Every museum director should have--at his or her right hand--a deputy director who is directly responsible for coordinating the museum's fiscal policy and its impact on the long term health of the institution. That doesn't mean that a museum or non-profit should be HEADED by someone with those skills. As I tried to point out in an earlier posting, a museum director would consult with many others with respect to specific skills, security, conservation, building, landscaping, etc. Security provides a good example. If a museum was suffering so much vandalism or breeches of security that its future was threatened, the board still would not rush off and hire someone with a criminal justice background to head the museum. I hope my analogy points out how ludicrous this situation is for today's museums and the trend to set them up with business people at the helm. Anna >Can museums follow the symphony and theater worlds, where there are >co-leaders who are experts in their fields? The performing arts have a >"managing director" and an "artistic director" with their own hierarchies, >and the two top leaders coordinate their bailiwicks for a full program. > >Very large museums often do this with an executive director/CEO who is >either the subject-matter expert OR the bean-counter, with an "assistant >director" or "associate director" who handles the other function. Smaller >museums do not have the luxury of extra staff lying around, so they have to >go one way or another, and in these times it is often determined that the >top leader be more externally than internally experienced. ("internal" >being code for "museum wonk") Some museums require more of a bean counter >at the top, while others go the more scholarly route. The best requirement >for a top leader in a museum should be his/her ability to conceive of a >vision for the institution and inspire others to share it and do their best >work to advance it. Still, the top person must be aware of his/her >experience limitations and surround him/herself with trained people with >whom they consult regularly and to whom they should defer the decisions that >require specialized abilities. It's that deferral which causes >problems--often when one gets to the top one's ego takes over and listening >to others is an atrophied skill. > >This is all true for presidents as well...except for they must also realize >that they represent the people and should always strive to serve the people >instead of their own agenda. >Julia Muney Moore >Director of Exhibitions and Artist Services >Indianapolis Art Center >820 E. 67th St. >Indianapolis, IN 46220 >(317) 255-2464 x233 >FAX (317) 254-0486 >email <[log in to unmask]> >website <http://www.indplsartcenter.org> > > >-----Original Message----- >From: David E. Haberstich [mailto:[log in to unmask]] >Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 1:32 AM >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Trickle-down Stickiness > > >Don't get me wrong, Indigo. I'm not opposed to bean counters per se. I >think every museum and similar institution needs competent business managers >or >bean counters, if you will, to help meet the challenges of a changing >economy. >And they should have real power and influence. I just think it's foolhardy >and dangerous to give them 100% of the power. The chief executive of a >museum, >IMHO, obviously needs to have management ability and experience, perhaps >including that MBA--but ALSO solid museum experience and understanding, and >respect >for the expertise and value of the professional staff. I think it's unwise >to pass up people with combined museum and managerial qualifications in >favor >of alleged hotshots from the corporate world. ... I'm particularly alarmed >by high-handed business >types who like to start their reign over an institution by cutting and >downsizing without any dialogue or consultation with staff, and I'm tired of >hearing >about museum staffs being demoralized by such unimaginative and ruthless >tactics. > >========================================================= >Important Subscriber Information: > >The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed >information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail >message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message >should read "help" (without the quotes). > >If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail >message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message >should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anna Fariello, Curatorial InSight, Box 505, Christiansburg VA 24068 www.curatorialinsight.com; 540-382-3946; [log in to unmask] Interdisciplinary Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA 24061-0227 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).