Hello List and Lori --
I think Indigo Nights has a point -- where is the money going to come from? BUT
what Lori so eloquently pointed out is something that I believe is a real issue
facing museums today. If we continue to take Indigo's point of view, and the
salaries in museums dosen't increase to a living wage, museums will be doomed
to be the kind of archaic, stuffy old tombs that is the stereotype. Many
museums today are fetching large grants to rectify this situation -- to bring
in diverse audiences AND diverse staff, to change the view that museums are
dead places. How can we hope to bring in a diverse staff when it is a
profession that only retirees, student interns, and those with other sources of
a living income can afford to work in? We need to convince our boards and our
communities that having quality cultural institutions costs money and is a
valuable asset to the community worth spending that money on.

Susan Edwards
Seattle Art Museum

--- Indigo Nights <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Lori, I understand your frustrations and I can
> empathize with them.  You're not the first to come
> here with these grumbles; probably you won't be the
> last.
>
> My question to you would be how well did you do your
> homework before choosing this as a career?  How many
> of your instructors who may have encouraged you to
> look to this as a line of work apprised you of the
> realities of Museums work?
>
> There are professions you go into to make lots of
> money and buy lots of things.
>
> Then there are professions you go into where you just
> do it because you love what you do.
>
> Regrettably, for most of the listers here, museum work
> is the latter and not a combination of the two.
>
> Now you can lament til times get better about what the
> Museum field is and isn't doing and what tightwads
> (implied) they are.
>
> Time for a sanity check in an insane world.
>
> Who is going to PAY for that salary?  The patrons?
> The grant makers?  The government?
>
> If you chose any of those three as the source of your
> revenue, you just flunked.
>
> We're on the precipice, like it as not, of a
> recession.  The stock market has been fritzy, and the
> Fed has been making repeated adjustments to the
> interest rates trying to stabilize the economy.
> Energy rates have skyrocketed, and bankruptcy rules
> have been reregulated to make it harder to escape
> debt.
>
> The patrons who make up your client base don't have
> the disposable income they had some time back (if they
> had it), and it's rather hard to get rates raised to
> justify salaries.
>
> Grant makers?  Hmmm.  Well, let's see.  If the estate
> tax takes a dive, there go the contributions upon
> which the grant makers are dependent.  No charitable
> contributions, no money, and grant makers are reticent
> to fund salaries anyway.
>
> The federal, state, or city governments?  Guess again.
>  Heard about that tax cut we're all supposed to get?
> What do you suppose that did or will do to funding?
>
> It is truly lamentable that Museum work isn't
> rewarding AND profitable in most instances, but them's
> the brakes.  One can argue that life isn't fair, it
> just is.
>
> Maybe--and just maybe is all I can offer you--you WILL
> have to look to another line of work until such time
> as you're through family raising.  If you are cash
> dependent and don't have another source of income, you
> may have to make some hard decisions.
>
> I personally am 48.  I had to sell my soul to
> Corporate America to get the children raised.
> However, they're now grown, and I'm in a position
> where I can afford to make less in favor of something
> I love.  It's all about balance and choices.
>
> Now, if you happen to hit the lottery . . .
>
> Til then, you may wish to check out my employment web
> site to see if there are any rocks you haven't
> unturned on your quest for employment.
>
> I wish you the best, and I understand and share your
> frustrations about reality in the Musuems field.
>
> http://victorian.fortunecity.com/stanmer/414
>
>
>
> --- Lori Allen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > When is the museum community going to realize they
> > can't continue to depend
> > on people who don't really need to support
> > themselves (independently wealthy
> > / bored housewives / retirees) for their employee
> > base.
>
> SNIP
>
> The internet
> > companies offer that AND  high wages and you don't
> > need a masters or PhD.  I
> > love art and history and want to spend the rest of
> > my life working in the
> > museum field, but if things don't change soon,
> > you'll find me in a green
> > apron relishing my free coffee, health benefits and
> > stock options (all
> > offered to those working at lease 20 hours a wk).
> > My family does come first
> > and I will not sacrifice my daughter's needs because
> > my job doesn't pay the
> > bills.
> >
> > Lori Allen
> > Graduate Student,
> > University of Missouri - St. Louis
>
>
> =====
> Indigo Nights
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
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