Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The Client

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (ISGM) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, housing significant examples of European, Asian and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculptures, tapestries and decorative arts. 

The Situation

Like other businesses and organizations, COVID forced the museum to close its doors to visitors, cutting off all revenue virtually overnight.

The Challenge

The global pandemic put more pressure on the museum to showcase what is so special about the ISGM visitor experience: the unique intimacy of each room in the museum. Additionally, in anticipation of the museum reopening, the physical cards that guests had used as room guides prior to the pandemic needed a digital transformation.

The Solution

Working with the museum team, Third and Grove designed a digital experience to deepen the visitor connection with each room in the museum. Now, the guest experience can take place at home or in-person, blending the digital and physical by creating intimate options for both sets of visitors. 

The Results

Drupal and Acquia Cloud Platform allowed TAG to move quickly and adapt to the changing needs of the museum as the pandemic embroiled the entire country. The museum now offers a brand new experience that blends the digital and the physical, enhancing the visitor journey for those able to go to the museum in person, while also offering digital visitors a way to meaningfully interact with the museum from the safety of their homes. Specific results include:

• 40% increase in users, 47% increase in sessions and 2,211% increase in pageviews to the Rooms section of the site
• 158% increase in purchases for Rooms visitors
• 35% increase time on page
• 478% increase in interaction with Rooms pages
• 1,054% increase in audio interactions on Room pages