In a message dated 3/10/2004 10:08:52 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< What has lacked in the discussion thus far is a consideration of the
 fundamental error that the museum made in contracting for this exhibit-not
 contracting an exhibit based on a review of all materials beforehand. No
 serious museum just agrees to an exhibit and them tries to "dig itself out
 from a sticky situation." Agreement to what items constitute the exhibit
 needed to have been negotiated out before an exhibition agreement was
 signed. This would have raised the issue early on and in a very limited
 scale. All affected parties could have laid out their needs and concerns and
 in all likelihood a reasonably satisfactory solution could have been found.
>>

The above is certainly good advice.  I'd like to use it as a point of
departure for a tangent--perhaps a new thread.  Curators often have to learn their
lessons the hard way, and I suspect that many have had comparable experiences.
(Those who get burned and can profit from the experience are probably better
curators in the long run.)  It's the job of museum directors, it seems to me,
to guide inexperienced staff and help them avoid pitfalls.  But this assumes
that senior managers have sufficient training and experience (such as curatorial
experience) to recognize potential pitfalls.  It is my impression that many
museums, including some of the largest and most prestigious, are increasingly
afflicted with directors and trustees from the corporate world who have no
museum experience and who are creating havoc in their institutions through their
ignorance and headaches for the professional staff.  Lack of sympathy with and
knowledge of museum traditions, ethics, and values at top levels of
management, combined with the arrogance acquired from climbing corporate ladders, and
the never-ending quest (dare I say lust?) for ever higher attendance figures and
greater earned income help to redefine (and sometimes distort) the work of
museums.

Candace will probably never make the same mistake again.  Imagine then her
frustration, after having learned her lessons well in the school of hard knocks,
if some future know-nothing administrator has a whim which forces her into a
similar position against her better judgment.  Excuse my vagueness and
reluctance to give specific examples, but I'm aware of situations in several
institutions where arrogant administrators who lack museum training have forced
experienced professional staff to implement their bad decisions on major exhibitions
and other programs, resulting not only in bad publicity but actual damage to
their institutions, including but not limited to the demoralizing of the
staff.  This is a problem which I would love to see an organization like the AAM
address.

It's something to think about, IMHO...

David Haberstich

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