4 min read July 2023 — Jennifer Grant Warner, president and CEO of Fernbank Museum, talked with Focus: about changes in the industry after the pandemic. The tourism sector took a hit but it is rebuilding and seeing numbers increase again.
What are some of the key highlights and milestones Fernbank has experienced in the last year?
We are getting back to our roots in many ways. We launched our Fernbank on the Go project, which is an outreach effort with the Mobile Museum, so that we can take Fernbank into the communities to connect with people where they are, especially those from our marginalized communities who may not be able to visit the museum in person. In fall 2022, we celebrated our 30th anniversary of the museum being open — a major milestone.
We are continuing the journey of rebounding post-pandemic. Our attendance was, as you might imagine, impacted greatly in 2020 and 2021, and it’s still coming back. 2023 is off to a great start and we’re encouraged by what we’re seeing with visitation levels. We have been focused on the return of field trips and schools coming to visit the campus, and have been excited to see both our daily visitors and our members returning in greater volume.
Today, other priorities are presenting dynamic exhibitions that will draw people to Fernbank — both indoors and outdoors. We added WildWoods: AGLOW, for example, which debuted as a nature-based, nighttime experience late in 2022 and ran through the first quarter of 2023. It was designed to bring new audiences to Fernbank and to connect audiences with nature in a unique way.
What are your insights into the state of the industry right now?
Museums, tourism and hospitality took a big hit during the pandemic and Fernbank was certainly a part of that. We saw our attendance go from 430,000 in 2019 to 147,000 in 2020 and so we’re rebuilding. We saw 340,000 on our campus in 2022 and we are on track to well exceed that this year. We are keeping an eye on potential economic headwinds but remain optimistic for the future. There is an opportunity for museums to come out of this even stronger because there’s nothing that can replace the experience of coming into the museum, seeing the dinosaurs, walking outdoors through Fernbank Forest, all in real life. We want to leverage that as we go forward because we believe we have all grown to appreciate those in-person and unique opportunities more. We are focusing on recovery and building back stronger and better, leaning into the experiences we offer at Fernbank specifically. Our mission is incredibly relevant today and into the future with the intersection of science, nature and human culture. We feel like we have a unique opportunity.
How have you seen museums evolve with the changing demographic landscape?
We have long worked on making sure that we have a diverse audience at Fernbank. We strive to reach and represent our community that we call home, including through initiatives with our board, corporate council, volunteers and staff.
One of the notable things about Atlanta is we have the largest wealth inequality in the country. This shapes our programming and how we serve our community, so prioritize efforts to reach marginalized communities. To help close some of those gaps, we have scholarships so that we can subsidize or provide free admission for Title I students. We create and provide school programs and outreach to those students, whether it be on-site or off-site through programs like Fernbank on the Go, our mobile museum initiative. We have a program called Grow Up Great that’s in partnership with PNC Bank and the Alliance Theater, one of our cultural partners here in Atlanta. We serve more than 1,000 pre-K students in the city. It’s a STEAM program where we provide opportunities and experiences at Fernbank and the Alliance. We work with teachers on how to incorporate inquiry-based learning, which is how we approach learning at Fernbank. Kids are naturally curious at a young age so we want to help cultivate that. We’ve historically offered an after-school program for third, fourth and fifth graders in Title I schools, which is now evolving as we find our footing post-pandemic and determine how we can best serve students in those after-school hours with science enrichment.
How do you teach kids to be interested in science, math and engineering, while also nurturing their artistic and creative side?
We see the two going very much hand in hand. Science is about being curious as you’re trying to understand how, why, what, when and what if. We also make sure everything that we do is fun as well as hands-on and immersive. Being at the museum is not like looking at something in a book, it’s bringing it to life. With our science programming, we also incorporate arts and crafts into our activities, and art also speaks to the beauty that’s all around us in nature.
How do you keep your pulse on the type of experiences visitors want from the museum?
We gather feedback through a variety of ways. We are constantly monitoring social media messages, reviews and comments, which provide a great source of feedback. It’s a new market research tool in many respects. We field surveys and market research studies to understand our current and potential constituents. Another unique thing about Fernbank is our science educators. They are directly conducting many of the programs we provide. They are seeing and watching what’s happening with our guests and what they’re responding to. One of the best places to get feedback and to understand the pulse is talking to our box office team. Somebody in our box office welcomed each one of our guests through our doors. This team is incredibly important because they’re the ones answering questions and interacting with guests. They’re a great resource regarding what they are hearing, what questions they are getting and what people respond to.
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