This just came in a message from
MPMA....sounds like interesting times in New Mexico!
Bridget Jones
Sam Rayburn House Museum
Bonham, TX
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This is a news
flash about sweeping new
changes affecting state museums in New Mexico that surfaced just this week. The
issue: governor is politicizing museums. The concern: this
action could spread to other states. Our thanks to MPMA members monitoring
the situation who provided the following
information:
The new governor, Bill Richardson, has been making sweeping
changes
across state government. For example, he asked all regents to give
him a letter of resignation, which he will keep on file. He has done this with
all state agency heads, etc. Yesterday he fired Tom Wilson, Museum of New Mexico
director, and announced that the directors of the Historic Preservation
Division, NM State Library, Museum of Natural History, Museum of Space History,
and Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum are done for. All these jobs are now open on
national searches. The Natural History director had only been in place one
year.
There is a plan to dismantle the Museum of New
Mexico and separate the four museums and ten monuments off which makes those
directors exempt and ready to be replaced. There is concern about MNM's
accreditation status with the current lack of leadership and instability.
Ed Able, AAM's CEO, sent a letter to the Officer of Cultural Affairs stating his
belief that directors should not be political appointees and up for grabs every
four years. He is working with the
Office of Cultural Affairs and others to stop this politicization of
museums. It could be a precedent-setting situation which, if left
unattended, could spread to other states with state museums.
MPMA will
keep its members posted on this situation.
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