"Don’t be the best. Be the only.”

'Tis the season when publications like USA Today and Parents Magazine trot out their click-bait "Best Museum" lists, and when museum staff everywhere cajole everyone they know to vote (repeatedly!) for their institution.

How can you compare two completely different museums, say the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and claim one of them is the "best" art museum?

The people who seem most interested in these "best museum" lists are executive directors chasing donors or museum marketers looking to gain some flimsy PR bragging rights.

As that great museum philosopher Jerry Garcia once said, 

"Don’t be the best. Be the only.”

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Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

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