Pamela Sezgin said:

> Dear Ross et al,
>
> Well, I think many of us "mistrust" the museum leadership because many of
> these administrators have absolutely no museum training or experience.  I
> don't know the people at the Shedd so I'm speaking in generalizations and not
> focusing on one museum in particular.  I'm also speaking from my 25 years of
> experience......
>
> I've seen too many museums run into the ground by people who are political
> appointees who don't have the foggiest about our professional practices.
> Unfortunately, these administrators also don't care to ask questions or even
> ask the very capable people on their own staff.


I have been away for awhile and I may be picking up on this thread late, but
I couldn't let this go. I agree with Pam that many museums are poorly
managed by the professional managers she and others describe. However, I
have also seen some museums run quite by them. I have also seen some
examples, some quite famous, of museums run into the ground by directors who
worked their way up from positions as curators, preservationists, and museum
educators.  (How many on this list were able to visit the Baltimore City
Life Museums at AAM in 2000? You couldn't its closed forever, and it had a
history of museum professionals at the helm, not professional managers)  I
am sure we could all pick apart these examples and somewhere along the line
find excuses for why our colleagues are not to blame. Some valid points
would be made by such an exercise (and many people have been through it ad
nauseam) but I am sure we would not give the professional managers the same
consideration. This is a list for museum professionals after all, and it
should be no surprise where our sympathies on this issue are. (My own
included.)

While I, too, am suspicious of someone from outside of the profession who
comes in thinking they can run a museum, I am also suspicious of museum
professionals who think they can run a museum just because they are
accomplished at their respective disciplines. Being a good
curator/educator/registrar/etc does not mean you necessarily will make a
good director. I think good museum Directors can come from either the ranks
of managers or museums (or from the ranks of the wealthy who can  sometimes
run museums purely by dint of their financial support). They each have
different strengths and weaknesses and, it seems to me, their success or
failure will depend on how well they emphasize the former and seek help with
the latter.


--
Matthew White
Director of Museums
The Mount Washington Observatory
North Conway, New Hampshire

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