Study of a museum public image as a sociocultural phenomenon

The article concentrates on studying the phenomenon of a museum public image. The interdisciplinary nature of the notion «public image» allows to consider it as a complex system. The equivalence and differences of the notions «public image» and «image» are of great importance for the study. The identification of the polysemantic essence of the notion «image» allows to determine a considerable number of components of a museum image and its polymorphism. The author's interpretation of the notion «museum public image», its culturological research model enable to carry out research on the national, regional and municipal levels. The given model can be adapted to other cultural institutions.