Art: What is art's place in the picture?

When the James A. Michener Art Museum recently announced the impending construction of yet another addition, I couldn't resist ragging director Bruce Katsiff about building the country's first "art-free" museum wing.

As its name indicates, the glass-walled Edgar N. Putman Event Pavilion, designed by Philadelphia architects Kieran Timberlake, will be used for concerts, lectures, and exhibition openings. It will also generate revenue through rentals for weddings and private parties.

To be fair, the Michener added a lot of gallery and other art-related space in its previous expansions; the 2,700-square-foot Putman wing is the final phase of a long-range development plan.

And it won't be entirely art-free. "I expect to place some sculpture in the building," Katsiff said. "It is a museum building and art belongs everywhere it can be safely exhibited."

Point taken. Yet the Michener project emphasizes a trend that has been evident in the museum world for some time. It was neatly summarized by Ann Philbin, director of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, when she told the New York Times: "We can't just be about art anymore. Museums are the new community centers."

Art museums "not just about art" - how pathetically sad. Yet the evidence is all around us that this mind-set has become firmly rooted, in activities such as jazz Fridays at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and yoga classes at the Museum of Modern Art.

The cultural shift isn't confined to programming. Museums in this area and elsewhere are dedicating spaces to non-art cultural use as well as to making money.

All museums now need the rental income that spaces like the Michener's glass-walled Putman pavilion can generate. Katsiff said he and his board believe the addition, which the museum hopes will be finished by fall 2011, could produce $150,000 to $250,000 a year in income.

Beyond that, the new space will provide more opportunities to attract new visitors. "We're looking for all kinds of devices to get people in the doors," Katsiff said.

These days, most museums are doing likewise. The National Museum of American Jewish History, which expects to open its new building in mid-November, will include a large events space on its fifth floor, overlooking Independence Mall.

Museum spokesman Jay Nachman said the space is designed so that half can be used for special exhibitions. For events, it can accommodate 600 guests for banquets and 800 in theater seating.