Recessions, museums, art and Etsy

A comment on the last entry, plus recent work stuff and a story on NPR, all combined to get me thinking about the recession. Well, when do I not think about the recession - I have friends getting laid off, groceries cost way too much and I started clipping coupons for the first time since college.

There's been tons of talk about how the recession is impacting museums. In the 90s, during the last big recession, museums were in their boom period. We were expanding rapidly, building like crazy and growing at insane rates. (I can say "we" even though I was in high school and planning to be a doctor at that time.) However, lately we have seen museums hit hard by the economy. Most of the problems owe to the HUGE hit our endowments have taken. 

Conventional wisdom dictates that endowments are good. They are a steady stream of support and get you through the rough times. But, they are a bit like privatized social security. In a good market, they swell and grow and we build and build. In a bad market, our endowments wither away. The Indianapolis Museum of Art publishes the current size of its endowment online. They have lost $100 M in the past year. For perspective, thats about 1/3 of the total. That's huge.

And so, because of this, budgets are being slashed. Boards and directors are having to make tough decisions about staffing and exhibits. We are using volunteer labor for exhibits. We are using salaried people to do OT work. Luckily, we have not yet had to let go of staff, but we are officially the only large museum in Indianapolis to avoid layoffs.  

So, that's the bad news. Here is the good news. It's PACKED here today. I mean, crazy busy. Our attendance has been up - well up on many weekends. Its not yet Spring Break here, and we are already feeling the crowds. I think there is something to be said about the "staycation" effect - if you aren't taking the fam to the beach for Spring Break, why not come to the local museum? But...last spring, gas prices were creeping near $4 a gallon, and we didn't see this. I think there may be something more happening. 

So, what does this have to do with Etsy? Do you know Etsy? Its GREAT! Its online, one stop shopping for artsy crafty homemade items - clothes, vintage pieces, jewelry, you name it. And, in a time when retail is not so hot, and boutique stores are closing left and right, Etsy is doing quite well. I am not an economist, and I don't know if this is a reason, but I'll try.

I think (I think, I don't know, its my blog, I can op-ed) that when people are faced with declining income, a devalued dollar, and economic malaise, we want a return to simpler times. We made hats for the holidays - to great success. People are growing veggies (seed sales are up) and making their own sauces and salsas. My sister and I are going to learn to make jam and can food. Its not as much about being cheap as about putting value into things.

The items on Etsy are handmade - they are unique and there is a value beyond cost in them. Someone worked on this item. Someone put love into it. That may sound silly, but I really do think there is something to this.

So, back to museums. Why do I think museums will recover quickly? Or at least weather the storm? Because there is a value to museum visits above and beyond the price of admission. The people here inject their work with love and passion. And I truly believe that visitors see that. 

Museums need to get back to what they are - authentic places for a real experience. We've moved too far towards being fast food - we need to get back to being a sit down place, or better yet, a local diner. A place you feel comfortable just hanging out. I hope we can get there - I think we are getting closer. I think that the slow crumble of some larger institutions will, like large trees falling, make way for other sprouts to grow. 

I've rambled. I should really do these in one sitting, but ah well. :)

Until later!

Um...wow.

So, two kitty cats teach us about museums. Honest, scathing, cruel and wonderful. Probably overly general and a little mean, but it's a really good look at the museum as a temple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaFbmuEUdwI

I wish I knew how to embed video, but trust me, this link is worth clicking on. The title of the report: "The Creation of Value: meditations on the logic of museums and other coercive institutions." 

Wow.

Where have I been?

I'll tell ya where, up to my eyeballs!

Three weeks ago, give or take, we were presented an opportunity to display some pretty killer artifacts from a major movie studio/property. Major. I'll spill as soon as the release is out.

So of course, we said, you betcha! We can do this! And then the caveat...marketing wants it for spring break. Which is in 3 more weeks. Seriously, spring break starts 2 weeks from Friday. We are installing a 400 square foot exhibit, complete with graphics, mounts, text panels and custom case work - in 3 weeks. Did I mention its not a traveller, but we are creating it from scratch?

So, in the course of about a month (from final decision to opening) we will have gone from rough sketch to finished show. Insane.

Part of me loves this stuff. Guerilla style exhibit design/production: borrowing cases from other museums (who know the pain of these "opportunities"), enlisting local fraternities for heavy lifting, writing labels in days rather than months.  Its great, because I think you get a fresh and creative exhibit - one that hasnt had the life edited out of it. I've seen developers spend weeks on a 50 word panel, tweaking it just so...then start over after they see the layout. With this, there is no time. Every member of the team has to make command decisions and just do it. Its like Project Runway meets museums. We make it work.

But, here is the downside. I know the team. I know every member and their work and ethic. I know that this exhibit will rock. It isnt overly interactive, but seriously people, 3 weeks! It's going to be beautiful and cool and families will ooh and ahh. And we will be able to say, yep, we did that in 3 weeks.

And then next year, we will have the same problem, and we will have PROVEN that we can do it in 3 weeks, so we will have no recourse to say "its impossible." Damned if you do, damned if you don't, eh?

So, anywho, just wanted to share what's up at TCM. I'll be posting more soon - upcoming topics: social media pitfalls and plusses, life with Barbie, local layoffs and meeting with area CEOs for class. All interesting things.

Can museums survive the economy?

Sad reminders of the times we live in have recently flooded my inbox. First was a plea from ACM, asking that we remind Congress that spending for NEA, NEH and IMLS in the proposed stimulus package is not "waste" as so many people want to assume. It saddens and angers me when I hear politicians complaining about the "wasteful spending" on arts programs. Do they forget that museums employ nearly a quarter million citizens? And other arts and library programs employ even more? Or do museum jobs seem less important than other jobs? Why is it that museums continue to be seen as an "extra" for society, rather than a necessity?

The second reminder just hit the Museum L list today. A plea from a manager on how to go about eliminating positions (our favored euphemism for layoffs) when she has never done so. Followed by a slew of emails with advice because they have either recently laid off staff, or recently been laid off. I don't know about you, but I was unprepared for the idea of museum layoffs, especially in the numbers I have seen. I have heard from several colleagues who have been prepping their CVs, just in case. And several whose museums have laid off staff. We've avoided that so far, but I'll admit, I worry.

AAM has created a forum to help museums navigate this scary time. http://www.aam-us.org/survivalguide.cfm 

Breaking News: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has introduced an amendment to prohibit any funds in the economic stimulus bill from going to any museum. The language of the amendment, (Amendment No. 175, as filed) is, "None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, arts center, or highway beautification project, including renovation, remodeling, construction, salaries, furniture, zero-gravity chairs, big screen televisions, beautification, rotating pastel lights, and dry heat saunas."

Personally, I'm a bit peeved at the implication that funds would go to zero-gravity chairs, tvs, or saunas. All of these businesses, casinos included, employ people - people who need jobs. They bring dollars to the economy. Why do we continue to see this as wasteful spending? Have we learned nothing from the collapse of big Wall Street? THAT is wasteful spending - money for the arts is not.

Call your senator NOW to tell them to vote NO on Amendment 175

Just for fun!

So, I've become a Twitter-aholic. I check it throughout the day, and love posting silly things. I kept wondering, how can our museum use Twitter in a fun way.

Well, leave it to Nina Simon to come up with a great guide! She created a wonderful post about using Twitter well. (I tend to think that Twitter is the powerpoint of social networking - a soon to be overused tool that will result in too many institutions doing the same thing) 

Anyway, she posted that she'd love to see a Twitter feed about the funny things that visitors say in museums. Now, two of my other obsessions are Post Secret and Overheard in NYC. So, what a chance to combine! So, I've created a secondary account - https://twitter.com/OverheardMuseum - to post those to. Looking at ways to make this communal. Maybe by AAM or Museums and the Web we can all be posting away!

Happy 2009!

Wow, back at work and things are moving! Not sure what possessed me to close two exhibits on the same day, but its a bit of a juggle. Thankfully, the Stagehands are great, the OMSI tech is super, and our team is always awesome, so I can rest assured that all is well.

I tend to be one of those people who makes resolutions and keeps them for about a week. Lose weight, quit drinking pop, stop biting my nails, etc. So, we'll see how this one goes, but I am going to try to post to this blog more this year. I won't have my Critical Approaches class as an outlet for museum-y thinking, and this year may prove to be very interesting for me.

So, what does Sarah's year hold?

Opening TCM's newest traveler - an interesting chance to be both vendor and client. It's always gratifying to see your colleagues hard work realized.

A new welcome center and a new permanent exhibit - in light of a recent project on space and comfort in museums, I'll be interested in how the new space works for us.

A revision of our holiday exhibit - how do you do a holiday exhibit that includes Santa but isnt about Christmas? And, can two Catholics, a non-descript Theist, a Jew and two Atheists create a holiday show? We'll see, eh?

A soon to be announced exhibit that has me tickled pink. :)

And Tut. Oh Tut. 

This will be our first blockbuster exhibit experience. Its been fascinating so far, looking at the machine of the blockbuster. I'm looking forward to posting on the process and what I am learning.

I'm also planning to visit some big exhibits this year, including the Harry Potter exhibit in Chicago. Look for reviews as I can. Its always difficult for me to do a real review of an exhibit, especially one that we might be bringing in - or one created by a company we might want to work with. I'm trying to work on being honest yet positive. 

That's all for now. Happy New Year everyone!

How the Grinch Flayed Christmas

OK. I am all for holiday theming in museums. You wanna throw a wreath on a door? Put stockings over the hearth? A menorah in the window? Maybe, say...a red nose on a dinosaur?

Fine.

But this??? NO.

Meet the newest addition to the BW show at the O2. 

Von Hagens, you are one sick puppy. Someone's getting coal in their stocking, I think.