It is an enormously complicated problem, but I think Michael is asking the
right questions.

The City Life Museums fiasco was a dreadful thing all the way around.  There
was enormous historical importance to the group, as it reached back to the
first museum, the Peale Museum, founded in this country.  It filled a key
role in the Baltimore City schools' offerings.  It may well have been a
victim in part of regional negativism toward Baltimore City itself.

It could have been worse, I suppose.  The collections went mostly to the
Maryland Historical Society and are therefore still intact and in the city.
Some of the projected uses for the buildings are culturally focused and
morally and socially admirable.  Historical status for the primary building
with its re-used cast-iron front is a step in the right direction.

Philadelphia has faced similar crises recently with historical museums and
archives.  So have other cities.

I myself feel dubious about the explosion of museum-esque non-profits.  Many
new art museums (in particular) seem to be more about the donors ego than
the quality of the art and the community's access to it.  Museum-type
structures that are 40% or more entertainment venues seem to undermine the
very notion that traditional museums are engaged (and must continue to be
engaged) with the very unentertaining aspects of collecting, conservation
and research.

Yet the soul-searching as to mission and goals, what can be achieved and how
those achievements can/should be measured, is very good stuff.  If the
survival of our cultural institutions/museum organizations is an ultimate
good, then perhaps we should be talking more about whether the manifestation
that we have grown used to -- the building, a certain staff structure, a
certain kind of programming -- is or is not itself the "museum that we are
committed to saving."

By the way, Ellie -- what happened to the City Life Museums was, in my
opinion, a disaster and the treatment afforded all the staff was
inexcusable.  It was a case-study ignorance and opportunism, and I am so
sorry that you are your colleagues became victims.

Ellen B. Cutler
LNB Associates: writing, editing, research services
Aberdeen, MD  21001
410 / 272-1905
[log in to unmask]

----- Original Message -----
From: Roark Michael <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2001 10:45 AM
Subject: Earned Income, Risk and Museum Employment


> The world museum community has seen unprecedented growth in the last
twenty
> years.  Both employment and total expenditures have never been higher.
But
> much of that growth has been spurred by the aggressive pursuit of earned
> income (admissions, shops, cafes, etc.)  Winning that earned income
requires
> museums to compete in the broader marketplace and that by definition
brings
> uncertainty and risk.
>
> My prediction:  the number of people employed in museums will continue to
> grow over the next decade but the number of museums may shrink.  I think
> this will happen for two reasons: 1) gambles taken and lost and 2) the
> benefits of size.
>
> I think we will be seeing a lot more situations like the Baltimore City
Life
> Museums.  As I interpret Ellie Elgin's telling of the story (and I have no
> knowledge of this situation), the leadership took a risk (assuming 100K
> mostly-paying? attendees lured away from other pursuits) and failed, and
the
> eventual consequence of that failure was closure. Any organization that
> competes runs the risk of losing.  The response from the museum community
> should be to hone our ability to identify smart risks not haul the museum
> trustees to jail.  Again, I am talking generally for I know none of the
> specifics from Baltimore.
>
> [As is the case in most organizations, the risks and the benefits are not
> equally shared by leadership and employees.  While the Board members may
> have felt few effects of their decision to shut the museums down, Ellie
> certainly has.]
>
> I also think when competing for earned income, size does matter.  Larger
> museums will increasingly gain the lion's share of earned income.  It is
> cheaper to run larger museums than smaller museums because advertising,
> computer systems, insurance, security, benefits, public programs, public
> affairs, recruiting, multi-media, purchasing, etc. are all scale
sensitive.
> Small museums that rely heavily on earned income will have to both use the
> size of a parent organizations (local government, etc.) to reduce the
> disadvantages of their size AND find a museum market niche they can
defend.
>
> I think the question to the museum community is should we fight to keep
> every earned-income dependent organization running, irrespective of
success?
> Should we fight for the laws that David Haberstich mentions that might
jail
> board members if they choose a course other than the failing status quo?
> What will our donors (public and private) think about organizations that
by
> law are not allowed to fail and reorganize in more efficient systems?
>
> I think the alternative to our current mode of operating is to slow down
the
> creator of growth in museums (earned income), reduce risk and reduce
> employment in the museum community.  We would have fewer, but safer,
museums
> jobs.
>
>
> Michael
>
> Michael Roark
> The Boston Consulting Group
> Washington, DC
> +1-301-664-7416 phone
> [log in to unmask]
>
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