In article <[log in to unmask]>, [log in to unmask] (Claudia
Nicholson) writes:

>Since I beat life into the dying embers of the "Internships - paid or
>unpaid?" thread, and also am partly responsible for the "The museum field
>sure pays lousy, doesn't it?" thread, I am going to end them (at least
for
>now).
>
>I have been reading *A Cabinet of Curiosities* by Stephen Weil.  Weil
>is, IMHO, one of the most astute observers of the museum world, as well
>as one of the most articulate writers on the subject.  In this collection
>of essays, he saves the best for last--his speech in acceptance of the
>Katherine Coffey Award given to him by the Mid-Atlantic Association of
>Museums in 1990.
>
>With apologies for probably violating his copyright, and surety that he
>would approve, I present his reasons why museum people are different from
>other people who work.
>
>       "For one thing, as I have written elsewhere, nobody does this kind
>       of work for the money.  It is just not there.  The only people who
>       work in museums are people who really want to, people who are
>       enthusiastic about their occupation even to the point of making a
>       substantial economic sacrifice to pursue it.  A working world
>       made up of such people feels very different from one that is
>       populated by the sometimes bitter, trapped, and alienated person-
>       alities who assure you in the law, advertising, and elsewhere that
>       they would leave in a minute if it weren't for the money.
>
>       "Although museums may occasionally compete for donors or for
>       particular objects, they rarely compete for market share.  That
>       permits museum people a degree of candor and supportiveness in
their
>       dealings with one another that might not be possible in a more
>       basically competitive situation . . . It is just this atmosphere
>       that has made possible such training programs as the Museum
>       Management Institute and other mid-career efforts that rely
>       heavily on the willingness of participants to be forthcoming
>       about their day-to-day working experiences in museums.
>
>       "That the museum field contains an interlacing of so many
different
>       skills and backgrounds gives it a tremendously cosmopolitan
>       aspect.  I am by no means alone in having arrived in museum work
>       by such a wholly unexpected and accident-filled route.  Hundreds
>       of our colleagues, and certainly many of you here today, came to
>       museums in just that same almost-random way.  All of us, I think,
>       have been greatly enriched by this diversity of background and by
>       the myriad interactions that it regularly fosters.
>
>       "Finally, the very museum enterprise itself is to a degree
>       bottomed on notions of respect, caring, and decency.  Museum work
>       necessarily assumes that the natural world and the accomplishments
>       of its inhabitants are worthy of preservation and transmission.
>       It also assumes that there will be future generations with the
>       responsiveness and interest to benefit from the work that
>       museum people do in preserving and transmitting their heritage.
>       Such assumptions are acts of faith.  Institutions infused with
>       faith and built on such qualities as respect, caring, and decency
>       must inevitably strengthen and bring to the fore those very same
>       qualities in the people who work with and for them."
>
>He winds up by saying:  "Proud as I am that you have chosen to recognize
>me in this way, I am prouder still to be able to count myself as one of
>you."
>
>'Nuff said?
>
>Claudia Nicholson
>Curator of Collections
>South Dakota State Historical Society
>Pierre
>
>

Excellent passage.  I couldn't have said it better myself.  I only hope to
become a museum professional some day.  My job search continues, along
with my enthusiasm.

Arthur Fleischmann