When a Mission is Like a Cake

By Joan Baldwin

 

For the last month I've worked with a small local history organization. It is big enough to employ a part-time staff member, own a building and a sizable collection, but small enough to suffer from too few resources and a certain amount of instability. Although it's located in a little community, where many people with an interest in history and historic preservation know one another, its current board is largely new to the organization. They are each passionate about their slice of the pie whether it is black history, archaeology, women's fashion, or early technology.

 

For years their mission was the classic "preserves, promotes and presents the history of" statement. Its blandness was used to respond to questions on grant applications and little more. Everyone believed they knew what it meant. Individually, their ideas about the same vague sentence sustained the organization in a half-hearted way. Collectively though-to quote Gertrude Stein-there was no there there.

 

The board has talked a lot recently about its hopes and dreams for this organization. They've talked about being a task-oriented board and about living in a community where the demographic skews older not younger. They've argued-mildly-about whether history is a story or whether history is some immutable truth or both. They understand how wishy washy their current mission statement is, and they've gamely brain-stormed verbs to create a stronger statement that embodies their collective hope going forward.

 

What is apparent though is how fragile this formula is: A group of interested, committed people + mission = action. If we asked every history organization to bake a cake, they would all be different. And don't get us wrong those differences are wonderful and important. But the fact that some hire a caterer, some bake one from scratch, and others buy gigantic sheet cakes at the grocery store affects the resulting party. And just as in cake baking there are outside forces working for or against the baking aka organizational stability.

 

Today, the museum field puts more resources into career training than ever before, but boards need guidance too. We understand that even gathering boards together is like herding kittens, but there is no question they need training, support, and encouragement. And yes, the StEPs program works to enable better board leadership, but boards change, sometimes quickly, and StEPs knowledge isn't always passed on. The bottom line? The field needs to make the same sort of investment it's making in staff, in boards because better boards mean stronger, better-enabled leadership and staffs, and more meaningful missions. We're all for that.

 

Reprinted with permission from Leadership Matters Posted: September 25, 2017  

Thoughts on 21st Century museum leadership by Anne Ackerson and Joan Baldwin

For more information on Leadership please check out other articles from this Blog.

 

MS 101: Introduction to Museums

February 5 to March 2, 2018

Instructor: Kimberly Kenney

Description:

The United States has more than 17,000 museums, we can only guess at the world's total. While most people think of a museum as a well-staffed, professionally run institution, the vast majority of museums are started and run by people with little or no basic training in museum studies or preservation. Introduction to Museums is designed to change that. The course introduces basic concepts, terminology and the role of various staff members, including curators, registrars and directors. Introduction to Museums is aimed at staff members, board members, interns, volunteers, as well as anyone interested in becoming a museum professional or learning more about the profession.

 

MS 235: Scripting the Exhibition

February 5 to March 2, 2018

Instructor: Karin Hostetter

Description:

So much to say and so little space in which to say it. That is the dilemma when scripting an exhibition. How do you say what needs to be said in the space available? How do you even figure out how to limit the information in the first place? Discover the value of themes, tangibles, intangibles, and universals in writing exhibit text that visitors really want to read -- and remember. Additional resources provided on font size and colors as well as label layout.

 

MS 238: Design and Construction of Exhibit Mounts

February 5 to March 16, 2018

Instructor: Tom Bennett

Description:

Sprucing up your exhibits with safe, effective, inexpensive mounts can be easier and more fun than you thought. With a few tools, good technique and a bit of practice, you will be well on the way to presenting your objects in their most interesting light, with an eye on long-term safety and security. Design and Construction of Exhibit Mounts presents the basics of mountmaking for the small to medium-sized museum including tools, techniques and materials. Be prepared to construct mounts during the course. Students will be sent a list of materials and tools to acquire before the course commences. Come along and exercise your creative side while doing the collection a world of good.

March 2018 Courses 

 

MS 108: Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs

March 5 to 30, 2018

Instructor: Karin Hostetter

Description:

Volunteers are essential for most non-profit institutions. But good volunteers aren't born -- they are made. Even though they don't get paychecks, it takes time and money to have effective volunteers. Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs teaches the basics of a strong volunteer program. Topics include recruiting, training and rewarding volunteers, as well as preparing staff. Instruction continues through firing and liabilities. Participants will end up with sound foundational knowledge for starting a new or strengthening an existing volunteer program based on a nine-step process.

 

MS 109: Museum Management

March 12 to April 13, 2018

Instructor: Sue Near

Description:

Sound business practices are critical for a museum to fulfill its mission. Sounds like vegetables, right? Museum management is complex. A museum exists to preserve collections and educate, but it is also an institution that must employ sound business practices while being accountable to the public as a non-profit organization. Instructor Sue Near teaches participants how to administer a successful museum efficiently and effectively. Participants will engage in discussions about the changing cultural climate and its effect on museum operations.

 

MS 215: Care of Archaeological Artifacts from the Field to the Lab

March 5 to 30, 2018

Instructor:  Diana Komejan

Description:
Archaeological finds come out of the ground fragile - and they often stay that way. Yet archaeologists and museum professionals have few clear guidelines for handling, moving, storing and displaying such materials. Participants in Care of Archaeological Artifacts From the Field to the Lab learn techniques for safely lifting and packing artifacts, safe transportation and temporary and permanent storage. The course also covers a broad range of excavation environments; including the Arctic, wet sites, tropical and temperate. Though Care of Archaeological Artifacts is not intended to train archaeological conservators, it is designed to help participants understand what can and can't be done to save the artifacts they unearth.

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