Marc,
Thank you for your very helpful response! I am new to this Listserv,
and am very excited by the fast responses to my question. In response
to your question, it is important to me to focus on house museums that
are the house alone. Because part of my interest lies in the fact that
a lot of ideas are out there for exhibits and plans for changeable
museum spaces, but fewer ideas for "static" houses with a supposed
pre-set story. I would like to focus on houses with comparable
budgets, smaller than Mount Vernon. I am a bit split on whether to
critique programs that were designed to increase relevance and
visibility, or to do some kind of audience survey as to what they want
(or think they want).
My problem is that my degree is a distance learning masters through
the University of Leicester in the UK and so they are fairly separate
from the U.S. heritage context. Hard to know where to begin! I
appreciate your thoughts and any more would be great as well.
I work for the Minnesota Historical Society, by the way, at two sites.
I know that we are a hug site management (and more) organization, so
I don't know where we fit on the spectrum of historic house
programming. But I want to get away from critiquing programs run by
MHS. I believe it will allow me to have better perspective.
Rachel
On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 1:46 PM, Marc A Williams
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Rachel,
>
> This is a very "hot" topic right now. As most of my clients are historic
> house museums, I see and hear a variety of opinions and ideas on their
> future. I believe that the common thread is that "business as usual" is
> over for many historic house museums. Most need to re-think their mission,
> their model, and their very sustainability. The admissions fee model
> appears unlikely to work in the future except for those with the highest
> visitation. More to your point, perhaps the most cutting edge
> in programming is Mount Vernon. However, it also has one of the largest
> budgets of all historic house museums and is certainly atypical in terms of
> resources and visitation. And, the cutting edge portion of the visitor
> experience is not the historic house itself, but the new museum facility on
> the property.
>
> Perhaps you can refine your question. Do you want only certain
> budgets/sizes of historic houses? Do you want only historic houses
> themselves, perhaps with a few outbuildings, or are entire complexes (such
> as Mount Vernon or Monticello) or even villages (such as Sturbridge or
> Conner Prairie) acceptable? Are you looking for case studies of successes
> or do you also want failing or failed sites? Do you want sites that are
> supported by their own generated revenues, whether subject to UBIT
> (unrelated business income tax) or not, or are sites supported by
> substantial endowments or other unearned income OK? This is a great topic
> for a thesis, but is quite large and would probably benefit from a more
> narrow focus, at least in terms of the list providing you with useful
> recommendations. Good luck!
>
> Marc
> American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
> 4 Rockville Road
> Broad Brook, CT 06016
> www.conservator.com
> 860-386-6058
>
> *Collections Preservation Consultation
> *Conservation Assessments & Surveys
> *Environmental Monitoring & Low-Tech Control
> *Moisture Management Solutions
> *Collections in Historic Structures
> *Collections Care Grant Preparation
> *Conservation Treatment of:
> Furniture
> Painted Wood
> Horse-Drawn Vehicles
> Architectural Interiors
> Decorative Objects & Folk Art
>
> Marc A. Williams, President
> MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
> Former Chief Wooden Object Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
> Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Rachel Abbott
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 2:12 PM
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Historic House Museums
> I am about to start working on my thesis project for my MA in museum
> studies. I am going to focus on historic house museums and their
> relevance for the U.S. right now. I am trying to determine the design
> of a study and thinking about case studies of a few sites. My question
> is: what are the most cutting-edge historic house museums in the U.S.
> right now, as far as programming goes? Especially programming meant to
> maintain the house's relevance to its community.
>
> I would appreciate any and all thoughts. Thanks!
>
> Rachel
>
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