2026 Art Museum Trustee Study: Board Culture, Trustee Impact, and the Future of Art Museum Governance
What enables art museum trustees to be effective? What do trustees hope to contribute through their service, and what conditions allow them to make a meaningful impact?
Join the Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums (BTA) in partnership with SMU DataArts, for the launch of the 2026 Art Museum Trustee Study, the most comprehensive examination to date of the art museum trustee experience. Drawing on trustees’ perspectives from across the field, the study offers a deeper understanding of who serves on museum boards, what motivates them to serve, how they experience board service, where they are able to have influence, and what enables or limits their effectiveness. It also considers what trustees see as the opportunities and challenges facing museum boards as institutions navigate the future.
During this webinar, SMU DataArts will share key findings and explore what they reveal about building stronger, more effective, and more resilient museum boards.
The Art Museum Trustee Study explores:
Trustee areas of influence and impact
Recruitment, onboarding, and retention of trustees
Success factors and limiting factors that shape board effectiveness
Board culture, trustee engagement, and
Strategies and recommendations for effective board governance.
Join us for a conversation about what the data tells us about today's museum boards—and what it suggests about building the boards museums will need for the future.
Speakers
Jen Benoit-Bryan, Ph.D.
Director, SMU DataArts
Jasmine Engleton, Ph.D.
Cultural Research Data Fellow, SMU Data Arts
Anta Touray
Special Projects & Operations Manager, Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums