What It Will Take to Keep The AGB Free For All
PHOTOS BY JORDAN RANDALL AND MADI ELIZABETH
It’s awe-inspiring, highly versatile, more than 52,000 square feet and made to accommodate guests of all ages, and it’s free to visit?
The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art at Florida Southern College (The AGB) has positioned itself to be a community hub of art and culture for generations to come, but it’s going to have to be a mecca for the people supported by the people to remain free.
Dr. Alex Rich, executive director and chief curator, says aside from generous donors and sponsors it’s going to take an influx of new members to help support the heightened costs associated with operating the state-of-the-art expansion.
The museum had around 1,200 members at the beginning of the year. Rich said he would like to see that number double this year to establish a more stable financial foundation that better aligns with the expectations of a museum of this caliber.
“We can only keep doing what we’re doing if we have members,” he said. “It’s for people who want ownership in something that is not found in most cities of our size, so I hope people feel pride and will become more active members of our museum community.”
So what exactly does it mean to be a member of an organization that offers free admission to its primary attraction? It looks like a modest annual contribution (that can even be broken into small monthly contributions for higher membership levels) that unlocks member-only privileges, discounts on art classes and camps, neighborhood benefits at participating local businesses and a variety of reciprocal benefits around the region and country, depending on the membership level.
Memberships start as low as $50 per year for an individual membership, Sponsor memberships run $120 annually–or $10 per month—and include two adults and all minors in a household, and tiers go up to $1,000 per year for a Patron Membership that includes amenities such as a private docent-led tour, discounts on facility rentals and more.
The Neighborhood Discount Program provides members discounts at local spots like Black & Brew and Cob & Pen, as well as complimentary services or gifts at Lakeland businesses including Venue Salon and Scout & Tag. Depending on membership level, reciprocal admission benefits can include everything from passes to Bok Tower Gardens and Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry, and members are often invited to explore new exhibits in advance of the general public.
One staff member of the museum mentioned that becoming a member and seeing many of the same people at events and special functions kind of takes you back to the hallways of high school where people would hang out, share stories and do life together.
At the VIP ribbon cutting ceremony on January 9, Rep. Jennifer Canady and Lakeland City Commissioner Stephanie Madden were a couple of many donors, dignitaries and supporters on hand for the special evening.
Pal Powell, director of museum events and special projects, who has been affiliated with the museum for 33 years, says that membership is not just a symbol of support, it is actually what will keep the museum alive.
“If you think about it, whenever you want to invest in something and you want to keep it around, you have to put some money toward it—you’ve got to put your own effort into it,” she said. “If the community backs [the museum] through membership, that’s more classes we can offer, that’s more programming we can offer. The museum is already free, so you are just buying into the mission and allowing us to keep offering it to more and more people down the road.”
Membership provides a consistent source of revenue from within the community to help support a facility that had around 140,000 visitors coming through the doors per year prior to the expansion. The annual operating budget for the museum has hovered around $1.6 million annually the past several years, and it operated at a deficit in 2023, according to Guidestar.org.
As an engaged member of The AGB, a person will have the opportunity to become more educated about and enamored with art from eras and cultures that chart an expansive timeline of human history, while keeping the experience accessible to all.
On a recent evening, dozens of people from 20-somethings to 70-somethings gathered for an evening celebrating the spirit and history of jazz—through live musical performances, a viewing of the Above All, Enjoy the Music photo gallery and a discussion with a local expert—as a way to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s just one way the impact of The AGB will always be more than just an economic development driver, and it offers proof of how the arts can bring diverse groups of people together for shared experiences that often unify.
“This is a new starting gate for us,” Dr. Rich said. “It is a new chapter, but we have so many more chapters to write ahead for the museum.”
“If the community backs [the museum] through membership, that’s more classes we can offer, that’s more programming we can offer.”
Individual Membership - $50 per year
Household Membership - $80 per year
Sponsor Membership - $120 per year
Advocate Membership -$250 per year (or $130 for homeschool families)
*Each membership level includes different benefits that can be found on the website, and there are larger business memberships available as well