I guess that raises a question I've had for a few years - though surveys and
articles and our own experiences confirm that much-needed conservation work
and inventory work, to name just two areas, are often not getting done at
museums (especially small historical museums across the country), there are
many grants available for lots of OTHER things. Why do grantors have to make
you jump through so many hoops? Knowing how important it is to have a
computerized inventory, for instance, why isn't there a pre-set grant that
is just for that? So small museums can hire museum professionals to do the
work, or at least get it going? My impression is that there is a lot of
grant money available, but it is so often not for the things you most need.
That being said, I AM working on an inventory grant funded by our state and
local Community Preservation Act, and for that I am quite grateful. But not
every town (or state) has such a program. I guess as several people have
said, it comes down to advocacy and awareness, and getting people to care
about museums and what they offer.
--Kathie
Kathie Gow
Oral History Producer
<http://www.wordspicturesstories.com/> http://www.wordspicturesstories.com
Curator, Hatfield Historical Museum
<http://hatfieldhistory.weebly.com/> http://hatfieldhistory.weebly.com
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Lissa Kramer
Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 9:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Contract Staff/Educators, but off on the "gripe"
comment
Thanks, Sara! I'm so glad you brought up advocacy because the truth is that
without more resources coming into the field, there aren't enough jobs to do
the vast amount of work necessary. While I agree that training programs are
turning out more new professionals than can be placed, that is a symptom
compounded by the lack of available funding for training programs and not
the root of the problem. If programs don't take in enough students to be
self-sustaining, the whole program shuts down which affects museum quality
in the long run. We need higher wages across the field, too, but that is
just another symptom of the same problem. The truth is not that there are
too many museum professionals, but that there is work that needs doing and
no way to pay for it.
As a professional who went back to school and is currently in one of these
programs, the programs can only minimally affect new professionals'
attitudes and understanding of the importance of advocacy. Work culture is
far more important to emphasizing how important having this skill set is.
As there is no funding for the field generally, training programs also have
no extra money to do it beyond providing minimal information that is
included with the vast array of other skills sets necessary to keep museum
practices. Students are going incredibly into debt to pay for the privilege
of not having a job because there is no outside funding for scholarships and
there is no such thing as museum training grants in higher education. I
have been doing my thesis work on coalition lobbying among heritage
organizations and the conclusion I am coming to is that many current
professionals do not see their place in advocacy. I have had too many
discussions with professionals who see it as someone else's job to bring
home the bacon, rather than a collective effort that is inherent in every
position in the museum.
We all know why museums are valuable, but how good are we at articulating it
to others? Do we attempt to inspire evangelists among our patrons, members,
and boards? How about those who use our collections for research? It is
not just about whether or not a particular executive director lobbies
legislators or not. It is certainly an ongoing process of nurturing
relationships and not a one time budget request. Relationships are
everyone's job.
Lissa
On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 5:47 PM, Sara <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Meg, you raise some important issues. There are fewer jobs than there are
applicants, but there are also far too many of us out there doing the work
of at least two people if not far far more. Sadly, this is the reality of
our current moment and perhaps it is partly because we aren't advocating
hard enough for adequate funding and staffs (I'm sure the majority of the
public has no clue what museum professionals do on a day to day basis), or
maybe the programs training these "extra" professionals should be doing more
in this arena. As a part-time director/curator at two local history museums
I am swamped and never able to do enough in my time which adds up to one
full-time job so that I can survive and pay off grad school. It is a topic
that needs a lot more attention and hopefully AAM is working on it with its
new rebranding because I'm pretty sure those of us with jobs are working far
too hard to do the work of many to make a difference in a profession we love
and those without one are working far too hard to get one.
My two cents at the end of a long day:)
Sara
On Mar 19, 2013, at 6:23 PM, Meg Justus <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
ALL museum professionals are having a hard time gaining employment,
partially due to too many training opportunities being offered at all the
universities/colleges across the country without consideration for the
number of potential jobs.
I keep reading this concept over and over on this listerv. But something
that bothers me about it is -- wouldn't people be complaining at least as
loudly if museum degree programs strictly limited the number of museum
professionals they graduate far more than they do now because the jobs
aren't there, so that many of the people who really want the museum
credentials wouldn't be able to get them? If people did their research
before applying to the program to find out what the employment situation is
like, and if they decided on other career paths because of it, wouldn't that
solve the more professionals than there are jobs problem, too?
What's worse, having a degree in a field you love and not being able to get
work in that field, or not being able to get the degree you want in the
first place?
Just curious.
Meg Justus
independent curator who works as a contractor -- for set projects with set
deadlines, then moves on, by choice -- for several small local museums
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