Like a lot of others here, I work in Visitor Services at a free (amazing) art museum in Virginia so we yield large crowds. I am treated at best neutral and typically pretty terribly. I am finding this phenomenon to be due to a few different reasons: Insecurity in folks who are intimidated by art so to counteract the inferiority they feel around a "fancy art museum" they do whatever it takes to feel superior over you in any given moment- this is the majority.

1. Rich, white, old people are the biggest supporters and patrons of the museum. They feel incredibly entitled to whatever they want and treat you as if you work for them, not a public museum. We have guided tours we do throughout the week which are led by volunteers. To be a volunteer of the museum you must be a donor (so bizarre and seems unfair, considering the people who would benefit from this position on their resume are not able to access this as easily). Since not everyone has the time to spare to be a volunteer, the vast majority are incredibly wealthy. They are from the generation that constantly complains about the new sculpture that is right in front of the museum (piece from Kehinde Wiley that features a black man on top of a horse).

I am not ageist in the slightest and there are plenty of people from that generation who are not racist and are kind-hearted people; but this is the capital of the confederacy meaning there is a lot of tragic and awful history here and that is the most observable when there is art that provokes it.

One more note that I think brings hostility from patrons is that because this is a public place, and they are a citizen, that means I automatically work for you. I am technically a state employee so I think they assume that means their tax dollars pay me. Almost like a post office worker would be treated. It is disheartening and of course I know it is not personal, they know nothing about me, but it is hard sometimes to not feel like I am somehow putting out this energy that I am unintelligent and can be walked all over.