And this is exactly why museums contract out their employees.

And it is exactly why museums and other non-profits need to learn to
build endowments through capital campaigns, learn the strategic planning
process and stop whining about not having money!  There's money to be
had through corporate contributions and grants.  Especially challenge
grants that can push you and your board.  

I went into debt to get my Masters in Museum Studies, not because I
thought I'd be a millionaire working in museum development and
marketing, but because I really want to love what I do - and do what I
love.  If, at the end of a day, the most meaningful thing I had done was
put paper into the filing cabinet at the local banking conglomerate, I
would have killed myself in a year.  I HAD to do something that, to me,
held purpose.  I'm not in a museum at the moment (I'm at a community
music school), but I am in Marketing and Development for a stable
non-profit that really enjoys the different perspective I bring to their
table.

I, too, realized, that as a single adult with a dog and a car payment, I
needed to make some money.  So I got creative.  Volunteer to sit on the
board at other local institutions, network and meet people, and
eventually it will pay off.

Most of us can't afford to go to the Gala's that our institutions throw
(I'm organizing one right now for $180 a head) and that is a sad thing -
but at the end of the day I can sleep well knowing that I'm doing
something that helps my institution grow and thrive, so that in 80 more
years, it will still be here teaching the arts and paying its employees.


Jennifer M. Lane
Marketing and Events Manager
The Wilmington Music School
p (302) 762-1132 x18
f (302) 762-3422

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Bethany Rutledge
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2005 11:47 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Glut of graduates

Thanks so much for your message, Erin. I don't think there's a person
among us who doesn't appreciate the intangible rewards of our profession
- that incredible feeling when you look forward to going to work every
day and, as an historian, when you see that look of recognition in a
visitor's eyes and you realize that you've helped bring the past alive
for them for the first time... 

We do make some incredible sacrifices, though. I'm a Gen-Xer whose been
employed full-time in the field for
5 years now who has had to do without some pretty fundamental things
because of my salary, i.e. dental care and eye care. In 5 years, I've
built several thousand dollars worth of credit card debt that I never
had before. I have no retirement savings, no equity in a home, and no
savings for a home. I can't afford to travel. I have very, very little
money for clothing, shoes, gifts... the daily stuff of life that come so
easily to my friends and family. Instead of a husband supporting me in
my career, my family has filled in the gaps for me here and there. 

My intention is not to complain, but rather to make the point that a
salary in the high-teens/low-twenties is next to impossible for a single
person to count upon to make a living. And yet it's still the going rate
for most full-time jobs for museum professionals with less than 10 years
of experience...

I strongly suspect that the only solution for this problem - other than
a sudden, dramatic drop in the amount of people seeking jobs in museums
- is unionization. I know, there are all kinds of reasons it's
impractical... but there may have seemed just as many reasons
unionization seemed impractical in other industries that have long since
taken that step. If we stand as a group in a body as large as the
membership of AAM, organize ourselves into occupational categories, and
certify ourselves, we can then demand a genuine living wage. Does that
mean many museums will have to close and distribute their collections to
others? Sure does. Does that mean that museums will be centralized with
branches a little bit fewer and farther between? Yep. Does that mean
that museum-going and program participation will no longer be free? Most
likely. But it also means that the museums left over - the museums who
adapt to survive and have the greatest demand for their services - will
be better prepared financially to care for their collections and to pay
a real living wage to their staff. 

Just a few thoughts! 

Bethany Rutledge

.ORG> wrote:

> I am so glad you've all put this out there.  I am fairly new to the 
> field. This is my first job out of graduate school and I've been here 
> for four years.
> (disclaimer: my job is great!  I love my environment, benefits and 
> salary, the following has nothing to do with my current position)
> 
> I have, however, been working in the field since I was 15.  When I was

> in highschool and college I always had two jobs.  I affectionately 
> called them my "museum job" and my "job for money."  The job for money

> was always waitressing or retail.
> Surprisingly it wasn't until a year ago that I was able to give up my 
> "job for money."  It is appalling to me as well that I read ads for 
> musuem posistions, particularly at small places that are still paying 
> in the low to mid 20s for "jack of all trades" jobs.
> That means this poor soul is making 12.50 an hour before taxes! An no 
> benefits! I made more than that waitressing in college for crying out 
> loud. For this $10 (after taxes) you know you will be there for every 
> board function and event and are responsible for basically the entire 
> operation.  (don't forget you will be transporting yourself in that 
> car your parents helped you buy in college that really needs to be 
> replaced but you can't aford it.)
> 
> To old and new graduates alike:  This field is very small, the way 
> government funding is going these days it isn't going to grow by leaps

> and bounds anytime soon. (and if you accept a position in the low 20s,

> you will likely be writing your own
> grants!)  There are far too many museums competing for the shrinking 
> pool of grant monies.  Many boards I have encountered and heard about 
> are composed of non-professional older "history buffs" who fell in 
> love with  museums that were operated by women who moved in the social

> system of the fifties and sixties, made less money than men, and got 
> home to make dinner for thier families.  This is obviously no longer a

> reality.
> 
> Frankly, it is up to those who want to enter the field, and those of 
> us changing jobs to simply refuse these "worse than retail" salaries. 
> If we keep excepting them, they will keep offering them.
> A lot of museums set their salaries based on regional surveys. Its a 
> long row to hoe, but we are the ones who will change the pitiful pay 
> rate.
> Boards will not wake up one day and say "boy, if we want someone to do

> this job right, we should pay them more." I have a feeling the message

> is more like "well, the last one we hired accepted that salaray, and 
> never even asked for a raise .. why should we raise it now? .. besides

> I don't want to give up my board meeting snacks or the refreshments at

> our annual holiday party .."  Ok, that part was a little synical, but 
> that is I suspect, what is really going on in their heads.
> 
> I think our salaries are the visible symptom of a lot of very 
> irresponsible management.  Museums, particularly small historical 
> societies, operate in buildings they cannot maintain, have poor 
> collections policies and accept collections they can niether store 
> properly or take care of (with staff time or adequate budget lines for

> supplies or conservation), operate poorly, or not-at-all researched, 
> programming that serve homogeneous constituentcies and present 
> one-sided interpretation that glorifies the past.  None of this is 
> going to get them more funding, or the funding they receieve will be 
> to remidate poor storage and infastructure.
> 
> I know there are some people out there who will have big problems with

> my message here, but I've heard it at every conference I've been to in

> the last four years and I know graduate school professors and 
> directors will agree.  Please-I am not making a blanket statement 
> about all museums. I know there are a lot of small places out there 
> who are working very hard and believe in their message. But, is their 
> message sustainable beyond their own enthusiasm for it right now, in 
> their lifetimes?
> Places that are operating responsibly don't often offer such small pay

> rates, because they understand that to stay afloat takes a lot more 
> then just their own passion for the architecture of the late 19th 
> century banker's house in their town, or their affitiy for shoe-makers

> in history, or the work of an artist who happened to be their 
> grandfather.
> 
> So I guess the message is that if you are thinking about entering this

> field, keep in mind that you will probably be paying a lot for your 
> education, and later, for your youthful idealism.  This is a great 
> field with a lot of fantastic institutions and fantastic 
> professionals. If you would like to work at, or be one of these people

> simply going to school isn't going to get you much more than an offer 
> of $25/year and the opportunity to work in the "museum of the poorly 
> mainted collection" featuring their new exhibit "irresponsible 
> interpretation of boring objects" in Very Tiny Town, usa. If you you 
> think working in a museum is what you want to do, don't go to the MET 
> or your regional art or history museum.
> Go to your small town historical society and shadow their staff for a 
> day, if they have one. Ask if you can sit in on a board meeting. This 
> is the reality of what you are about to enter, you will learn more 
> about the ideal at school, what you should be striving for, not what  
> the reality you are about to enter.
> 
> Sorry for the sad message. If you think this in unfair and you still 
> want to enter the field, may your anger drive you to a three figure 
> salary at an urban museum just to prove me wrong!
> 
> Good luck!
> Erin.
> 
> Erin Elizabeth Crissman
> Curator
> Historic Cherry Hill
> 523 1/2 South Pearl St
> Albany, NY 12202
> 518-434-4791
> [log in to unmask]
> 
>
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