Wow - pretty amazing story.  I can only hope that this was a case of a
maintenance worker being given a blanket order to post signs, and someone
forgot about the special circumstances of the museum.

If this happened at my gallery I'd take the signs down first, before asking
any questions.  That way, a convincing argument must be made for putting
them back up, rather than for taking them down.

If it's too late for that, tell your public safety person that nowhere in
the rest of this country do musuems deem it necessary to protect themselves
by threatening visitors with criminal prosecution before entering.  How
about some barbed wire around the entrance, for better effect?  Priorities
need to be kept straight in this increasingly bureacratic world.  Take the
signs down, and see if the museum then proves to be conduit for hordes of
trespassers onto the campus.  I'd bet it won't.

Good luck!

Stephen Nowlin
Director, Williamson Gallery
Art Center College of Design
http://www.artcenter.edu/exhibit/williamson.html


>We are a mid-sized university art museum.  Although this may be a situation
>unique to a museum that is part of a larger institution, I would like the
>input of the larger museum community as well.
>
>As we left our staff meeting this morning, we noticed a new sign on each of the
>entrance doors of the museum - both staff and public entrances - that reads
>as follows:
>
>"NO TRESPASSING - The use of this facility is restricted to UNCG students,
>faculty, staff, and other persons authorized to enter these premises by the
>director of public safety and police.  Trespassers are subject to prosecution
>under the laws of North Carolina G.S. 14-159-13."
>
>These signs were a complete surprise - no one in the department of public
>safety had notified us they would be installed - and are now on every door of
>every building on campus.  As you can imagine, I was tempted to try to
>remove the signs myself as this kind of message on the front door of a
>museum does
>not exactly project a visitor-friendly image.  In addition, the signs hang
>crooked and were installed on doors with UV-protective film which they may
>damage when removed.
>
>Have any of you ever encountered a situation like this?  If so, any suggestions
>on how to work on getting the signs removed?  Evidently they were installed
>because in order to prosecute someone for trespassing, they must be made aware
>that there is a no trespassing order for that building - but of course a
>museum that is open to the public and has a mission to serve university,
>community, state, and national audiences functions differently from a
>traditional classroom building!  Our director will be speaking to the head
>of public safety soon about removing the signs, and I would like to hear
>your ideas.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Pam Hill
>Curator of Education
>Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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