I'm usually a lurker but I thought I might poke my head up just
a tad here.  I, too, have been unable to work in a museum thus
far because they don't pay enough. I'm not looking for a Ferrari.
I'm looking for enough to live off of.  As it is said, "a liveable
wage."  $20,000/year as the ONLY source of income for someone
living in the DC area is not liveable.  Especially not when one
is also trying to pay off the student loans that got you the
education.  Anywho, not here to rant about that.

I wanted to say something in response to the "grow your institutional
base" comment.  The Smithsonian museums, Mt. Vernon, and the US
Holocaust Memorial Museum in the DC area take in thousands, even
hundreds of thousands of people in a year.  They have a huge base.
But they don't pay much either.  So, no, I don't know the solution.
But I have to think that this one doesn't work very well either.

Richard de Koster wrote:
>
> I don't think this is very different from the "corporate" or retail sector.
> The easiest way to convince your board, etc. is to "grow" your institutional
> base.  Increasing attendance, funding, contributions, etc.  Alternatively,
> you can ask your responsible parties to "imagine" a community without
> cultural resources (I don't have much faith in this path).  The other side
> of the coin is: I am not sure "growing" an institution is productive.  We've
> had 25 years of this consolidation in the "real world" to the detriment of
> diversity.  For example, fast food franchises replacing the local bistro.
> At any rate, the work has to be done BEFORE we see an increase.  Even then
> people are very practical and may not give you the raise you deserve.
> Still, growing the pie is the surest bet.
>
> Richard de Koster
> Executive Director
> Constitution Island Association
> West Point, New York
> www.constitutionisland.org
> www.highlands.com/art

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