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OPINION & OPPORTUNITY

Museum value in pandemic and post-pandemic world

By Frederick A. Johnsen

​   According to the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), museums contribute $50 billion to the U.S. economy yearly. The Alliance produces figures that are intended to support the importance of museums in the fabric of American society.
          If AAM's zeal embraces more than just traditional museums in some of their data, their enthusiasm is understandable.  According to AAM, "More people visited an art museum, science center, historic house or site, zoo, or aquarium in 2018 than attended a professional sporting event".
          About 26 percent of museums are located in rural areas, according to 2014 statistics. Some museums from more urban areas also serve rural areas with portable exhibits, traveling vans, and accessible online resources.
          The metrics representing the significance of museums in America have come under the same set of adverse circumstances affecting the economy as a whole. Museums large and small closed their doors in March 2020, and as of this writing in May, the closures remain. We are remembering that when we make cash contributions to our favorites.

Thankful for small museums like the Baker Heritage Museum

By Frederick A. Johnsen
            
     On a recent museum-hopping trip, I paused at the Baker Heritage Museum in Baker City, Ore. Located in a re-purposed 1921 municipal swimming pool and community center building, the museum is the result of a last-minute intervention in the 1970s by the Baker County Historical Society to save the structure, which had become an abandoned eyesore and was earmarked for demolition.             
     Often the use of an existing facility is a financial necessity, more than a choice, for a museum. The city leased the old natatorium building to the historical society at no charge, providing the society would establish and operate a museum in it. The result is a series of galleries depicting everything from phosphorescent glow-in-the-dark minerals to vintage local stagecoaches, wildlife dioramas, and antiquities that once animated life in this part of Oregon.     
    Two things quickly became apparent during my visit: The small staff and crew of volunteers have a joyful passion for telling the region's history that is transmitted to visitors, and, they are doing this without a lot of high-tech, high-dollar exhibit hardware.             
     The Baker Heritage Museum exemplifies the joy of museums, pure and simple. Its displays and dioramas are evidence that much learning and enjoyment can be had in smaller museums in smaller communities. My visit reminded me not to overlook museums such as this one on my cross-country travels.             
     The Baker Heritage Museum strives to do things right. The museum is supported by a non-profit foundation. A brief history brochure of the museum says: "The creation, support and continued volunteer effort on behalf of this Museum shows a dedication and determination by the people of Baker City to make a unique history available to the public in perpetuity." That is profoundly simple, and simply profound -- when perpetuity is a stated goal, outcomes can be shaped to facilitate that.             
     It was my pleasure to meet museum assistant Kathleen Martin, who told me about ongoing efforts to enhance the environmental conditions in the museum --
another encouraging signal that the folks at the Baker Heritage Museum have their eye on the ball as they develop and operate this historical facility and care for the conservation of its collections.             
     I can't wait for my next road trip, when I plan to sample more local museums in other regions of the United States. See you there...
(End)

Notes on crew dynamics in the small museum 

By Frederick A. Johnsen

    For a number of years, it was my distinct pleasure to be involved as director/curator with two museums in the U.S. Air Force field museum program, starting in 1982 at then-McChord Air Force Base, near Tacoma, Wash.
    The 1980s were awash with optimistic base-level start-up museum efforts throughout the Air Force. We met, collaborated, and occasionally competed for the same scarce aircraft.
    The very DNA of Air Force field museums was infused with the need to establish a non-profit supporting foundation. The Air Force did not have funds or staffing to meet every need of the burgeoning field museum program, and it was incumbent upon those who wanted to see a field museum flourish that a foundation be created to raise capital and other assets to enable the Air Force professional staff to execute the museum plan. 
    In theory, the museum/foundation relationship in the Air Force system was simple: the Air Force staff made and executed museum plans and operations; the foundation enabled this with funds and assets. The foundation's role was not to acquire artifacts or set museum policy.
    It was a pleasure to work with some remarkable and selfless individuals on both the McChord Air Museum Foundation, and later the Flight Test Historical Foundation at Edwards AFB, in California's Mojave Desert. But just occasionally, an enthusiastic foundation member might push for an artifact, a program, or a policy that were outside the realm of the foundation's charter, and it fell to me to have a discussion about roles and responsibilities.
    Each museum has its own set of circumstances that shapes its dynamics. If I may, I will opine on some generalized staff and support observations that helped me nurture budding museums: 
    DIRECTOR/CURATOR: In an ideal world, museums would have sufficient budget to hire a professional director as well as a curator. The director has the big picture -- he or she often creates it -- to move the museum forward. The director creates alliances in the community, and works with support groups to achieve the museum's goals. Meanwhile, the curator is the museum professional who has ultimate stewardship of the museum's collection. Curators typically are subject-matter experts as well as museum technical experts who know how to achieve the best way to protect, display, store, and restore, the collection.
    But let's get real -- for many small museums, especially when just starting, the functions of director and curator must reside in one person. If a curator can afford the luxury of being a social recluse, the director cannot -- so the combined director/curator needs to be able to deal with the public and the media, and also have a working knowledge of the museum's subject matter, as well as fundamental museum best-practices.
   Now that the museum has its director/curator in place, at least one other staff slot is worth addressing. The position may be called CHIEF OF STAFF, chief of operations, chief of maintenance, or something similar. If only one other person is available to help the director/curator create and operate the museum, let it be this chief who may do everything from answering the phone to coordinating the volunteers, to arranging tours, to ensuring the old jet fighter outside the front door is periodically washed and painted.
    With these two people creating and running the museum, the presence of a non-profit FOUNDATION is crucial to museum operations. At their best, foundations capture the interest and assistance of community leaders who can help. Foundation members might provide everything from pro bono legal advice to construction and moving assistance.
    The devil is always in the details, and both museum staff and foundation board members need to be clear on the roles and responsibilities of each. The Air Force field museums spell this out in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the museum staff and foundation leadership.
    VOLUNTEERS are a vital way to expand the museum's capabilities. Though they are not paid, there is still an important, and worthwhile, cost associated with volunteers. Volunteer appreciation events, awards, name tags, and printed shirts all let the volunteers know they are appreciated. Additionally, some museums provide tools and equipment to enhance the volunteer experience, as well as training to help them perfect their duties. (Remember that pro bono lawyer on the ideal foundation board? He or she may have some suggestions on volunteer agreements that define the limits of a volunteer's service to avoid misunderstandings on responsibilities and expectations.) 
    Volunteers typically come in two species: DOCENTS and other workers. Docents greet the public and help ensure visitors have a good and meaningful museum experience. Other volunteers may do everything from tend the museum garden, to restore artifacts, to construct display fixtures, to general building maintenance. Some volunteers are so enthusiastic they make the leap from docent to other volunteer tasks frequently.
    Like foundation members, volunteers need to have a clear understanding of their duties and limitations so they do not, in well-meaning zeal, obligate the museum to something beyond their power to offer.
    Sure, this is a simplistic view of an idealized small museum. But it conveys a quick overview of the roles and responsibilities of typical museum workers. The director/curator must call the shots. The chief of staff can keep the museum up and running. The foundation needs to understand its importance is in being "the ATM for the museum", as one board member eloquently put it. And volunteers need to know they are appreciated, and also that they are not the museum director -- in a future column, perhaps we'll talk about the need for diplomacy on the part of the director!
    Next time you visit a small museum, please contemplate and appreciate that they may be chronically understaffed and underbudgeted; anything you can do to make it easier for the staff and volunteers will surely be appreciated. And happy museum visiting!
(End)  

Welcome to the world of museums

    Whether you are a museum visitor, volunteer, or professional, the appreciation of the value of museums runs deep. At Museumerica.com we share that feeling. Museums preserve astounding icons of the past and of today in their collections, giving millions of visitors a moving, connecting experience that only comes from being in the presence of actual, three-dimensional history.
    Museums teach while they entertain. They ground us to our past while inspiring us to leap into our future.
    We hope you will join us as we explore historical museums and natural sites that illuminate the world in which we live. Along the way, we may find some tips and lively discussions for museum visitors and professionals alike. We believe you will enjoy our mix of stories, images and videos highlighting a wide range of museum experiences and museum topics.

Don't just take our word for it!

    Museumerica.com appreciates the vast body of museum knowledge available, and we will share tips and sources that may make us all better prepared as museum visitors, volunteers, and professionals. This stuff is fun if we let it be. Sure, museum staff have high obligations to their collections and to ensuring a positive visitor experience. But through it all, we perceive a joy in visiting, a joy in doing. We're here to promote a good time in museums. We will highlight other sites and museums in an effort to share the fun and knowledge. We encourage you to follow up with other museum- and preservation-related sites to learn what's out there.

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., is a solemn and inspiring historical site; one of many in a capitol city filled with museums and monuments that attract millions of visitors annually. (F. Johnsen photo)

The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City operates historic locomotives to the delight of visitors. The museum's turntable is a replica of a vintage "Armstrong" turntable, so named because it requires strong arms to move it! (F. Johnsen photo)

Many museums actively embrace educational events to engage diverse demographics. The model rocket launch was a Family Day event at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, Ohio. (Courtesy photo)

Throughout the east and the south, Civil War battlefields like Virginia's Manassas are preserved with features including cannons and fortifications, all interpreted with signage, and sometimes guided tours, to give that pivotal period in American history perspective. (F. Johnsen photo)

What defines a museum?

By Frederick A. Johnsen 

     A succinct definition of what constitutes a museum is as elusive as the end of the rainbow, and may never get universal buy-in. Some museum professionals note with a sigh that “anyone who has ever visited a museum thinks they know how to run a museum”. 
    The word, “museum” is bandied casually to conjure everything from a private individual’s collection of arcane stuff that is seldom seen by the public, all the way up to the methodical and wonderfully focused collections and themes of major institutions like the Smithsonian complex. 
    For decades, museum professionals have delved into ways to harness technology and entertainment in an effort to engage the interest and participation of diverse audiences. Although static collections of interpreted artifacts are still central to a museum's rationale, the modern museum offers more -- classroom experiments, museum sleepovers, flight simulators, special events, distance-learning, living history re-enactments, or other participatory opportunities for visitors.  
    Perhaps the best arbiter of the definition of “museum” is museologist G. Ellis Burcaw. He wrote the book, literally, that defines museums, and informs museum professionals. His Introduction to Museum Work (AltaMira Press, an American Association for State and Local History Series Book) is a thoughtful guide that threads its way through pitfalls and pinnacles of museum experiences. Burcaw’s observations steer the reader to a greater understanding of the obligations and the opportunities museums can offer society. His conclusions can alternately confirm and challenge the reader’s preconceived notions.
    It’s an outstanding read not only for museum professionals, but for dedicated museum visitors, supporting board members, and volunteer docents as well. Burcaw, and others in the museum profession, argue that to be a genuine museum requires a deliberate and disciplined collection of material items that can be used to impart educational, entertainment, and emotional value to visitors. 
    Furthermore, that collection and its physical environment need to be enshrined and endowed in perpetuity. If we’re not in it for the long haul, we’re not really a museum.     
    While some museums, particularly of national or international significance, may aspire to preserve one-of-everything in a particular discipline, the professional staffs of most smaller museums know they can never afford to have, or care for, “everything”. Hence, museum directors and curators become masters of using well-placed iconic examples to tell their stories, and they don’t lose sleep over not having all 231 variations of sturmstrudel speed blimps when they have just one that can tell the story admirably.  
     A good museum has a succinct theme and story line that informs its collection policy and keeps it disciplined. Benefits are two-fold: the public gets a coherent presentation free from extraneous and confusing clutter, and the always cash-strapped museum doesn’t obligate itself to the perpetual care of items it doesn’t need. 
    If this article piques your interest, please consider reading Ellis Burcaw’s eloquent book. And enjoy your next visit to a museum with a new set of expectations and understanding. 
(End)

JANUARY 25, 2015

Scrapping historic Washington ferry Kalakala

The famous art-deco streamlined ferry Kalakala is to be demolished near Tacoma, Washington, as seen in this January 24, 2015 photo. Kalakala plied the waters of Puget Sound from 1935 to 1967 as a ferry before moving to Alaska as a cannery after retirement from ferry duty. (Photo by Kenneth G. Johnsen)

   The historic art-deco streamlined ferry Kalakala was scrapped near Tacoma, Washington after many years of efforts to restore and preserve the boat did not achieve that goal.
   Once known for moonlight cruises with a live dance band in the 1930s after its daytime ferry runs to Bremerton, the futuristically rounded Kalakala could still be seen shuttling across Puget Sound as late as 1967. The Kalakala's fate shows how fragile the net for historic preservation can be. Many people made ongoing efforts to save the Kalakala, including providing low-cost moorage near Tacoma for years, but it has been said restoration could have cost $25 million.

Washington state ferry Kalakala departed Seattle on a run to Bremerton in 1967. (Photo by Frederick A. Johnsen)

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Articles and materials presented on this website are intended for entertainment and to promote further research by interested visitors. Get professional opinions from museum specialists in your area before undertaking any museum projects.