Case Study

Kimbell Art Museum
Barnes Collection Exhibition

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas scored quite a coup when it was chosen as one of only four museums in the world to host Impressionist Masterpieces from the Barnes Collection: Cézanne to Matisse. Before this exhibit, the paintings had only been accessible at the exclusive Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania. With this important and exclusive exhibit, the Kimbell needed a powerful marketing and public relations campaign and called upon The Powell Group’s expertise in exhibition marketing. Key goals included selling 250,000 tickets, solidifying the Kimbell as a leader in the arts and in the North Texas community, developing and leveraging relationships with regional visitors organizations for the first time and generating media coverage for the exhibition and the Museum.

Developed an aggressive marketing plan including placement of $1.2 million in radio, television, newspaper and magazine advertising. Negotiated exhibit sponsorship of one-half of advertising expenditure for exhibit. Implemented local and regional media relations campaign using a non-arts press kit to reach a broad audience. Partnered with the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau to conduct a media familiarization tour.

Attracted the largest attendance of any major art museum exhibition in Texas history with 430,339 visitors. Created economic impact to Fort Worth of $102 million. Nearly tripled Museum membership to more than 15,000. Received coverage in major arts publications, entertainment broadcast segments and national consumer publications including Southern Living and Southern Accents.

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