Museum as Soup Kitchen

[Elaine Heumann Gurian]

I am writing a speech about the uses of museums during this serious economic downturn. It is clear to me that museums could be much more helpful and timely by changing hours, job retraining, health care information and all manner of social service. What I wonder is if you think they should do that or retain their primary function of preservation, education, etc. or do both and if so what is the mix? Thanks. e--

[Angelina Russo]

I suppose it depends on what we want the future of the museum to be. Transformations across the cultural sector suggest that some of the social systems we've come to expect in these organisations may no longer be viable. Retraining is a great idea in any organisation - but retraining in what and to what end? We've been delivering workshops in the sector for a number of years now and we've witnessed a great response to opening the debate, particularly around communication and learning. Are these specialised programs to be intrinsic to the future museum?
It looks as though this serious economic downturn will be with us for a while. I can't help wondering whether we need to consider the fundamental changes in audience expectation and build new programs around this.

[Scott Guerin]

Elaine,

I think museums need to step up to the plate and express outrage. Develop travelling exhibits that explain the why, who, and when of the mess we're in-name names, allow stories to be told, employ out-of-work docents and designers. Actually, the Masters of the Universe should be given to the company that makes the Body World exhibits and put properly on display! The current exhibit at the FDR Library, "The First 100 days" is an excellent start: inexpensivly produced and expressive.
Maybe the exhibit I proposed above should be called "The Second 100 days."

Grouchily yours, S

[Elaine Heumann Gurian]

I am now in the middle of my paper and I find that I am again exploring the edges of what is appropriate for museums given their assets and what is to use my husbands words "duplicative and better done by others with more expertise". I find myself stuck because I know that content using collections (even in the most expressive and inclusive ways) does not seem enough for me but feeding the elderly and housing the street people may feel too much to others. Any ideas about the appropriate edges? Thanks for writing. e--

[Scott Guerin]

Elaine,
Do museums have "voice?" If yes, then I say scream. Come on!
S

[Nina Simon]

I've been spending more time with librarians recently. As you know, they deal with homeless and social service issues every day. But they have found, in concert with their basic information services mission, that the most valuable service they can offer is access to and training with computers. They are actively eroding the digital divide and people in need (of jobs, homes, etc) are visiting and using their services in droves.

So the question is: what aspect of museums' core missions will be of greatest social value in a time of crisis? Libraries decided it was not the restorative power of reading but the enabling power of the internet. If our mission is to "engage and educate" maybe we should be mounting more interactive exhibitions and programs that deal with common challenges, provide helpful starting points for solutions. I'm also thinking about Jane McGonigal's recent talk about museums getting into the "happiness business." Jane once told me that she included an activity in her Superstruct game in which people have to forecast themselves 10 years into the future because that activity has been clinically shown to make people more happy/optimistic about their lives. Certainly history museums, which have focused too long on history as a closed narrative, could expand to do some very interesting projects inviting visitors to conceive the future--and hopefully, to gain some confident mastery of their own futures.

[Elaine Heumann Gurian]

Nice answer but for me not useful enough. The library has understood that what they are offering is immediately useful. Libraries also provide tax forms, instruction for using computers, English lessions, language translations and instruction, etc. The library is hot on the trail of the useful now. Delayed gratification while helpful does not rise to that level of service. Nina let me know what immediate help you think the Museum could be. e--

[Marjorie Schwarzer]

HI Elaine, I am in the middle of writing an article for Museum News on how museums responded in the 1930s (before the WPA) and have spent two days digging through archives from 1929 - 1934. The results are fascinating! As expected, museums were slow to react in the 1930s, since no one really knew what was going on or how deep the impact would be. We have the gift of history, archives and insight to help guide us and that's a lot! But here are some things that they did do that are noteworthy: a) they looked at new technologies (in this case, it was radio broadcasts!); b) they re-focussed their collecting on American-made items; c) there was a huge effort to document and archive; c) they began to advocate for employee benefits (in those days, that meant pensions for retiring folks); d) they began to develop and evaluate games (!!); e) there was an enormous push toward educational activities and adult education -- including free re-training for "unemployeed persons". And this was all before the WPA was enacted and occured organically.

Other historical insight: a) there was little awareness or interest in what was going on outside the borders of the US, thus an embracing of Japan and Germany with almost no attention paid to growing political movements there; b) there was little awareness of how to control a budget since no one kept track of budgets then. The first formal financial audits started to occur around 1932, which was the depth of the depression.

Hope this helps. Best, Marjorie Schwarzer

ps/ I'm continuing to gather archival materials, if anyone has anything to share. Most of them, so far, show a can-do attitude with very little whining or panic. I think, quite honestly, that people didn't realize how bad it would get, but that there was a genuine desire to be of "public service."

[Angelina Russo]

Hi Marjorie
Thanks for this - it's fascinating! Thanks for sharing your research with us all! A great example of what this network is all about!
Cheers

[Michael Brechner]

Hi Marjorie -

Very interesting discussion - I appreciate the info you've provided. Have you come across anything in your research that would indicate whether or not museums received higher interest/traffic during the Great Depression, as did the cinema – as an escape and to spark imagination in a dreary time?

Many thanks!

[James G. Leventhal]

very interesting ot see that technology was a component! would love to know how that was articulated....

[Mia]

The program pre-dates this economic downturn, but the Museum of London is doing some brilliant work with long-term unemployed people. The mymuseumoflondon blog 'community' account has some reports and images.

There's also a post about the role of 'Inclusion Officer' at the museum that explains more.

[Lisa Hubbell]

Lois Silverman has done a lot of work on museums and social service/therapeutic interventions. Try looking up her published work on "Museums as Therapeutic Agents."

I went to a couple of related panels Lois chaired at AAM some years back, with examples like the Tenement Museum offering ESL classes, and children's museums hosting supervised visits for parents with some kind of restraining order about visitation. I remember that one of those panels included Dwan Reece King who is now at NEH, another had Eilean Hooper-Greenhill and a progressive museum director from Scotland (Mark O'Neill?).

What impressed me when I heard those examples was that they stayed very true to their institutions' missions, while broadening the concept of what kinds of programs were appropriate and what kinds of audiences they could/should serve.

It sounds like you're focused more on the current situation of widespread economic difficulties, but those folks are probably good contacts for exploring what kinds of social service programs museums have tried, and which museums might be tackling these issues now.