M-bassadors programme evolves into community work: “We're going back to basics”

M-bassadors programme evolves into community work

“We're going back to basics”

In 2026, after more than 15 years, M will discontinue the M-bassadors programme. Not without reason: it is evolving into a new, broader community initiative. Sigrid Bosmans and Sofie Vermeiren, the driving forces behind the project, explain.

Sigrid: “The M-bassadors programme is as old as M itself. When the museum opened in 2009, it was a conscious decision not to establish a separate friends’ programme. Many other institutions have a non-profit organization for this purpose, but we wanted to keep it broad and open. Anyone could become an M-bassador in exchange for a modest membership fee.”

In recent years, however, the number of M-bassadors has declined. The introduction of the museum pass played a major role in this trend. With this pass, visitors can enter hundreds of museums and exhibitions throughout Belgium, including M, free of charge. This eliminated an important advantage of being an M-bassador: free and unlimited access to M.

Sofie: “We also noticed that the M-bassadors programme didn’t allow us to provide a truly personalized service. Visitors have different expectations, and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always meet them. That’s another good reason to make adjustments.”

Common ground

Sigrid: “Henceforth, we want to work in a fundamentally different way. We started with the question of what the common ground could be between communities, on the one hand, and the museum’s individuality on the other.”

“A community is a group of people who feel connected to one another in some way. Many people identify with more than one community: you might share a bond with the people in your neighbourhood, with those who share your passion for cooking, with members of your football club, and with your colleagues who polish the silver at M. We are now investigating how these different communities are, or could be, connected to M.”

Sofie: “To be clear, we’re not going to invent these communities. We mainly want to map them out and align them with what we’re doing in our museum and in our arts programme. We’ll then start a dialogue with the communities. We don’t work for them, but with them. This is already the case in our school project: for this, we sought out teachers in Leuven who want to visit M regularly with their pupils and who are open to a tailor-made class programme.”

Zaalzicht Peter Morrens, 'OEEEEEEUUUUVVRE', 2024, M Leuven, foto: © Marie Dreezen voor M Leuven

Survey

“We’ve established an internal working group at M, made up of representatives from all the museum teams. Together, we’re examining which communities align with our capabilities and our policy.”

Sigrid: “We also wanted to know what our current M-bassadors expect from M. A specialist agency organized a survey to find this out. We started from a study conducted a few years ago by the University of Antwerp. It showed that M-bassadors have four types of motivation: interest in in-depth activities such as lectures and artist talks; interest in exclusive activities such as previews or studio visits; interest based on social considerations, such as visiting exhibitions together; and interest in supporting M financially. The new survey explored these four motivations in greater depth. Of course, the M-bassadors could also suggest other incentives. This gives us a clearer picture of their motivations.”

Sofie: “The survey has now been completed, and we have a better understanding of the questions and expectations that exist. We’ll be working on this in the coming months.”

Zaalzicht 'Collectie van M', 2024, M Leuven, foto: © Elias Derboven voor M Leuven

Bezoeker komt toe aan museum M Leuven — © Diederik Craps voor M Leuven

Bezoekers in het onthaal van museum M Leuven — © Diederik Craps voor M Leuven

Bezoeker op het dakterras van museum M Leuven — © Diederik Craps voor M Leuven

Bezoekers in de museumzalen van museum M Leuven — © Diederik Craps voor M Leuven

Sigrid: “In the spring of 2026, we’ll start experimenting with community work. To engage with communities in a sustainable way, we need intermediaries. These are an important link because they know the communities inside out. For example, it makes no sense to engage in neighbourhood dialogues without drawing on the expertise of community workers.”

“The M-bassadors programme will conclude in June 2026; until then, nothing will change for our members. We’ll then be launching the new scheme.”

“We don’t yet know what form it will take. However, we can already say that the in-depth activities –lectures, guided tours, debates, and so on – will continue. Certain exclusive activities, however, will be reserved for our M-cenas members; nothing is changing in terms of how they operate.”

Sofie: “When M started in 2009, the M-bassadors wanted to involve a broad group of people in the organization. With the community initiative, we’re returning to that original principle: connecting people with M, based on a wide range of possible interests.”

Want to know more?

All frequently asked questions about the new community activities can be found here. The page is updated every two months with newly received questions.

Read the frequently asked questions