By Wei Chu and Eileen Fanning

The end of the calendar year is a clear opportunity for reviewing major trends and developments in cultures, businesses and organizations. And for museums, which are both the guardians of the past and the harbingers of the future, introspective and retrospective analysis is both familiar and essential. Looking back, 2008 saw new patterns evolving in museum administration and development that may well have long-lasting effects. This has been a year of challenges as major museums have weathered upheavals in leadership while all have dealt with the nationwide economic instability and doubt. Yet these changes have served as an impetus for self-evaluation and fresh approaches. It has been a time for ushering in a new generation of leadership and pursuing new environmentally- and socially-conscious avenues.

One such event, or rather, group of events, has been the change of stewardship among several of America's major museums. This year, the departures of Philippe de Montebello, Lawrence Small, and Thomas Krens, as well as the tragic death of Anne d'Harnoncourt left the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Smithsonian Institution, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art searching for new leadership at the highest level. "We are facing a generational shift right now," Millicent Gaudieri, executive director of the Association of Art Museum Directors told Newsweek magazine. "It's been 15 years since we've had this many openings."

In January of this year, after 31 years at the helm, Director Philippe de Montebello announced his retirement at age 71 to begin teaching at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. Like many other directors of his generation, De Montebello focused on expanding the museum's permanent collection as well as augmenting the budget and exhibit space. New galleries, many of which were installed in the last year, have nearly doubled the museum in size and its operating budget has increased by a factor of five under de Montebello's control. "It seemed like a good moment to step down on a high," he told the New York Times, referring to 2007 as an "annus mirabilis."

The replacements of de Montebello, Krens and Lawrence, by Thomas Campbell, Richard Armstrong, and Wayne Clough, respectively, highlight a new trend in museum leadership away from the prevailing one in which museums were viewed as businesses and directors were more like corporate CEOs, whose main task was administration and fundraising. Campbell and Armstrong both have Ph.Ds and have built notable careers as curators while Clough, a former professor of civil engineering and president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, emphasize a more academic approach among museums. Referring to the latter, Charles Alcock, Acting Undersecretary for Science of the Smithsonian Institution, said, "Under this new administration, we are refocusing on the intellectual mission of the Smithsonian - the increase and dissemination of knowledge." The appointments of Campbell, Armstrong, and Clough seem to announce a new, introspective tendency among museums and a renewed concern with museums' core functions of research and education rather than visitor numbers and expansion projects. This trend is also borne out by the establishment, in 2006, of the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the Museum of Natural History, which enrolled its first Ph.D. candidates in September of this year.

The economy has been another area where museums have suffered losses and it is clear that the "build or perish" mentality that has dominated the world of museums for the better part of a decade has begun to slow down and may well screech to halt with the country's current fiscal crisis. For those museums in the middle of building campaigns, the economy has had adverse effects. A decline in funding has left new institutions unable to repay loans that allowed construction and established museums have delayed much-anticipated renovations and expansions.

While the expansion projects have been slow in materializing, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of private museums housing the collections of individuals such as heiress Alice Walton or billionaire Don Fisher. Other notable collections have been made available to the public from private collectors such as Eli Broad. Rather than constructing exhibition space, he opted to continue with a lending library model whereby museums could take pieces out when they chose to display them. "We see ourselves as the guardians of the works during our lifetimes," Broad explained to the Globe and Mail of Canada. The move has been seen by some as a potential paradigm for other private collectors, who may see Broad's approach as a way of retaining control over their collection while maintaining maximum exposure for their works.

The government has recognized the growing financial hardships and museums were given a substantial financial break this year with the expansion of the Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Program. The program, which is administered by the National Endowment of the Arts, has provided museums with an alternative to the high cost of insurance for borrowed art and artifacts by applying to the federal government to guarantee the owners' reimbursement in the event of theft, damage, or loss. Since 1975, the program has aided curators in obtaining major loans from museums abroad but this year, with a fifty percent increase to the ten billion dollar pool, museum borrowing within the United States can now be covered. The NEA estimates that under the previous program, museums have saved up to two hundred and fifty million dollars and its domestic program will probably save museums much more given the popularity of traveling exhibits in the past years. This has been a much-needed change as the rising cost of insurance since the September 11 attacks has been crippling for many museums. "This is one of the best things to happen in the museum field for a long time," said Ford Bell, president of the American Association of Museums in an interview with the LA Times. For art museums, he said, extending the coverage to domestic loans was "the top priority."

All this is part of a broader trend among museums to become community leaders, not only by active intervention in the communities in which they find themselves but by serving as ethical beacons, as exempla virtutis. "This year, we've seen a lot of opening up in the museum community," said Janet Marstine the director of the Institute for Museum Ethics at Seton Hall University. "People are more aware of the need for museums to behave ethically," adding that, "it is imperative that that responsibility extend to all areas of museum operation."

Towards this end, the American Association of Museums has published its standards for the ethical acquisition of archeological artifacts and ancient art which were developed by a diverse panel from across the museum community. After two years of research and preparation, the task force charged with developing the standards concluded that museums must meet certain expectations. The provenance policy of the organization and the ownership history of the collections must be made public. Additionally, future acquisitions should have the documented provenance data available at least as far back as November 17, 1970, the date on which the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property was signed.

"The museum community is deeply concerned about international looting of cultural materials and the resulting destruction of sites and information," said Ford W. Bell. "These standards will help U.S. museums shape their policies and practices to effectively promote the preservation of our common cultural patrimony."

In addition to these concerns, there has been a pronounced move towards environmental conscientiousness as seen in the increase of green practices among museums in the past year. In September of this year, the California Academy of Sciences inaugurated its $500 million dollar Green Science Museum, whose main goal is to educate about evolution and sustainability. The building is an example of the social responsibility that museums are trying to model by being ecologically friendly. A "living roof" boosts insulation and prevents two million gallons of storm water runoff each year while a canopy of solar cells generates enough electricity to meet 10 percent of the museum's needs. The building is slated to receive a LEED platinum rating by the U.S. Green Building Council, the highest marks which it can receive for sustainability.

Dramatic as it may be, the Green Science Museum mirrors the work of many in the museum community. Smaller museums, such as the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, have embraced environmental stewardship by modifying their mission statements to include the preservation of culture and artifacts of their region. Connecting constituents to their environments and teaching sustainability has become a key expectation among museums, as it appears that the preservation of their natural surroundings is inexorably linked to the future of their organizations. "If the museum prospers, while the bay dies, what's the point?" Stuart Parnes president of Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum asked Museum Magazine this year.

Despite the current economic context, museums have remained as integral sources of information and entertainment. And, with fresh leadership and new perspectives, there is great potential to continue to improve and expand within and beyond the communities that they serve. With a focus on economically and ecologically prudent growth and ethically-informed policies, museums and other cultural/heritage learning centers not only reflect the concerns of the country but forecast the trends of our future.