Laying Down the Gauntlet

I helped Mark Rosen facilitate a workshop for the Seattle based chapter of Emerging Museum Professionals for Museum Advocacy Day 2012.  Apparently, it was the only EMP advocacy event outside of Washington D.C.  So what's up with that?

Advocacy affects museum sustainability.... that means our jobs as well as all of the good work that the public resoundingly agrees museums do.  So where is the concerted effort by museum professionals to work toward our own collective well-being on even a wholly self-serving level?

I came away from the workshop with three clear concerns; 1)  Museum professionals do not know how to advocate.  2)  Museums aren't collectively organized for developing either long term advocacy or for responding to urgent issues.  3) Museum people are generally a really ethical and caring bunch of folks who have a difficult time voicing their own value in the face of dire social issues like homelessness and child well fare.

I also came away from the workshop with a sense of the power we have to affect change but that first, we need to be able to voice our own value.  The EMPs' conversation was enlightening about the weakness we all feel regarding our ability to promote ourselves when there is so much need in the world.  We need to be able to answer for ourselves, "what is the value of museums"?

Left Coast Press' Museums & Social Issues tackles the ways that museums engage with social justices issues and does a great job of helping museum professionals articulate why what we do has great value to positively affecting local and global issues.  I highly recommend checking it out for perspectives on the myriad of issues and options museums have for engagement with their communities' real needs.

So once we can articulate our value and feel justified doing so, what then?  We need concrete plans for action.  I knew that I did not want to leave that workshop without some kind of action developing from the conversation.  Too many times, I have seen motivated, passionate groups of people have an incredible conversation or brainstorming session and then watched all the good intentions fizzle into a whole lot of nothing.  It always leaves me feeling flat and a little less willing to get worked up about the next "great idea".

Thus the birth of the Museum Action Network.  I think museums have a difficult time networking the things that need action from other museums and the community.  This is beyond, "attend our program".  This is more about museums sharing resources and communicating.  Is there a sudden or looming need that can be problem solved by a group of individuals easier than going it alone?  Erin Bailey had the brainchild for this blog.  The Network can work as a quick news bulletin but there are larger conversations that need to be had about how to actually advocate.  We hope that these combined tools will be a simple and effective means of creating a habit of action for our museum community.  If you think of an action, follow through.  Pick something small; it will make starting easier.

Michelle DeCarlo was at the EMP workshop and she acted.  The day after, she hosted a digital PopUp Museum "Why I Love Museums" on her FB page (check posts for Museum Advocacy Day February 28).  This is a conversation we need to keep having, but not just why we love museums; can we articulate why they are valuable?  Can we say it to a friend or family member?  Can we say it to a stranger?  Can we say it to a co-worker, another person who works in a museum?  This is basic advocacy and it is a skill.  Skills need to be practiced.

I challenge all of you to tell one person this week why museums are valuable.  Then start building on your habit of action.  What is one easy thing you are going to do and when are you going to do it?  We'd love to hear your resolutions.

Hi, Hello, How are you?

This project was born from the Museum Advocacy Day that just passed. It will grow to present areas where museums need support, areas where museums need action and areas where museums just need to be talked about. The blog is open to all, so if you have an idea please send it along. We would like this to grow to be a community tool and resource hub for the PNW to become an organized advocate for museums.