ETSU’s Reece Museum hasn’t seen a decline in attendance since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but the same can’t be said for museums dependent on tourist dollars.
“Until this happened, visitation to museums was steadily growing,” said Blair White, director and curator for Reece Museum.
White said that the American Association of Museums recently did a study revealing that greater numbers of people visited museums each year than went to amateur and professional sports.
The decrease in travel has been traumatic for major museums and cultural institutions -such as the Smithsonian Institution, which depend heavily on tourists.
White said decreasing tourism is leading to layoffs at some of our country’s major museums.
“I would say that our visitation has remained pretty much the same,” he said.
White said the loss of artwork does not equal the loss of human life, but the art world lost major works of art when the World Trade Center collapsed.
He said it will be interesting to see what artists create in response and in memory of the tragedy that occurred.
He said there have been calls for a memorial to be built on the World Trade Center site.
He fears, however, that due to the price of land and real estate in New York City, they will rebuild.
“Will people go to work there?” he said, adding that the memory of what happened would be a deterrent to many people.
White said art could play an important role in dealing with the Sept.11 tragedy and the war that has ensued.
And, like other war memorials, any memorial built could be as controversial for others as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was for him.
“I was very much opposed to the Vietnam Memorial. I didn’t feel that it conveyed my experience at all,” he said.
A visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial changed his opinion. He said it is an incredibly moving experience to see it. His trips to Washington, D.C. are not complete unless he visits “the wall.”
“It is the most visited memorial in Washington. That says a lot,” White said.
White said because of the decrease in tourism, many industries are suffering.
It is not only the tourist attractions that are hurting financially but also the businesses that serve them.
He said it is the peak-tourism time in Tennessee and questions what will be the long-term effects on the state if people let their fears keep them at home.
“It’s something that we’ve never had to deal with before,” he said.

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