HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 09/01/2005 MINUTES s�,
Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History ,j� w,
Advisory Committee Meeting �r� F�O
September 1, 2005 `;
—pFC„ 48o�g9h0
The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum's DeDietrich ConferenEg Room at 1Qoono,
.25
on Wednesday, June 15. Members Present: Grady Price Blount, Margaret Bolt ffw%G2"
Brower, Joe Martinez, Phyllis Riddle, Linda Scott, and Cheryl Gillenwater. Also pres as the
new pending appointee from CCISD Linda Tomo who is the Secondary Science Consultant for
the District.
The minutes of the June 15, 2005 meeting were approved and presented.
Upon motion by Linda Scott and seconded by Grady Price Blount the absences of Margaret
Bolick, Sharon Brower, and Cheryl Gillenwater were excused for good cause.
Business:
Rick Stryker distributed a report of the Service Level Objectives for Fiscal Year 2004/05
upon which the City's General Fund allocation was based. He then did a PowerPoint
presentation on the "state of the Museum".
• Attendance by local visitors increased while attendance continued to decline in every
other audience category.
• There was significant growth in revenue from facility rental services (31%) which is,
importantly, a promising source for increased revenue in the future. Admission revenue
declined.
• Facility maintenance costs increased significantly due to the sharp rise in electric costs.
• The good news regarding museum collections of some 36,285 artifacts and 46,098 natural
history accessions is that they are diverse and extensive. The bad news is that they are
unfocused and underutilized. Collection care presently requires about 34% of the time
resources of the professional staff even though much of the inventory and data entry work
is being done by volunteers.
• By the same token, exhibits (40,000 square feet) are very diverse and unfocused making
marketing of the museum a challenge and making the renovation of antiquated exhibits
an overwhelming task.
Rick foresees a promising future by becoming an"experience" museum with a more focused
exhibit plan that involves telling a limited number of stories in a more compelling way.
• This will require a different allocation of staff resources focusing more on direct
public service (education staff) and less on collections care (curatorial staff).
• We will have to move further toward outsourcing exhibit design and fabrication in the
future. Even allocating 28% of professional staff time to exhibits is not sufficient to
do large exhibit projects in a timely manner and within budget.
• Our fiscal health will require that we become more successful earning revenue by
catering more effectively to local families and the tourist audience. School students
remain an important target audience but are not sources for earned revenue.
Rick provided a revised organization chart that showed the elimination of one(of two) collection
manager positions and the creation, in its place, of an education assistant position.
SCANNED
Advisory Committee Meeting
September 1, 2005
Page 2
B. Grady Price Blount summarized the proceedings of the joint retreat with the Friends on July
20 and the joint workshop to draft a mission statement on August 10.
Proposed Mission Statement from 8/10/05:
The mission of the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History is to present the story
of the cultural crossroads of the New World. With a unique confluence of natural history,
science,people and environments, the South Texas area has served as a stage for the
ongoing discovery of the Americas. By telling this story, the Museum will inspire a thirst
for knowledge, context, and understanding.
C. After a long discussion there was a vote to adopt the mission statement as it emerged from the
workshop. It was defeated by a vote of 2/for and 4/against.
D. The draft of the mission statement as modified at this meeting was then considered.
The mission of the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History is to present the story
of the cultural crossroads of the New World. With a unique confluence of natural history,
science, people and environments, the South Texas area has served as a stage for the
ongoing discovery of the Americas. Through innovative programs in history, culture, and
science, the museum is committed to enlarging a shared understanding of our history and
heritage as well as the impact and importance of science to our lives. By telling this
story, the Museum will inspire a thirst for knowledge, context, and understanding.
This mission statement was approved by a vote of 6 for and 1 against.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.