ROMANIA     2004

Romanian Museum Seminar
June 22-25, 2004

Consultants: Pamela Myers, Jillian Poole, and Robert Workman

Pamela Myers, executive director, Asheville Art Museum, and Robert Workman, owner, Robert Workman & Associates, presented a four-day seminar of discussions and group activities with approximately 30 museum professionals from museums throughout Romania. The group included both museum directors and department directors for curatorial research, education and public information. They represented art museums, ethnographic museums, history and natural history museums, and archeological sites and outdoor collections of historical monuments. The seminar was hosted by the staff of the Village Museum in Bucharest, and sponsored by the American Embassy through a Southeast Europe Development grant of the United States.

Bob Workman began the seminar with an overview of visitor studies and the importance of gaining correct information about museum visitors. Making museums have meaning for visitors was stressed. Methods for evaluating museums, ideas for improving visitor services, and methods for audience research were also presented.

On the second day of the seminar, Pamela Myers presented the team approach to museum exhibition planning through a variety of examples ranging from large, complex exhibitions to smaller art installations. She discussed principles of exhibition design including color, layout, lighting, etc. The participants that are necessary to making a successful exhibit were discussed, as well as the necessity of the early involvement of potential funders and community stakeholders.

The participants were then broken out into four groups. Members of each group were then assigned a “voice” they were representing in the exhibit design process. These included; curator, educator, designer, PR specialist, director and the visitor. Each group had to develop, as a team, an exhibit theme based on some objects, identify a target audience for the exhibit, and develop some general concepts of how they would attract that audience to the exhibit. The breakout activity was a resounding success, as each group demonstrated imaginative and creative solutions to exhibition development within a short time frame.

The critical role of communicating effectively to visitors – both current and new audiences – was then presented and discussed. Ms. Myers talked about the layering of text, offering a variety of information access points for the museum visitor. These include exhibit overview text, sectional texts, the use of quotes in exhibits—the voice of the artist, the poet, and the historian—and object identification labels.

The third day of the seminar began with a presentation by Ms. Myers on the many ways that public programs expand the impact of a museum’s exhibitions and collections for audiences of all ages. The important role of volunteers in museums was also emphasized.

Participants were given a tour of recently reconfigured textile storage vaults of the Village Museum, which was led by director Georgeta Stoica. The group then met with conservators of the painted icon textile collections and had a brief visit to the collections database project.

How museums position themselves to their audiences—from their ongoing relations with the press or government agencies, to what companies support their exhibitions—has impact of their success as institutions. Bob Workman talked about the importance of positioning our museums within the community. The tools of this advocacy are marketing, public relations and strategic partnerships within each community. Mr. Workman also presented an overview of the fundamentals of opening a museum store, and retail concepts for expanding current store activity. Areas discussed included visual display, product development, and customer service and working with local artists and artisans to provide unique products for your visitors.

Pamela Myers discussed cultural heritage and tourism on the final day of the seminar by using the Asheville Art Museum as an example. She demonstrated how, as part of it mission, The Ashville Museum has successfully leveraged its position as a destination within heritage tourism within the eastern United States.

The final session of the seminar reviewed questions or issues submitted by the participants that had not previously been reviewed and discussed. One area of interest was earned revenue; especially the pros and cons of charging admission fees to the visitor. Participants were interested in discussing in more detail the role of the museum educator, and how that professional position works with curators at museums in the United States and Europe. There was also a discussion on how American museums promote their activities and needs to corporations and individuals for possible financial support.

Following the seminar, Mr. Workman spent two days visiting several museums and a theatre in Romania. He met with Mark Tauber and Carmen Fecioru, both of the American Embassy, to discuss follow-up opportunities in Romania for both the Embassy and The Fund. It was agreed that a concept put forward by Ms. Myers to collaborate on a project with the Village Museum held significant promise. Another promising follow up activity is a seminar conducted by the Fund for Arts and Culture based on the management concepts outlined in Managing for Money. It was felt a seminar could attract the leadership of many Bucharest and Romanian performing arts professionals as well as museum directors.