ABSTRACT
Across the globe, museum staff are concerned with cultivating the next generation of supporters. Drawing on in-depth interviews with supporters of African American museums, as well as archival records and firsthand observations, this chapter compares how patrons from different age cohorts define the value of black museums. More specifically, it examines their views about the ideal place of contemporary culture, technology, and politics in these institutions. Supporters’ emphasis on the contemporary is inversely related to their generational status. Younger supporters, or those born after 1965 including Millennials and Generation Xers, tend to place the greatest emphasis on technological, political, and cultural developments that emerged in the 1990s and beyond. Culturally, they often place more value on highlighting contemporary visual artists, such as Kehinde Wiley, in museum exhibitions, and featuring contemporary music, such as hip hop, at museum events. Politically, this group often underscores highlighting political issues of today, such as Black Lives Matter, in African American museums. And, technologically, younger supporters typically call more attention to integrating social media and other new technology, such as online apps like Twitter, into black museums.
