In an effort to maintain or boost their attendance, museums are trying new strategies that range from pushing the envelope with exhibition content to generating revenue by utilizing their real estate in creative ways. These gambits are keeping insurance carriers on their toes, placing even greater importance on loss-control programs and risk management.

"[Museum-goers] are getting tired of the same-old, same-old," observes Shirl Hedges, an underwriting manager at Philadelphia Insurance Cos., who counts cultural organizations among her specialties. "So museums are constantly challenging themselves to do something different to get people through the door. That makes them fun little animals to insure!"

Ideally, museum administrators can predict audience behavior ahead of time and plan accordingly. For instance, curators at the National Gallery in London knew they'd created a blockbuster when advance tickets for "Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan" sold out six months before the exhibition opened in November.