Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 09/06/2001 - /'3A_, 2316•03 - a ,5 MINUTES Corpus Christi Museum of Science and Histh'ty OCT S"-t o Advisory Committee Meeting - .Fr`F't4; r) R;;) September 6,2001 '�� The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum at Noon on Thurs' Aeptembcr 2001. Members Present:Henry Brennecke,Art Howerton,Kathy Heymann, n Renzi,Tony Diaz, Lynda Falconer,Mary Longoria,Anna Peterson,and Alex Sadovski. Upon motion by Tony Diaz and seconded by Lynda Falconer the minutes of the August 2,2001 meeting were unanimously approved. Upon motion by Tony Diaz and seconded by Art Howerton the absences of Mary Longoria,Alex Sadovski,and Anna Peterson were excused for good cause. The terms of a number of members have expired: Gwen Henzi,Art Howerton,Alex Sadovksi, Hank Brennecke, and Tony Diaz. Gwen is not eligible for reappointment and Art asked that he not be reappointed. They will both continue to serve until replaced. Alex,Hank,and Tony all expressed willingness to be considered for reappointment. Business: a. Michael Creasy demonstrated how the portable physical science demonstration station is used for public programming in the Museum. It was purchased with funds contributed by Exxon and fulfills one of the goals of the Museum's long range plan. Roy Garrett told the members about the butterfly exhibit currently under construction. Located in the Children's Wharf and funded by the Friends as a temporary exhibit, it will enable young children to experience the life cycle of butterflies. Roy then presented one of the prototypes for the Dig It! exhibit. This exhibit will be an interactive excavation experience for young children based on the Belle shipwreck and the Padre Island shipwreck. b. Sandra Linderman shared with the Committee the alterations in the education program offerings for this school year and new approaches to public programming for the weekends. Highlights include role playing in costume for Columbus Day programming and revised"focus"programs. c. From the standpoint of 1)sharply reduced budget(with unprecedented staff reductions), 2) an associated reduction in service (closing on Mondays and ending the temporary exhibit program),3)and dramatic drop in attendance both for school programming and public programming, last fiscal year was one of the worst in the history of the Museum. Yet,the Museum is offering one of the most ambitious programming schedules in its history. Individual staff priorities have been shifted from focusing on collections related responsibilities to a greater emphasis on programming responsibilities. The new gallery has opened and the Columbus ships have been re-opened by Museum staff. In June, 2002 the opening of the first phase of the Cultural Encounters exhibit is scheduled followed by the opening of a Corpus Christi Sesquicentennial exhibit in September, 2002 SCANNED V Advisory Committee Meeting September 6,2001 Page 2 d. This next period will be a defining one for the Museum as it must be determined whether the Museum rebuilds audience and programming based on endeavors that are not presently central to the mission(e.g Columbus ships and,physical science exhibits)and thus experiences a de facto change in mission moving away from the collections based mission of the last 30 years. A consensus of the Advisory Committee preferred to stick with the present mission until the changes of the next year or so provide clues to the best future direction of the Museum. The Committee will conduct an annual review of the Long Range Plan,but reviewing the mission will be put aside until a later date. e. Hank Brennecke asked that the Committee consider recommending that the staff place a higher priority on the deaccession of redundant and inferior specimens,offering them for sale in the Museum gift shop. He explained that the natural history collection,especially the minerals,includes large numbers of the same type of inferior specimens. These specimens,while not of museum quality,still have some cash value. The gift shop does considerable business in the sale of minerals. There was a general discussion of the Museum's liability associated with storing too many objects, frequently in sub standard conditions. Many of these objects will never contribute to the mission of the Museum. There is a compelling efficacy to deaccession redundant objects, particularly objects that were acquired through purchase,rather than donation. Under present Museum policy the proceeds of such a sale would have to return to a collections care fund under the Museum's deaccessions policy. Under Museum policy and generally accepted best museum practices,the sale of collection objects in museum gift shops is avoided due to the appearance of impropriety. Redundant objects can be deaccessioned and sold at public sale. Care must be taken to avoid the perception that 1)donations to Museum collections are routinely sold and that • 2)the proceeds from such sales are used for purposes other than collections cam. One opportunity that was discussed was the sale of deacessioned mineral specimens through dealers in minerals,perhaps even at the Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral's Society's annual Gem and Mineral Show. The Committee took no action,but the consensus of those present supported encouraging the staff to step up efforts to deacession and disposal of redundant objects to address instances where collections are cared for and stored in a manner that does not meet best museum practices. There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.