As the saying goes, “everything’s bigger in Texas,” and the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is no exception. At any given time, the museum—one of the 10 largest in the United States—hosts multiple exhibits, lectures, performing arts events, and educational programs in its four floors and over 150,000 square feet of space.
The Challenge
The museum needed a system that could handle the complex needs of their showcase exhibition, “All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins” by experiential artist Yayoi Kusama. Kusama is a world-renowned Japanese artist whose installations have drawn millions of people around the world, thanks to their immersive experience.Because of the exhibit’s popularity, the DMA team wanted to make 20-30 tickets available per 15-minute block to accommodate both public visitors and DMA Members to ensure minimal line wait. In addition to timed ticketing, the DMA required a flexible ticketing solution to also allow ticket reservations for the additional special exhibitions currently on view, and special events and programs.
The Solution
The Dallas Museum of Art’s team met with Etix at the AAM MuseumExpo 2017 and chose to work with us because of our robust, adaptable system and timed entry solution.
After meeting with DMA, the Etix team had less than four months to set up a new system for the Kusama installation, add customizations to accommodate DMA’s other exhibits and programs, and train their box office and membership team. The Etix team worked closely with DMA to ensure that timed tickets for the Kusama show were ready to purchase and be reserved. The system was also ready for selling general admission tickets for concurrent events including workshops, educational programs, and their own literary and performing arts series, Arts & Letters Live.
The Results
The Kusama installation was wildly popular, and the DMA encouraged repeat visits for their patrons to grasp the entirety of the piece. Over 68,000 tickets were redeemed by the public and DMA Members for “All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins” during its six-month run.
Over 68,000 tickets redeemed
32,000 tickets purchased via a mobile device
4 tickets on average per purchase
4 Months to set up and launch the Etix system
The Etix ticketing platform was rolled out to the remainder of DMA’s programs in early January, and the museum team has praised the platform for its ease of use, versatility, and flexibility.
Madeleine Fitzgerald, Education Coordinator for Audience Relations explained, “It’s not only easy for us to build the events in Etix, but it’s also simple for our patrons to use. We host multiple concurrent exhibits in addition to 30-40 programs a year as part of our Arts & Letters Live series.”
Their programs can be either general admission or assigned seating events, and they also offer workshops for children and teens. The Etix platform can meet the ticketing needs of each type of event while ensuring patrons have a smooth checkout or reservation process. Madeleine continued, “Patrons can view all of the opportunities we have at DMA at any given time, and narrow choices down to what they’re looking for. Etix gives us—and our guests—options.”
