Jeremy,
I supervise the exhibit unit at the Peebles Island Resource Center, the museum services headquarters of the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Bureau of Historic Sites, a state government operation. We have been in operation since the mid-70s and provide exhibit and graphic design, fabrication, production, and installation services. [The facility also offers a complete menu of artifact/object conservation expertise, curatorial, central collections management/storage, archeology, interpretation, research, administrative, and security services]. The PIRC is the quintessential "behind the scenes" of a good-sized museum.
Our exhibit program has always kept good records of time expenditures on each project we tackle, but our salaries are not figured into the costing mix. The PIRC administration reports out to the system semi-annually on the hours expended on behalf of each park, region, and site.
I must admit that it is far easier for me to simply forecast actual capital budget-impacting costs and not have to figure in salaries. When I'm estimating the capital costs of building an exhibit, they are just that: materials and supplies. If we need to know what HR costs are, or if we need information in support of a grant application it's a fairly simple task to pull up the time records and do the math. I meet with PIRC administrators quarterly to examine progress, evaluate exhibit proposals, and lay the groundwork for the following "season(s)." Staff time is important in terms of scheduling and determining which/how many projects can be reasonable attempted in a given time period, an aspect our administration feels is most important.
Dave Meyersburg
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Chief of Historic Sites Exhibits
Peebles Island Resource Center
Waterford, New York 12188-0209
518/237-8643 extension 3228
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy T. Chrabascz [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 10:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Staff in exhibit budgets?
I'd like to cast a wider net and open an official discussion on this one as
I've been receiving much disagreement/conflicting opinions on it -
Should a museum budget ($$$) its own, internal staff time into an exhibit?
Some say that staff time is already being budgeted and paid anyway while
others say that you still work it in as an in-kind donation of services of
sorts but it should still be part of the total. Some grants require staff
time to be calculated in, don't they? YOUR THOUGHTS? Thanks in advance
for your time and consideration.
Jeremy T. Chrabascz, Curator of Furnishings
Indiana State Museum & Historic Sites
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