I hope some of you can comment on this: someone on our exhibit committee
recently suggested that we start seeking out and exhibiting local people's
private collections. This set off alarm bells in my head.

We are a smallish (7 full time staff) history museum, but the collection is
large enough to support both permanent and temporary exhibits indefinitely.
The suggestion was that using community members' collections would encourage
local visitation by fostering a sense of  community "ownership" of the Museum
(which unfortunately seems to often conflict with the staff's wish to abide
by professional standards). My first concern was the possible conflict of
interest when the private collection is for sale-- a museum exhibit would
enhance the collection's value.  My other, almost subconscious, concern was
the political problem of deciding which collections are "worthy" of a museum
exhibit (our mission is vague enough that I can see a lot of these decisions
coming down to quality of the collection rather than subject matter).

Am I being a snob, or are these legitimate concerns? Is there an article
about this somewhere which I could show the committee? Has anyone else dealt
with this? You can reply to the list or to me off list. Thanks!

Carrie Beauchamp
Registrar
CFD Old West Museum
Cheyenne, Wyoming

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