We are a mid-sized university art museum.  Although this may be a situation
unique to a museum that is part of a larger institution, I would like the
input of the larger museum community as well.

As we left our staff meeting this morning, we noticed a new sign on each of the
entrance doors of the museum - both staff and public entrances - that reads
as follows:

"NO TRESPASSING - The use of this facility is restricted to UNCG students,
faculty, staff, and other persons authorized to enter these premises by the
director of public safety and police.  Trespassers are subject to prosecution
under the laws of North Carolina G.S. 14-159-13."

These signs were a complete surprise - no one in the department of public
safety had notified us they would be installed - and are now on every door of
every building on campus.  As you can imagine, I was tempted to try to remove the signs myself as this kind of message on the front door of a museum does
not exactly project a visitor-friendly image.  In addition, the signs hang
crooked and were installed on doors with UV-protective film which they may
damage when removed.

Have any of you ever encountered a situation like this?  If so, any suggestions
on how to work on getting the signs removed?  Evidently they were installed
because in order to prosecute someone for trespassing, they must be made aware
that there is a no trespassing order for that building - but of course a
museum that is open to the public and has a mission to serve university,
community, state, and national audiences functions differently from a
traditional classroom building!  Our director will be speaking to the head
of public safety soon about removing the signs, and I would like to hear your ideas.

Thanks,

Pam Hill
Curator of Education
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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