BILLINGS - Every Wednesday, the Yellowstone Art Museum is holding yoga classes in an effort to creatively bring more visitors to the museum during a worldwide attendance decrease that started during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The class is held in the MJ Murdock Trust Gallery at 10:30 a.m., and Carol Hall has become one of the regulars.
"I've been pleased to have it here," Hall said. "It's a beautiful spot."
Hall said she's been practicing yoga for a long time and that the unique location is exactly what caught her attention.
"Well, it certainly made me want to try it at least," Hall said. "I started doing yoga to help me recover from a major surgery I had in 2007, and I kind of fell in love with it and have been doing it ever since."
Class instructor and long-time museum member Sarah Brown said teaching the class is a chance to help a place that means a lot to her.
"The Yellowstone Art Museum is sort of a special place for me," Brown said. "Any way we can bring more people into the museum and feel a connection and kind of have an immersive experience with the museum is a positive."
And the museum could certainly use more visitors. Yellowstone Art Museum representative Marilu Metherell said the museum has been struggling to bring people in since COVID shut down museums worldwide in 2020.
"I don't know the exact numbers, but I worked here and volunteered here through the pandemic, and we had to do a lot of programs via Zoom," Metherell said. "So, I know those numbers were at zero."
The museum isn't alone in its struggles. According to the American Alliance of Museums, 100 of the most popular art museums in the world saw a 77 percent drop in visitors during the pandemic. In total, these establishments went from 230 million visitors to just 54 million.
But Metherell said programs, like Yoga at YAM, are helping to get them back on track.
"It brings certain people in that never would have walked through the door before," Metherell said.
Another museum director, Angel Shandy, said that the primary goal is to provide opportunities for people of all ages.
"We have programs for three-year-olds up to 103-year-olds," Shandy said. "We love having all age ranges come in and find something they really enjoy."
And Carol Hall has certainly found that.
"It's a wonderful use of the facility," Hall said. "It's just beautiful and the lighting is right and it's clean. I like it."
