Our small art museum-to-be has a very small Board of Trustees consisting of
highly dedicated , very active individuals all of whom have made major
sacrifices and contributions and who have also created an important
collection based on a common philosophy. They work together perfectly and
are passionately devoted to the idea behind 19th century Barbizon art, the
pastoral, plein air, etc.

It is likely that in order to turn the plan into a reality and become a
first rate museum, they will have to take-on many new Board members who will
help to fund and develop and guide it into the future. With that, will come
all sorts of pressures, and the possibility of the founders losing control
by being outnumbered on the Board. The existing Board has enough funds to
work with, in order to purchase the building that we chose for the museum,
prepare the collection for the opening, and to run the museum for a year or
two, but after that they will have to depend on a professional museum Board
(and the yet-to-be-hired professional museum staff) to develop funds, etc.

For those of you who have thought about these sorts of problems, or have
gone through Board struggles for power ( I have heard stories of several
medical foundations where the unsophisticated founders added high octane
medical and financial members to the Board, and almost immediately the
founders were overwhelmed, _and_ ousted altogether).

I would like to hear from the members of the museum-l list either on, or
off, the list and get the benefit of your reflections, experiences or
recommendations. For a new museum which will have as its focus a pure
educational goal to familiarize the public with the sensibility of the
artists of this period, and accelerate interest in these artists: Do you
stay small and retain control for the sake of the purity of the idea; or do
you risk takeover by adding-on many new Board members with the experience
and power to develop the museum into an extremely successful institution
(?measured by, e.g. visitorship, endowment, collection expansion, etc.)--or
is there some happy medium?

Are there any published or unpublished accounts of this stage of the
decision-making process that would be illuminating? Have any case studies
been done, or has any organization been formed which can consult on this and
related questions, either on a charitable basis, or for a reasonable fee?

I have to prepare a report with recommendations to the Board on these and
other issues, and I really need your help on how to proceed at this stage.

Mark

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Mark Ast, Ph.D.
Curator
Museum & Library of Barbizon
        & Pre-Impressionist Art
The Schlesinger Foundation
email:  [log in to unmask]

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