Rubenshuis was in the middle of a complex transition. A new visitor building had opened, while the historic artist’s house remained closed for renovation, creating a gap between visitor expectations and the experience on offer.
At the same time, the museum was preparing for the next phase: reopening the house, redesigning the visitor journey and storytelling, and clarifying who it wanted to reach.
Behind this was a broader ambition: to diversify audiences and connect Rubens’ life, work and legacy more meaningfully to Antwerp and society today.
Rubenshuis had to solve for the present and the future at the same time. In the short term, it needed to manage visitor expectations and create a meaningful experience without access to the historic house or collection. In the longer term, it had to rethink audience, storytelling, hospitality and interpretation in a way that could make the museum more open, more relevant and more connected to the city.
MINO worked across these two timelines: the museum people were visiting now, and the museum Rubenshuis was becoming. We connected audience research, visitor experience, hospitality, inclusion and storytelling instead of treating them as separate questions. We also pushed the work outward: looking at how Rubenshuis could relate more meaningfully to the city, to broader audiences and to contemporary social questions. That work informed a shared Theory of Change, impact vision, strategic priorities and practical work with guides, volunteers and front-of-house teams.
An organisational scan, Theory of Change, strategic action plan, hospitality training framework.
> 1 in-person coaching session (1:1) on Leadership Assessment (half day)
> 1 in-person group training session on Strategic DE&I Integration (half day)
> 1 in-person coaching session (1:1) on Action Plan Prioritization (half day)
> 1 follow-up ‘refresher’ session after 3 months (half day)
> Inspirational content on the topic (articles, podcasts, video)
