Julia Norris, Director of Communications at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, shares how Ingenious provides the responsive support, collaborative problem-solving, and specialized technology behind the museum’s digital presence and collection management.
The Burchfield Penney Art Center’s website serves an important public role, helping visitors explore exhibitions, events, artists, and the creative legacy of Western New York.
But as Director of Communications Julia Norris explains, the website also supports extensive work behind the scenes—including the management of the museum’s collection.
While visitors experience the public side of BurchfieldPenney.org, the platform also provides essential tools that help the museum’s staff carry out their work.
“BurchfieldPenney.org is so much more than just a website that the public interacts with. We do a lot of really in-depth work in parts of our website that the public doesn’t even see.”
A successful website must be able to evolve alongside the organization it supports. When the Burchfield Penney team identifies an opportunity to improve the site, Ingenious is ready to help turn the idea into reality.
“Sometimes I’m shocked at how quickly Ingenious can accomplish an idea. Sometimes a thought will occur to me about a feature that we could include on the website, and I’ll ping the team, and within 30 minutes, it’s executed already.”
Responsiveness is not simply about completing requests quickly. Sometimes the most valuable support comes from stepping back, understanding the larger goal, and identifying the best way to accomplish it.
“Other times, they’ll come back and ask questions about why you’re asking for this particular feature.”
By identifying potential challenges and presenting alternative approaches, the Ingenious team helps the museum arrive at solutions that are both creative and practical.
“They’ll come back and say, ‘I see what you’re trying to do here. Here are the pitfalls of that approach, but here are three other options for making this idea happen that will work seamlessly.’”
The Burchfield Penney is responsible for thousands of art objects—both ones from their collections, but also pieces from other organizations. Effectively organizing and maintaining the information associated with their collections requires a system built around the museum’s specific needs.
Ingenious developed the museum’s collection management system using Archivist, our flexible, web-based platform for collection-based institutions.
“The collection management system is critical to how the museum operates. There are thousands of objects here, and so it’s really important to have an effective digital system for managing all of that work.”
Through responsive service, technical expertise, and a willingness to explore new possibilities, Ingenious has become more than a website provider for the Burchfield Penney—it is a collaborative partner.
“It’s a really highly collaborative approach, and their expertise will sometimes point us in a direction that we didn’t even imagine was possible.”
For Julia, that combination makes Ingenious an easy team to recommend.
“You have to work with Ingenious. It’s been such a pleasure to work with Ingenious. They are so responsive. They are experts in their field, and they’ll push your creativity with ideas that might never have occurred to you.”
We appreciate Julia’s kind words and the trust the Burchfield Penney Art Center has placed in our team. We’re proud to provide the technology and ongoing support that help advance the museum’s work.
Looking for a collaborative partner to support your website or develop a custom solution for your organization? Contact Ingenious to start a conversation.