Every museum director should have--at his or her right hand--a deputy
director who is directly responsible for coordinating the museum's
fiscal policy and its impact on the long term health of the
institution.  That doesn't mean that a museum or non-profit should be
HEADED by someone with those skills.  As I tried to point out in an
earlier posting, a museum director would consult with many others
with respect to specific skills, security, conservation, building,
landscaping, etc.
Security provides a good example.  If a museum was suffering so much
vandalism or breeches of security that its future was threatened, the
board still would not rush off and hire someone with a criminal
justice background to head the museum.
I hope my analogy points out how ludicrous this situation is for
today's museums and the trend to set them up with business people at
the helm.
Anna




>Can museums follow the symphony and theater worlds, where there are
>co-leaders who are experts in their fields?  The performing arts have a
>"managing director" and an "artistic director" with their own hierarchies,
>and the two top leaders coordinate their bailiwicks for a full program.
>
>Very large museums often do this with an executive director/CEO who is
>either the subject-matter expert OR the bean-counter, with an "assistant
>director" or "associate director" who handles the other function.  Smaller
>museums do not have the luxury of extra staff lying around, so they have to
>go one way or another, and in these times it is often determined that the
>top leader be more externally than internally experienced.  ("internal"
>being code for "museum wonk")  Some museums require more of a bean counter
>at the top, while others go the more scholarly route. The best requirement
>for a top leader in a museum should be his/her ability to conceive of a
>vision for the institution and inspire others to share it and do their best
>work to advance it.  Still, the top person must be aware of his/her
>experience limitations and surround him/herself with trained people with
>whom they consult regularly and to whom they should defer the decisions that
>require specialized abilities.  It's that deferral which causes
>problems--often when one gets to the top one's ego takes over and listening
>to others is an atrophied skill.
>
>This is all true for presidents as well...except for they must also realize
>that they represent the people and should always strive to serve the people
>instead of their own agenda.
>Julia Muney Moore
>Director of Exhibitions and Artist Services
>Indianapolis Art Center
>820 E. 67th St.
>Indianapolis, IN  46220
>(317) 255-2464 x233
>FAX (317) 254-0486
>email <[log in to unmask]>
>website <http://www.indplsartcenter.org>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: David E. Haberstich [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 1:32 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Trickle-down Stickiness
>
>
>Don't get me wrong, Indigo.  I'm not opposed to bean counters per se.  I
>think every museum and similar institution needs competent business managers
>or
>bean counters, if you will, to help meet the challenges of a changing
>economy.
>And they should have real power and influence.  I just think it's foolhardy
>and dangerous to give them 100% of the power.  The chief executive of a
>museum,
>IMHO, obviously needs to have management ability and experience, perhaps
>including that MBA--but ALSO solid museum experience and understanding, and
>respect
>for the expertise and value of the professional staff.  I think it's unwise
>to pass up people with combined museum and managerial qualifications in
>favor
>of alleged hotshots from the corporate world.  ... I'm particularly alarmed
>by high-handed business
>types who like to start their reign over an institution by cutting and
>downsizing without any dialogue or consultation with staff, and I'm tired of
>hearing
>about museum staffs being demoralized by such unimaginative and ruthless
>tactics.
>
>=========================================================
>Important Subscriber Information:
>
>The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
>http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
>information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
>message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message
>should read "help" (without the quotes).
>
>If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail
>message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message
>should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).


--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anna Fariello, Curatorial InSight, Box 505, Christiansburg VA 24068
www.curatorialinsight.com;  540-382-3946;  [log in to unmask]
Interdisciplinary Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA 24061-0227
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).