Officials Hope Southern Californians Will Flock to This Tomb With a View

Art lovers rolling down Wilshire Boulevard might do a double take as they whiz by bright yellow banners touting the Bowers’ “Egyptian Treasures” exhibit strategically placed near high-profile institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

“We want to be where the art fans are going to be,” said Karen Sirmenis, marketing coordinator at Bowers Museum of Cultural Art.

The pennants are part of an ambitious outreach strategy that includes radio spots and promotional partnerships with movie theaters throughout Southern California.

Museum officials hope to repeat the success of “Forbidden City,” the previous blockbuster show seen by more than 100,000 visitors, two-thirds of whom came from outside the county.

Sirmenis believes promotion beyond county borders will make the museum more visible to an otherwise L.A.-centric art audience. “We’re not a bead-and-basket museum,” Sirmenis said. “Our goal is to bring world-class exhibits . . . to Southern California.”

And, by extension, Southern Californians to world-class exhibits.

It’s a strategy used successfully by other museums outside Los Angeles.

“Every time you encourage people to have a good museum experience, we all benefit,” said Sara Campbell, director of art at the Norton Simon Museum. “Pasadena has the same challenge that the Bowers does, to [remind people] that there are wonderful things to see outside L.A. . . . We have visitors from Orange County and Pasadena. It’s just reminding people that you’re here,” she said.

Another Bowers marketing initiative that will “get them where they live” is a partnership with Edwards theaters in Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties. As part of the trailers for the Imax film “Mysteries of Egypt,” the theaters will feature spots on the Bowers exhibit.

And the Bowers is reaching out to students with special programs. More than 100 schools are scheduled to visit, prompting the museum to extend its hours.

With at least one blockbuster show every year, museum officials will keep reaching across the county line, Sirmenis said. “We used to be Orange County’s best-kept secret, but the [blockbuster] shows are certainly putting us on the map.”