Robert Stein
Deputy Director
Dallas Museum of Art
Robert Stein is the Deputy Director of the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) where he leads the staff and the DMA’s active programs of Education, Conservation, Technology, andResearch. Stein led the DMA’s efforts to become the first museum in the U.S. to offer both free general admission and free membership in 2013. By launching the innovative DMA Friends program, Stein pioneered a platform of visitor engagement at scale that changes the face of participation in museums. In 2012, Stein founded the Laboratory for Innovation in Museum Technology at the DMA, applying the principles of startup venture capital to solving classic problems in museums. Stein also established funding for Visitor Research and Evaluation to investigate common visitor experiences between art and science museums. Prior to his role in Dallas, Rob served as the Deputy Director for Research, Technology, and Engagement at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Under Stein’s leadership, the museum launched a pioneering effort in support of museum transparency called, the IMA Dashboard. In 2009, Stein and colleagues created the award winning video website, ArtBabble.org that brings together more than 55 international organizations creating a true destination channel for art video online. In 2010 he founded the TAP open-source mobile platform and established the TourML standard for mobile museum content. Stein serves on the board of the Museum Computer Network, the board of Project Audience, the advisory board of the NMC’s Horizon Report for Museums, the International Program Committee for Museums and the Weband on Advisory committees for the online image resource, ArtStor and also Art.sy, a part of the Art Genome Project. He continues to be active in writing and speaking on topics related to museum technology, transparency, and strategy.