The Kimbell Art Museum, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is banking on building a relationship with young people to help ensure it continues to thrive.

Designed by Louis Kahn, the museum is located in the cultural district of Fort Worth alongside many other museums.

“When the Kimbell opened up, there was an agreement between museums in the cultural district to not compete with each other but each museum's practices should elevate the others,” said Connie Barganier, Head of Education.

The Kimbell's collection has an emphasis on Greek poetry and sculpture, paintings from Asia, some ancient American art and the language and beauty of African art.

In the last two years, the pandemic forced museums to shut down and pushed the Kimbell to move to online programming to try and keep people engaged. 

“It was very apparent that the staff would have to adapt and develop an engaging online experience to keep people engaged with the museum,” said Barganier.

The staff used Zoom training and teachings that were open to anyone. Through this, the staff realized the reach that online programming had and how it allowed the museum to connect with people multiple states away. One piece of online programming that will be staying is the dual language YouTube series Pages and Pictures/Fotos y Libros, which allows children to interact with different art and cultures.

While acknowledging the reach growing outside of Fort Worth through online engagement, there is one demographic that the Kimbell staff continues to innovate and create new ways to get involved in coming and supporting the museum. Young people. 

“Teen and young adult programming has become a focus and a very important part of our programming,” said Barganier.

This makes sense because, as a city with a university like TCU, the younger demographic in Fort Worth is a cornerstone of the community. Additionally, about 30% of Fort Worth's population is made up of people who are under 18 years old, according to the United States Census Bureau.

The development of “The Pavilion,” an expansion of the Kimbell built in 2013, made it possible for the Kimbell to conceptualize and redefine its teen and young adult programming in 2014. The new space allowed the museum to hire new staff that would be solely devoted to focusing on teen and young adult programming.

One of the developments is the teen hangout nights. These are free admission events where the museum puts on game nights, hands-on art creation with real artists and other various activities to create engagement among adolescents.  

“As an intern, I would help oversee and plan the teen hangouts, and the kids loved that they were able to do all these fun activities in a museum that not every kid gets growing up,” said Lillian Young, former Kimbell intern and current museum education specialist for The Brooklyn Museum of Art. 

One of the other aspects that makes teen hangouts so special is that they are curated and hosted by the Kimbell’s teen council, Barganier said. 

The teen council is an advisory board of teenagers in the Fort Worth community, advised by Kimbell interns and staff, that meets about every month. This council allows students to have an impact on the community by placing them in leadership roles at the museum. 

The council was online during the pandemic but it has transitioned back into in-person this year. Even with it being online, the council itself still teaches the members about creating and presenting programming to their peers as well as collaborating with each other. The museum has seen many students who serve a role on the council stay involved with the Kimbell going forward because of how much they enjoy their experience.

Another major cultural part of the Kimbell Museum has been its internship program.

“It has been here forever, certainly way longer than I have been here, however, we had to stop it during COVID-19, so we wanted to reevaluate it and reimagine the entire program,” Barganier said.

With the hiatus from all in-person events, the museum staff analyzed the areas where the museum could improve the position and make it more beneficial for interns. The three changes were made: making it a paid position, allowing more cross-pollination between intern departments and finding ways to incorporate some more practical and professional experience. 

“I loved how hands-on the internship was and I took a lot of the things that I learned at the Kimbell with me when working other jobs later in life,” said Elizabeth Bell, events and public programming assistant at Dumbarton House.

The internship now has three internship cycles per year including summer, fall and spring programs that students can apply for. 

The internship program’s initiative is “designed to mentor future museum professionals from diverse cultural, economic, social and educational backgrounds,” according to Kimbellart.org. 

The internship is unique and designed to help college-aged students develop all facets of their life with or without the desire to one day work in a museum full time. The reason that an internship can be so beneficial is that “34% of college graduates, doing an internship has significantly impacted career directions and employment opportunities,” according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. 

As the Kimbell continues to grow older, it will be these programs, the teen council and the internship program, that allow it to remain an integral part of the Fort Worth community, build off of its work to foster impactful relationships with teenagers and young adults and keep them interested in seeing and being around all types of art. 

The Kimbell Museum of Art has surpassed a big milestone of 50 years; however, the Kimbell staff realizes that it will be the current young adults and teens that will help it make it to the next 50 years.