Can store-fronts be the new wave of museum exhibition?

How a museum conceives of its' spacial boundaries is important when discussing accessibility to the public. Is your institution large-a landmark statement? Does its' physical appearance encourage people to visit? How do people feel once they hand a ticket over and walk in your doors? Are they overwhelmed? All museums, large and small should ask themselves these questions when looking a how accessible their space is to visitors. While larger organizations can easily be accused of distancing the visitor, smaller museums can also make similar mistakes.

But what if we take the museum out of the context in which we know it? What if museums weren't the hallowed spaces in which we have always been taught? 

Imagine a museum in the storefront next to your favorite coffee shop, down the street from the grocery store and across the road from the dry cleaners. Would the space in which it inhabits make you frequent it more often simply because of its' accessibility? 

Store-front museums and exhibitions exist precisely in this way. They reside in a storefront, operated by an institution and are examples of a localized community effort to bring the museum experience back to the neighborhood and to the people. Many of the store-front museums I have come across are run by people who are passionate about the participation and inclusion of local voices and characters. They are community spaces for the people, by the people. 

My first example is the Denver Community Museum based in Colorado. Although this museum is officially closed, its' legacy lives on.

Visitors at the "Bottled Up" exhibition

Community curated show "Bottled Up"

http://www.denvercommunitymuseum.org/

Located in a storefront in downtown Colorado, museum exhibitions were curated by the local community and changed monthly. Based on "Challenges" presented by the museum, people submitted objects and creations which fit the monthly topic. Above is a picture of the community curated exhibition "Bottled Up" which asked participants to place things which they would like to preserve in a bottle such as experiences, memories, notes, pictures, etc.

Whats so interesting and unique about the Denver Community Museum is that no only is it in a store-front, participatory museum but it also only lasted for a year. On purpose. Although this could open up an entire new conversation about museum purpose and longevity, one has to wonder if this is a new type of museum model, one which has a short term mission and goal.

My second example is the Chinese Cultural Center in San Francisco, California.

Inside the gallery space at the Chinese Cultural Center

 http://www.c-c-c.org/

Located in the Hilton Hotel on the edges of Chinatown, the Chinese Cultural Center (CCC) sits in a unique space. Because of its' location inside of the hotel, many of its' visitors are people from out of town visiting the city. While this provides new visitors the opportunity to be exposed to Chinese culture in the city before the venture out of the confines of the hotel, this presents a problem to many of the local residents. In an effort to reach out to one of the largest Chinese/Chinese-American communities in the United States, the CCC holds exhibits, parades, and public events in the local community, specifically the storefronts of Chinatown which surround the hotel.

Above, artist Ken Lo in front of his store front installation "Lucky Feet, Happy Shoes" as a part of the Present Tense Biennial exhibition

While the CCC has a permanent home in the Hilton Hotel, store-front installations allow for more direct access to the local Chinese Community, what the CCC was originally created for. The CCC in some ways has garnered more attention from locals through this effort; it is slowly becoming a place where people from the community can visit and participate in ways that were not happening before the storefront exhibitions.

Well, what do you think? Are store-front museums, installations and exhibitions the new wave of the future? Or is it simply a fad?