The following essay highlights a number of conceptual elements that have affected the operation of museums, particularly of the university art museum. The author explores the landscape of museum mutations in the era of globalization, where the market transforms culture policies and therefore educational and cultural practices. By analyzing elements of this transformation, a door opens for the discussion of the tension between the public and private spheres, a matter that today more than ever deserves to be addressed in the crossroads that cultural institutions face in our country due to lack of state funding