In Mark Erik Nielson's proposal to combine "some of [the museum's]
decorative art pieces" within the giftshop, he said the response was cool
for fear of it would rub the academic contingent the wrong way. However,
even my limited experience has taught me that the larger percentage of
museum goers are not necessariliy of the "academic contingent". Granted, to
sell decorative ARTifacts in the giftshop would offend many, but to display
parts of a collection in places where they have not traditionally been
displayed--providing, as in Mr. Neilson's case, they are safe--is simply
innovative. Most museums suffer from space constraints relative to the size
of their collections; they also face the difficulty of attracting local
visitors who feel they've already seen the extent of the collection, when in
fact they haven't.  The more exhibit space, the more the visitor gets to
see. Secondly, museums are suffering from low revenues. So why not attract
more people to the gift shop as well as the museum? Give them something
different. Who knows, maybe looking at a 19th century artifact in the
giftshop will influence a visitor to buy a twentieth century souvenier. The
integrity of the artifact is no more lost than if it were in storage; it may
even be strengthened. The academics are free to choose (or browse if they
like).





At 09:19 20/05/96 -0400, you wrote:
>I would like to see responses to this question as well. Our museum is
>currently examining the prospect of relocating and expanding our shop.
>The shop is currently in an odd location and its too small, but we are a
>small museum with no extra space, and we have obligations to expand certain
>exhibition areas. One of my proposals had to do with combining some of
>our decorative arts pieces within the shop environment. Although they could
>have been installed safely, the response was cool, because some felt that
>it would rub the academic contingent the wrong way. What do you think????
>
Neil J. Parry
Student of Museum Management and Curatorship Programme
Sir Sandford Fleming College, Peterborough, Ontario
[log in to unmask]