American Association of Museums President/CEO Dr. Ford Bell Details How ‘Museums Matter’ at San Diego Cultural Arts Leadership Symposium

“All of us here today are in the business of honoring and interpreting the past. And in that endeavor, our single greatest asset is authenticity. The genuineness of place or structure or artifact is what gives these things the power to amaze and even transform the visitor. They carry within them the spirit of the original inhabitant or artist or event. This is something intangible but still very palpable, and deeply, undeniably authentic. Virtualize such things and their spirit is gone, their magic along with it,” Bell said. “That is the business all of us are in: preserving the magic.”