importance of a mission statement is something that seems to need more consideration.