Queuing up at the National Gallery of Art
Photograph of museum line courtesy of National Gallery of Art.
On a recent Saturday morning, I went to the National Gallery of Art to check out “Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment.” But I didn’t actually go to see the exhibit—I was there to stand in line. Featuring big-ticket paintings by the likes of Monet, Renoir, and Degas, “Paris 1874” has proved extremely popular, and on this morning the queue stretched to the building’s rotunda. Still, my 40-minute journey to the front was not unpleasant. I was greeted by lots of cheerful faces ready to answer questions, offered collapsible stools to sit on, and shown QR codes and brochures full of wall text to read in advance.
None of that was an accident. The museum has put a lot of effort into thinking about how to make the wait less grating, especially since the creation of its Visitor Experience and Evaluation office about four years ago. Led by Eric Bruce and Stockton Toler, the NGA’s chief and deputy experience officers, respectively, the team tries to make the inherently unfun act of waiting tolerable, and maybe even a little enjoyable.
Tapping into “queuing theory”—an academic field led by researchers such as MIT’s Richard Larson and visitor-experience powerhouses like Walt Disney World—Bruce and Toler have recently incorporated some principles of line psychology into their approach. Generally, people want a queue to be fair (parts of the NGA lines are in a snaking pattern that prevents cutting), honest (the museum has installed signs that provide accurate live wait times), and not boring (two video screens flank the entrance to the exhibit with a specially made short film). The exhibit’s introductory text is also posted outside the entrance rather than inside, a shift from tradition that speeds things up and gives museum-goers something to do that’s more engaging than Candy Crush. “Our main question is: If people have to wait, how do we make that more of an experience?” says Toler.
As the holiday rush kicks in around November, the NGA might shift to a virtual queue system, in which visitors can check in using their phone numbers and roam the rest of the museum until notified to return—a system that not only eliminates boredom but encourages visitors to investigate art they might not otherwise encounter.
For now, however, weekend visitors continue to wait 40-plus minutes to gaze at the colorful brushstrokes of early Impressionists. To Bruce, seeing the opening room for the first time, where Monet’s famed “Impression, Sunrise” hangs, is something worth waiting for—and the line itself can be part of the fun. “If it runs well and you’re in this collective of people who are also excited to see what you’re seeing, it fills you with anticipation and makes you feel like you’re a part of something larger,” he says. “That can add value to your experience.”
How the National Gallery of Art Is Experimenting With the Science of Lines
A hot new exhibit has visitors queuing up.
On a recent Saturday morning, I went to the National Gallery of Art to check out “Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment.” But I didn’t actually go to see the exhibit—I was there to stand in line. Featuring big-ticket paintings by the likes of Monet, Renoir, and Degas, “Paris 1874” has proved extremely popular, and on this morning the queue stretched to the building’s rotunda. Still, my 40-minute journey to the front was not unpleasant. I was greeted by lots of cheerful faces ready to answer questions, offered collapsible stools to sit on, and shown QR codes and brochures full of wall text to read in advance.
None of that was an accident. The museum has put a lot of effort into thinking about how to make the wait less grating, especially since the creation of its Visitor Experience and Evaluation office about four years ago. Led by Eric Bruce and Stockton Toler, the NGA’s chief and deputy experience officers, respectively, the team tries to make the inherently unfun act of waiting tolerable, and maybe even a little enjoyable.
Tapping into “queuing theory”—an academic field led by researchers such as MIT’s Richard Larson and visitor-experience powerhouses like Walt Disney World—Bruce and Toler have recently incorporated some principles of line psychology into their approach. Generally, people want a queue to be fair (parts of the NGA lines are in a snaking pattern that prevents cutting), honest (the museum has installed signs that provide accurate live wait times), and not boring (two video screens flank the entrance to the exhibit with a specially made short film). The exhibit’s introductory text is also posted outside the entrance rather than inside, a shift from tradition that speeds things up and gives museum-goers something to do that’s more engaging than Candy Crush. “Our main question is: If people have to wait, how do we make that more of an experience?” says Toler.
As the holiday rush kicks in around November, the NGA might shift to a virtual queue system, in which visitors can check in using their phone numbers and roam the rest of the museum until notified to return—a system that not only eliminates boredom but encourages visitors to investigate art they might not otherwise encounter.
For now, however, weekend visitors continue to wait 40-plus minutes to gaze at the colorful brushstrokes of early Impressionists. To Bruce, seeing the opening room for the first time, where Monet’s famed “Impression, Sunrise” hangs, is something worth waiting for—and the line itself can be part of the fun. “If it runs well and you’re in this collective of people who are also excited to see what you’re seeing, it fills you with anticipation and makes you feel like you’re a part of something larger,” he says. “That can add value to your experience.”
This article appears in the November 2024 issue of Washingtonian.
Most Popular in News & Politics
“Be Careful How You Talk to Us”: Trump Appointee Gets an Earful in Anacostia
A Large Anti-Trump March in DC Is Scheduled for April 5
Trump Goes After Woke at the National Zoo, DC Restaurants Hope to Overturn I-82, and Peak Bloom Looms
What to Know About the April 5 Anti-Trump Protest in DC
Cora Masters Barry Dressed Down Ed Martin, a Tourist Brought Measles to DC, and House GOP Floats Idea of Changing the City’s Name to “District of America”
Washingtonian Magazine
April Issue: The Secret World of Luxury Real Estate
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
The Cherry Blossoms Aren’t DC’s Only Interesting Trees
How a Lunch With Michelle Obama Led to Netflix’s “The Residence”
How Trump’s Return-to-Office Order Is Impacting the DC Real-Estate Scene
After Decades, the Full African American Civil War Memorial Museum Is Finally Coming
More from News & Politics
What to Know About the April 5 Anti-Trump Protest in DC
Tariffs Cause Jitters, Trayon White Wants His Old Job Back, and Barack Obama Visited the Cherry Blossoms
DC’s Episcopal Bishop, Mariann Budde, on Trump, Kindness, and Respect
Canada Bought Anti-Tariff Ads on DC Bus Stops
Black Lives Matter Plaza Is Gone
DC-Area Law Schools Are Seeing a Surge in Applications This Year
Trump Ponders Third Term, Police Confiscated a Kite Near the Airport, and We Found a Sandwich That Contains an Entire Pupusa
Trump Goes After Woke at the National Zoo, DC Restaurants Hope to Overturn I-82, and Peak Bloom Looms