Heat Wave

St. Louis has been unbearably hot for the last seven days, and the next seven are supposed to be just as bad. I have spent the past week sitting inside watching much more motivated, possibly crazier, people than myself outside exercising in 104° weather. I have only left the house to go to work. You might think that hot weather outside would drive people do to more inside activities, like visiting the nice environmentally controlled interior of a museum. I've found, though, that this kind of heat keeps a lot more people in than it sends them sprawling to get into an art gallery. It may not seem that difficult to climb into a car, drive the short distance, and walk into the museum, but in this kind of weather the interiors of cars amplify the greenhouse effect by about a thousand. No one wants to put up with that.

That being said, there are still those dedicated museum patrons that will come out in this weather. Yesterday at Laumeier Sculpture Park, which is a mostly outside experience, we still had three small groups show up for the 2:00pm docent tour. I really appreciate these kinds of visitors. I really appreciate anyone who knows how to enjoy and value art and history, no matter the monstrous blaze of the afternoon sun.

I have been wondering about these small bands of dedicated museum goers and also the larger population of those who just stay home. Is there something that museums can do to cater to folks on hot days? Perhaps there is a better approach museums should try in the summer. Something like:

Heat Wave got you down? 

Come to the museum and enjoy 

70° F and 50% humidity all afternoon.

Hygrothermograph Guaranteed

Just something I've been thinking about as I try to beat the heat. Do you think more museums should campaign in the summer as a cool and relaxing alternative to outside activities? Do you know of a museum that already does this?

Stay cool everybody.