Showing Off

The Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) in Jackson, Mississippi is a booming artful educational museum that features a flourishing amount of diverse exhibitions, entertaining programs and an ingenious permanent collection. The MMA started as the Mississippi Art Association (MAA) in 1911, in 1979 it became MMA and in 2007 the Museum relocated to the newly renovated Mississippi Arts Pavilion, now its current home.

The MMA is progressively riding the wave of social media; it is by far more interactive on the Internet than many other arts organizations. The MMA official website is full of photographs and helpful information. It is easy to navigate; it grabs your attention while leaving you craving for more. The Museum has a Facebook page, a Twitter page, a Flickr account and a blog.

The MMA Facebook page is very energetic, along with posts about upcoming events, there are posts giving thanks, sharing photos, responding to the public and sharing other news about artists and featured exhibits. There are pictures from events, detailed information about events and links shared for additional interesting news and happenings in the art industry.

The MMA Twitter page is active as well, likewise not just with event updates. The host of the page tweets about the café, educational programs, family activities and other local events that the host deems worthy of mentioning. Posts are every day or every few days, with plenty of followers. There is not much interaction with the public or from the public but otherwise good use of the page.

The Museum also has a Flickr account with hundreds of photos in their photostream. On the official website, sharing photos on Flickr is highly encouraged. This account is unique, because not many other visual arts organizations have Flickr accounts or any other social network account that boosts or posts photos and/or video. It’s a step outside the common Museum website display of photos, into letting the public know the MMA cares about and wants to know they enjoyed their visit to the Museum.

The Mississippi Museum of Art furthermore manages a blog. The blog posts are essentially about exhibits, programs and events after they occur. The goal or vision of the event, what took place, and how it impacted the community is discussed. Photos are incorporated, along with citing of the café and posts are regularly every week or so. Posts are written by different people, typically the organizer or such of that particular event, program or exhibit.

I think the Mississippi Museum of Art; the largest art museum in Mississippi is broadening their dominance at the top. While managing a largely treasured and respected Museum they are leading the way in supporter appreciation by using social media to connect, pay attention, listen and simply care.