Does anyone else find it interesting that all the museums listed are art
museums?  Or maybe that was just a factor of the nature of the article?


-----Original Message-----
From:   Patricia L. Miller [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Friday, June 19, 1998 12:47 PM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: seeking: ENTRY-LEVEL JOB

It was in the Chicago Tribune, May 27, 1998, Section Two. "Take Me to Your
Leader?" The museums listed were: Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art
(needs director, three curators). Others needing directors:

Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, Calif.
Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Mich.
Dewitt Wallace Gallery and Gardens at Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg,
VA.
Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tenn.
Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center at U.C.L.A, Los Angeles, Calif.
Harn Museum at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Tex.
Memphis Brooks Museum, Museum of Art, Memphis, Tenn.
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Calif.
New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, N.Y.
Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Boston, Mass.
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, R.I.
St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Mo.
San Antonio Art Museum, San Antonio, Tex.
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, N.Y.


It's quite an interesting article. Statements about fund-raising skills and
the business aspects of museum operation could apply to other types of
museums. One quote from Richard Koshalek, who is retiring from the Museum
of
Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, goes a bit against the flow, "Cultural
institutions are different from corporations, they have different goals.
Any
institution saying it needs a MBA is making a serious mistake in terms of
credibility and integrity. What is needed is creative leadership, an
understanding of art and education and, after that, yes, management
skills."

Pat Miller



At 12:23 PM 6/19/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Dear Robert,
>
>OK, but I will have to do it on Monday.  The article is at home and I will
>have to find it among all my papers!
>I know that one of them was Williamsburg.
>
>Elizabeth
>
>
>
>On Fri, 19 Jun 1998, Robert T. Handy wrote:
>
>> Hey!  Post a list of those ten to fifteen museums without Directors.  I
might want to send some of them a resume.
>>
>>
>> ------
>> Robert Handy
>> Brazoria County Historical Museum
>> museum_bob
>> [log in to unmask]
>> http://www.bchm.org
>>
>> ----------
>> From:   Elizabeth Anne Hanson[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent:   Friday, June 19, 1998 9:38 AM
>> To:     [log in to unmask]
>> Subject:        Re: seeking: ENTRY-LEVEL JOB
>>
>> Dear Julia,
>>
>> I find this extremely interesting too.  There was recently an article in
>> the Chicago Tribune discussing this exact same issue.  At this point I
>> cannot recall the date, but could find out if you would like to read it.
>> Anyway this article talked about the fact that many museum directors
>> around
>> the country are quiting there jobs and listed about 10 or 15 top museums
>> without directors.  Excessive hours and too much work were listed as
some
>> of the reasons many directors are quiting.
>>
>> Elizabeth
>>
>> On Thu, 18 Jun 1998, J./B. Moore wrote:
>>
>> > Does anybody else besides me find it ironic that the entry-level jobs
>> > are so competitive when at any one time these days there are about 100
>> > museum directorships vacant and looking for applicants?  Guess when
>> > people do fight their way in and up to the top they find it's not as
>> > great as it seemed, and hop from job to job finding the "ideal" one.
>> >
>> > Maybe instead of grousing about how hard it is to find an entry-level
>> > job, we should focus on keeping the good people we have and grooming
>> > them for the top spots--and making the top spots worth holding.  Maybe
>> > only then can the museum field move forward.
>> >
>> >
>> > Julia Moore
>> > Director of Exhibitions and Artist Services
>> > Indianapolis Art Center
>> >
>>
>
>
Patricia L. Miller, Executive Director
Illinois Heritage Association
602 1/2 E. Green St.
Champaign, IL 61820
(217)359-5600; fax (217) 344-6171; email [log in to unmask]