2023-2026 DAI Strategic Plan

Bryane Broadie, Mind Growth, 2021, Digital art on stretched canvas, #11, edition 25

A WORD FROM OUR DIRECTOR A MUSEUM FOR ALL!

The Dayton Art Institute (DAI) has embraced this mantra—a museum for all—for many years, but today, museum audiences matter more than ever. This 2023 to 2026 Strategic Plan focuses on the audience, whether that is about increasing attendance so that more people can enjoy the renowned collection, or whether it is about deepening audience engagement with the art, or about more equitable access to the museum’s resources for all people along the continuum of human ability and experience. This plan focuses on how to appeal to wider, deeper, nearby, and regional audiences resulting in greater diversity of the audience, the art, and the programs which will enrich the museum experience now and, in the future, … for all!

Strategic plans create forward-focused vision, engage people with differing views and opinions thus generating new and inventive ideas, and track progress on goals. The strategic planning process involves imagining the Dayton Art Institute in the future and identifying the strategic drivers that provide intentional momentum to achieve the vision.

The Board of Trustees and Staff committed to a participatory process, reaching out to members, the general public, and dozens of community groups to seek and incorporate their insights into the plan. The strategic planning committee, as stewards of the feedback, deeply considered what people need and desire from an art museum, and who is served well and who we need to serve better.

The strategic plan outlines the Dayton Art Institute Mission,Vision and Values. The strategic plan outlines the four strategic drivers to achieve our Mission, Vision and Values. The strategic plan outlines the three strategic resources to ensure the strategic drivers have focused resources. The strategic plan outlines seven metrics, knowing we can manage what we can measure, ensuring we deliver on strategic outcomes.

Michael R. Roediger Michael R. Roediger, MSLD, CFRE

The strategic planning committee... deeply considered what people need and desire from an art museum, and who is served well, and who we need to serve better.

Photo by Lisa Powell

AT OUR CORE...

Through art, we create transformative and diverse experiences , strengthen community connections and inspire imagination .

Through art, we will be a community leader recognized as a welcoming, thought-provoking, and collaborative place that nurtures inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility.

VISION VALUES

• We are the trusted stewards of community treasures, committed to caring for the art and the historic building.

• We embrace the museum’s role as a vital resource , an inclusive and welcoming space that adds value to people’s lives.

• We are dedicated to reaching diverse audiences and expanding engagement with art.

• We are strong, socially responsible fiscal managers.

• We are pledged to environmentally conscious practices and maintaining our green certification.

Strategic DRIVERS

THE ART COLLECTION

Goal: Amplify the impact of our permanent collection and create new models for the acquisition, exhibition, and interpretation of outstanding works of art.

Cultivate collections and exhibitions that will be a dynamic source of ideas, inspiration, and identification for our communities. To this end, the DAI will further diversify its collection and continually reimagine its galleries.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING

Goal: Provide programming to engage multiple generations of learners.

Offer programming that is as valuable to the community as the art collection and our historic building. The DAI will endeavor to understand the characteristics and needs of its audiences and will further its commitment to be inclusive, offering program opportunities for diverse participation.

IDEA (INCLUSION, DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & ACCESSIBILITY)

Goal: Continue to build and sustain local, regional, and national partnerships to integrate multiple perspectives into strategies for inclusive and equitable access to the museum and its resources.

Welcome increasingly diverse people, experiences, and ideas present and prioritized among the DAI’s staff, museum visitors, and the artists represented in exhibitions, programs, and the collection.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Goal: Sustain existing high-impact partnerships and develop anchored partnerships with nearby organizations, neighborhoods, and schools, inspiring interest in art through connection. Be a conduit for social life, encouraging interactivity, critical thinking, and dialogue, leading the museum to become a “commons,” a place to have important conversations framed by art and culture. The DAI will continue to communicate that “You belong here!”

Strategic RESOURCES

PEOPLE-CENTERED CAPACITY BUILDING

Goal: Mobilize the right people in the right place at the right time to support all the DAI’s strategic goals for learning, inspiring, engagement, hospitality, and stewardship.

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Goal: Enhance and expand the guest experience utilizing immersive and interactive technologies to deepen the audience’s experience with the physical art collection of the DAI.

FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP

Goal: Launch an Endowment campaign to demonstrate commitment to the staff, the art collection, and the building; and to support artistic and educational aspirations.

Goal: Advance mission-related values and achieve financial returns through intentional momentum regarding diversity spending, focusing on vendor partner spend and impact investing.

Goal: Develop a sustainable funding model, identifying additional revenue streams, evaluating grants, events, membership models, and the donor base.

Darin Darby, The Colors In A Poet 2022, Laypuzzim (layered puzzled image)

Chief Curator, Jerry Smith, presents at the Dayton Veterans Association Low Vision Clinic workshop

WE CAN MANAGE WHAT WE CAN MEASURE

STRATEGIC METRICS

Metrics are quantifiable measures that are tracked over time to assess progress and performance. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a type of metric that measures progress and performance on the strategic goals of the organization. Therefore, their relevance to tracking organizational progress is paramount.

Seven KPIs are identified for tracking the performance and success of this strategic plan. Measuring and reporting on the indicators associated with these KPI’s will hold the organization accountable to its constituencies, will convey priorities to the staff, Boards, and volunteers, and will reveal where corrections are needed.

Art KPIs

• Broadened audience diversity

• Diversity of the collection & galleries

People KPIs

• Increased staff capacity levels

Partner & Program KPIs

• Strategic partners established

• Community impact through programming

Technology & Funding KPIs

• Technology to advance people’s experience & art accessibility

• Financial stewardship

THE DAYTON ART INSTITUTE

456 Belmonte Park North Dayton, OH 45405–4700

Phone: 937-223-4ART 94278) daytonartinstitute.org

info@daytonart.org

Sponsored By: