Research
2026
Art Museum Trustee Study
Impact, Influence, & Effectiveness in Art Museum Governance
- Report Release Date: October 14th, 2026
- Webinar Launch Date: October 21st, 2026
The Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums (BTA), in collaboration with SMU DataArts, presents the 2026 Art Museum Trustee Study, a national study examining the experiences, perspectives, and influence of art museum trustees across North America.
Download the 2026 Study
The 2026 Art Museum Trustee Study provides a national look at who serves on museum boards, how trustees experience their roles, and what shapes their engagement, influence, and impact.
Building on BTA’s inaugural Art Museum Trustee Survey, this 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 governance priorities
Drawing on responses from art museum trustees across the country, the study offers new data on trustee effectiveness, board culture, engagement, recruitment and retention, committee participation, and philanthropic involvement. The study’s findings provide museum leaders, trustees, funders, and other field stakeholders with a clearer picture of the current state of art museum governance and the factors shaping board effectiveness.
Ways to Get involved
Send the final report to museum leaders, trustees, and funders who can leverage the insights to take action. Engage in dissemination events in Fall 2026.
Report Release
Join Us for the Launch Webinar
October 21st • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM ET
Join BTA and SMU DataArts for a conversation about the study’s key findings and what they mean for art museum trustees, boards, and the field.
Research FAQs
Why are you doing this study?
We undertook the 2026 Art Museum Trustee Study to equip the field to tackle the most pressing issues facing art museum governance today. Building on the BTA 2022 Art Museum Trustee Study, this timely research initiative will track how the role of trustees is shifting over time while also opening new lines of inquiry into how board perspectives shape the institutions they serve – and the field at large.
Through this study, we aim to equip museum leaders, boards, and art funders with critical knowledge about today’s governance landscape and identify potential implications for the future. By examining the key dimensions of trustee influence and effectiveness, board culture, and current governance priorities, our findings will strengthen art museums’ collective capacity for sustainable impact.
Who participated in this survey?
548 art museum trustees serving at 146 art museums across North America participated in taking the study. When fielding the survey we invited trustees currently serving on art museum fiduciary boards in North America to share their perspective by completing the survey.
Is this research only using survey data?
In addition to collecting survey data, we conducted 20 follow-up interviews to amplify and extend the range of insights we received through the survey data. We've found that follow-up interviews are particularly powerful for unpacking unexpected findings and amplifying the impact of key results. By pairing the qualitative "hows" and "whys" of trustee experiences with quantitative data about scale, these interviews help support statistics through lived experiences, offering insights that can be translated into actionable steps and replicated across the field.
What kinds of questions did you ask?
Our research examines the full scope of trustee engagement, from the onboarding support available to new trustees, to the role they play in the boardroom, to the ways they champion staff and institutional priorities. It also investigates trustee perspectives on board culture, influence, and power, as well as the factors that make trustees most and least effective.
How is this study different from other board research?
This study explores new lines of inquiry like what influences the impact of trustees and the rate of trustee retention, deepens prior explorations of board governance and effectiveness, and updates our understanding of the current priorities of trustees. There are just a few national studies of art museum trustees, and this work both builds upon – and goes beyond - the BTA 2022 Art Museum Trustee study and the periodic study of Museum Board Leadership provided by the American Alliance of Museums. In addition, this study has been designed to be in conversation with relevant research on the staff culture of art museums by Museums Moving Forward and the finances of the museums represented through SMU DataArts.
Can I share a link to this study with other trustees or art museum leaders in my network?
Yes! We encourage you to share the study with fellow art museum trustees and art museum leaders to spread the study’s findings and learnings far and wide.
I have another question not listed here. Who should I contact?
Please email us at: help@culturaldata.org
2022
Art Museum Trustee Survey
In 2022, BTA published the inaugural Art Museum Trustee Survey in partnership with Ithaka S+R. This study was the first and only data initiative to examine the dynamics of art museum boardrooms through the lens of race and ethnicity.
Drawing on over 900 survey responses and 20 qualitative interviews, the report explores trustee characteristics, roles, and experiences – adding new insights on board demographics, culture, paths to board leadership, and reflections on how art museum boards should change for the future.
Case Study:
How Brooklyn Museum Reimagined American Art Through Inclusion
Discover how the Toward Joy reinstallation at Brooklyn Museum became a blueprint for equity in the arts. This case study reveals how curators, trustees, and community partners worked together to center Black feminist and BIPOC perspectives, unlock hidden collections, and challenge two centuries of museum convention.
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