Another post? So soon?
Yes! I came across this article in the NY Times about identity museums. The examples cited by Mr. Rothstein are instructive and I found his argument interesting.
I should add that I found the article only because of the great people at Global Museum, who send a fantastic e-mail once a week with lots of museum tidbits. They also have a very helpful job board. Check it out!
29 December 2010
27 December 2010
With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept
You may have noticed that I have slacked off a bit lately, especially when it comes to commenting on museums. The reason? I have not visited any museums or historic sites for quite a while.
Why, you ask? I have been pondering the same question. I have certainly not yet exhausted the list of possible sites. Philadelphia and the surrounding communities have many museums and historic sites that I have not yet visited. In fact, there are probably more than I even know about.
The reasons for my recent failures are several. The first reason is one shared by many individuals and it is financial. Sometimes visiting museums and historic sites is expensive. Between transportation, parking and admission costs, a visit can sometimes cost more money than I feel I can spare. But many historic sites in Philadelphia are very inexpensive, or even free. So why the absence of any visits?
I am ashamed to say it but lately I have just not been in the mood to visit museums. I spend most of my time in a very large museum smiling at people and letting them know where they can find the bathrooms. I often visit new exhibitions and walk through the galleries. Sometimes the last thing I want to do on my day off is visit another museum. Reading even more label text feels oppressive. My initial enthusiasm about being in a new city has worn off and I do not feel the same pressure to make the trip to Center City on a day when I do not have to do so for work. Combine this feeling with the craziness of the holiday season, with all of the extra shopping trips and time spent wrapping gifts and I just do not have the time.
Shameful, I know.
So I offer my New Year’s Resolution to you. I will strive to visit the sites I have been putting off and to rekindle my interest in other institutions. Wish me luck.
Why, you ask? I have been pondering the same question. I have certainly not yet exhausted the list of possible sites. Philadelphia and the surrounding communities have many museums and historic sites that I have not yet visited. In fact, there are probably more than I even know about.
The reasons for my recent failures are several. The first reason is one shared by many individuals and it is financial. Sometimes visiting museums and historic sites is expensive. Between transportation, parking and admission costs, a visit can sometimes cost more money than I feel I can spare. But many historic sites in Philadelphia are very inexpensive, or even free. So why the absence of any visits?
I am ashamed to say it but lately I have just not been in the mood to visit museums. I spend most of my time in a very large museum smiling at people and letting them know where they can find the bathrooms. I often visit new exhibitions and walk through the galleries. Sometimes the last thing I want to do on my day off is visit another museum. Reading even more label text feels oppressive. My initial enthusiasm about being in a new city has worn off and I do not feel the same pressure to make the trip to Center City on a day when I do not have to do so for work. Combine this feeling with the craziness of the holiday season, with all of the extra shopping trips and time spent wrapping gifts and I just do not have the time.
Shameful, I know.
So I offer my New Year’s Resolution to you. I will strive to visit the sites I have been putting off and to rekindle my interest in other institutions. Wish me luck.
09 December 2010
To Deaccession or Not to Deaccession?
According to this piece published in the New York Times earlier this week, the Philadelphia History Museum has been selling pieces from its collection to finance the first major renovations to the building since the 1940's.
The museum desperately needed to weed out some pieces from its collection. It did not have the space or the budget to care for a collection of that size. The building also needed to be renovated and updated. (Nancy Moses hints at the difficulties faced by the museum in her book Lost in the Museum: Buried Treasures and the Stories They Tell.) The museum would need to raise incredibly large sums of money in order to complete these upgrades.
I sympathize with the museum's argument that the money obtained from the sale of various historic objects goes entirely toward ensuring the preservation and safety of what remains in the collection, but the whole process leaves a sour taste in my mouth. This situation is different from other institutions making news recently for deaccessioning objects to pay for daily operating costs. I also recognize that the intentions of the museum's staff are very good. They are attempting to do what is best for the museum and its collection. But did no other options for raising money exist?
According to the "News" section on the museum's website, the museum has received various grants and other sources of funding. I find it hard to believe that these sources, as well as individual donors, were tapped before resorting to auctioning off parts of the collection to the highest bidder.
I fear that deaccessioning has become, for many museums, an easy way to fund projects that might otherwise be hard too expensive or difficult to finance rather than a means of acquiring better or more representative pieces for the collection. Deaccessioning should not be the means by which a museum funds its daily operations or its renovations.
The museum desperately needed to weed out some pieces from its collection. It did not have the space or the budget to care for a collection of that size. The building also needed to be renovated and updated. (Nancy Moses hints at the difficulties faced by the museum in her book Lost in the Museum: Buried Treasures and the Stories They Tell.) The museum would need to raise incredibly large sums of money in order to complete these upgrades.
I sympathize with the museum's argument that the money obtained from the sale of various historic objects goes entirely toward ensuring the preservation and safety of what remains in the collection, but the whole process leaves a sour taste in my mouth. This situation is different from other institutions making news recently for deaccessioning objects to pay for daily operating costs. I also recognize that the intentions of the museum's staff are very good. They are attempting to do what is best for the museum and its collection. But did no other options for raising money exist?
According to the "News" section on the museum's website, the museum has received various grants and other sources of funding. I find it hard to believe that these sources, as well as individual donors, were tapped before resorting to auctioning off parts of the collection to the highest bidder.
I fear that deaccessioning has become, for many museums, an easy way to fund projects that might otherwise be hard too expensive or difficult to finance rather than a means of acquiring better or more representative pieces for the collection. Deaccessioning should not be the means by which a museum funds its daily operations or its renovations.
05 October 2010
Patience and Grace
For anyone who doesn't already know, I work in Visitor Services, which effectively means that I wear many different hats. I help out in the Development Office once a week, occasionally work in the operator's booth and man the museum's various coatrooms, in addition to selling tickets and answering general museum questions. Today I happened to be doing two of these jobs simultaneously. As I kept watch over a few coats, bags and umbrellas in the coatroom I stuffed envelops and applied mailing labels to two different mailings for the Development Office.
Mid-stuff a momentarily horrifying thought crossed my mind: this is not why I went to graduate school.
In a very real sense, I did not go to graduate school to stuff envelops, hang up coats or sell tickets. Inquiring visitors have asked me what my "real job" is after learning about my background. I have felt embarrassed, even ashamed, of my job at various points.
But when I really think about the job that I do, I start to feel a little better. The work I do is humbling - in a good way. And I can see the connections between what I do now and what I want to do. Yes, I would prefer to be working with the collections in a hands-on kind of way but showing people how to find them in a gallery is in many ways just as important. The mission of any museum is, after all, to educate as well as to preserve.
Even if I didn't specifically get a degree in envelop-stuffing or label-applying, I did go to school to work in a museum. Right now, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity and I will await a collections position with both patience and grace.
Mid-stuff a momentarily horrifying thought crossed my mind: this is not why I went to graduate school.
In a very real sense, I did not go to graduate school to stuff envelops, hang up coats or sell tickets. Inquiring visitors have asked me what my "real job" is after learning about my background. I have felt embarrassed, even ashamed, of my job at various points.
But when I really think about the job that I do, I start to feel a little better. The work I do is humbling - in a good way. And I can see the connections between what I do now and what I want to do. Yes, I would prefer to be working with the collections in a hands-on kind of way but showing people how to find them in a gallery is in many ways just as important. The mission of any museum is, after all, to educate as well as to preserve.
Even if I didn't specifically get a degree in envelop-stuffing or label-applying, I did go to school to work in a museum. Right now, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity and I will await a collections position with both patience and grace.
18 September 2010
Speed Read
Last weekend I visited Zoo America in Hershey, PA with my boyfriend, Matt. While the "wildlife park" is relatively small (about 11 acres), we had a great time. The signage was informative and the many directional signs made our map practically unnecessary. I revisited my childhood by feeding the ducks and had the opportunity to see some animals of which I had never heard. Here is a small sampling of what we saw:
As we ambled through the various exhibits I was struck by two things. First, Zoo America reminded me of the close link, often overlooked, between museums and zoos/aquariums. Museums and zoos have similar missions: they seek to educate the public and to preserve their "collections." People often forget this fact, but it has potentially powerful implications. Whenever various experts talk about the state of museums in the United States today, they rarely include zoos in their analysis. Imagine if they did. We should also consider whether or not zoos and museums should work together more closely when attempting to secure funding and when lobbying the government for support.
Second, our visit to Zoo America reminded me once again of the importance of proofreading. I could bring up this point in relation to almost every museum, zoo or historic site I visit. I implore those in charge of creating signage to check and double-check what you have written! Don't let this happen to you:
Also, if you like animals, check out The Animal Review. The blog is amusing, informative and a complete delight. Enjoy!
As we ambled through the various exhibits I was struck by two things. First, Zoo America reminded me of the close link, often overlooked, between museums and zoos/aquariums. Museums and zoos have similar missions: they seek to educate the public and to preserve their "collections." People often forget this fact, but it has potentially powerful implications. Whenever various experts talk about the state of museums in the United States today, they rarely include zoos in their analysis. Imagine if they did. We should also consider whether or not zoos and museums should work together more closely when attempting to secure funding and when lobbying the government for support.
Second, our visit to Zoo America reminded me once again of the importance of proofreading. I could bring up this point in relation to almost every museum, zoo or historic site I visit. I implore those in charge of creating signage to check and double-check what you have written! Don't let this happen to you:
Also, if you like animals, check out The Animal Review. The blog is amusing, informative and a complete delight. Enjoy!
16 August 2010
The View from this Tower
I want to encourage everyone to do a something if at all possible: take a behind-the-scenes tour of your favorite museum.
I had the opportunity to take such a tour today at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As anyone who has been to the museum knows, the building is not only incredible, it is also historic. Parts of the building that were open to the public many years ago have now been converted to other uses and are hidden from the layman's eyes. These parts of the building are beautiful and it was fascinating to see them and to hear them talked about by someone who clearly loves the building and knows more about it than I could ever hope to.
The best part of the tour, however, was being on the roof.
To be honest, I had been to the PMA's subbasements before. I knew that they had as much beauty as the rest of the building. But to see the view from the roof was to understand the building in an entirely new way. The view from the top of the building impressed on me not only the sheer size of the building, but also its height.
In short, find a way to take a behind-the-scenes tour of your favorite museum. Having seen the storage areas and hidden nooks and crannies of several museums and historic sites I can assure you that the most interesting stuff is the stuff most people never get the chance to see. I would also like to encourage museum staff to try to find a way to allow more people to see their museum from this unique vantage point. Don't limit this experience to staff and those with sufficient disposable income to purchase high level memberships. After all, you never know who you may inspire.
*My apologies for the less-than-stellar quality of the photos; rather than using a real camera I used the only thing at hand, which happened to be my cell phone.
I had the opportunity to take such a tour today at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As anyone who has been to the museum knows, the building is not only incredible, it is also historic. Parts of the building that were open to the public many years ago have now been converted to other uses and are hidden from the layman's eyes. These parts of the building are beautiful and it was fascinating to see them and to hear them talked about by someone who clearly loves the building and knows more about it than I could ever hope to.
The best part of the tour, however, was being on the roof.
To be honest, I had been to the PMA's subbasements before. I knew that they had as much beauty as the rest of the building. But to see the view from the roof was to understand the building in an entirely new way. The view from the top of the building impressed on me not only the sheer size of the building, but also its height.
In short, find a way to take a behind-the-scenes tour of your favorite museum. Having seen the storage areas and hidden nooks and crannies of several museums and historic sites I can assure you that the most interesting stuff is the stuff most people never get the chance to see. I would also like to encourage museum staff to try to find a way to allow more people to see their museum from this unique vantage point. Don't limit this experience to staff and those with sufficient disposable income to purchase high level memberships. After all, you never know who you may inspire.
*My apologies for the less-than-stellar quality of the photos; rather than using a real camera I used the only thing at hand, which happened to be my cell phone.
01 August 2010
Your Time Has Come
Lately I have been wondering if I will ever make it out of the world of visitor services and into collections management, the area of museum work for which I trained and in which I find the most enjoyment. Trying to find one of these positions is time consuming, frustrating and seemingly endlessly disappointing.
I was therefore thrilled to be handed a copy of Nina Simon's short article called "Doing Time on the Front Line" published in the July-August 2010 issue of Museum. (You can find a copy of the article here) It is so reassuring to hear someone say what I already think to be true - that working in the museum's front lines beneficial is not only beneficial, it can also lead to other opportunities in the future.
Selfishly, I hope that my time on the front lines at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will prove to be beneficial in terms of future employment opportunities. But I also hope that this article can inspire in others what it has inspired in me: hope.
I was therefore thrilled to be handed a copy of Nina Simon's short article called "Doing Time on the Front Line" published in the July-August 2010 issue of Museum. (You can find a copy of the article here) It is so reassuring to hear someone say what I already think to be true - that working in the museum's front lines beneficial is not only beneficial, it can also lead to other opportunities in the future.
Selfishly, I hope that my time on the front lines at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will prove to be beneficial in terms of future employment opportunities. But I also hope that this article can inspire in others what it has inspired in me: hope.
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