What is Open about Open Museum?

We've been having a lot of discussions about what we are, what we do, and how to explain ourselves to people. One of the big questions we've been discussing is the significance and implications of our name. We are Open Museum for a reason--but what exactly is "open" about Open Museum?

The easy answer is that it's open because it's online, which makes it available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's open because it's free, which means anyone with an internet connection can have access to remarkable works of art and culture. And it's open because museums and their collections are aggregated, so visitors can jump from museum to museum, object to object, without ever leaving the site, getting a giant culture fix in one location. But those are obvious reasons.

The more philosophical response to what's so open about Open Museum is that we think everyone should have access to works of art. That means we strongly believe in free, public access to public domain images, regardless of where they are located. The painting known as the Mona Lisa belongs to the Louvre; no question. But the image of the Mona Lisa doesn't belong to anyone; Leonardo da Vinci painted it more than 500 years ago, so we can safely say it's out of copyright. We believe that people who have access to the internet should be able to view the objects that reflect our shared cultural past in a way that doesn't require looking through a magnifying glass.

We also believe that everyone who wants to have a conversation about art and culture should be able to do so. Open Museum offers people a forum for talking about art and culture, whether they are a museum professional or someone who just likes beautiful things. We all have opinions, questions, and comments to make about the art and culture we experience, and Open Museum gives people an opportunity to share them.

And we also think that people who like museums and what they experience in them should get the word out to others. We are strong supporters of using social networking to open museum doors--to pull people in to museums, and push them to tell others about what they find.

So tell us, are we open enough for you? We are open to suggestions.