Ms. Reynolds is not the first such donor to the Smithsonian (at least one
other of recent years comes to mind), or to other museums. And since we
MUST go to donors for funding (like it or not, public support in general for
museums has been declining for years) we will continue to have incidents
such as this. And while the science/curator types (of which I am one) can
get up on their high horses and declare "We should not take money with ANY
strings attached", by the same token, we cannot then complain about
decreased budgets, layoffs, etc.
The trend of recent years toward having astute business folk take over the
helm of our museums is, I believe, generally a good thing, and a situation
we brought about by our own action/inaction. Museums should, indeed must
be, run as a business. We're competing with the entertainment industry for
tourist dollars, and if we don't do so successfully, we will become extinct.
The pendulum of course is swinging too far the other way, but it is my firm
belief that if the curators/scientific staffs of the museums can stop simply
bellyaching about the business types, there will emerge a "New Synthesis"
where curators and administrators will cooperate to keep museums not only
surviving, but thriving.
It is, after all, Ms Reynolds money. Donors have always had strings...some
more visible than others. I suppose we have to weigh the constraints imposed
by those strings against the benefit to the museum.
Richard White, Director
International Wildlife Museum
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