Unlike some professionals, consultants don't have cash to squander
Tony Butler in his Museums Association (MA) conference blog (7 October 2008) seems to suggest that consultants are more able to afford conference fees or less entitled to attend than others, or both.
I am uncertain who he thinks pays for consultants' continuing professional development, but I, for one, find it very difficult to justify the cost of attending conference as either a training or networking opportunity.
We may be able to set the expense against our tax returns, but the money still has to come from somewhere in the first place - hard-earned museum contracts. There may be some very well-paid consultants in the sector, but many of us have incomes that would not be out of place in medium-sized local authority museums.
But perhaps more galling is the notion that somehow consultants are a breed apart from other museum professionals and should be treated as such. This is ironic given the important contributions made by several freelancers to the subject specialist network of which Butler is vice-chair.
Collectively, museum consultants can claim achievements in a wide range of museum settings in their previous roles. We bring to our clients diverse skills and experiences - and that often important outside view - and frequently do not charge for our advice and guidance. Unlike much of the sector, consultants are invariably seen to be only as good as their last project.
The fact that there may now be more consultants in the sector than previously is perhaps a reflection of the downsizing of many institutions and the resulting reduction of in-house specialist skills.
We are as much a part of the museum profession as anyone else in the sector - perhaps the election of a consultant as MA president will help colleagues to see us as such and facilitate our equal participation in training events, conferences and other continuing professional development opportunities.
Steph Gillett, interim museum manager, West Berkshire Museum
Food for the soul
The piece by Felicity Heywood regarding the purchase (or sale) of the Duke of Sutherland's Titians evoked various thoughts (Museums Journal October 2008, p19).
It seems that Heywood is using the same double standards to which she points at the beginning of her piece. The question "What proportion of the British public visit either the National Gallery or the National Gallery of Scotland?" has a simple answer: they are each visited by more than 2m visitors a year.
Countless programmes and events have been developed for "ordinary struggling and coping classes", and they are welcomed in any museum of this country and elsewhere. However difficult their situation is, there are no financial impediments for them to visit the National Gallery of Scotland and the National Gallery, London, as the entrance to these institutions is free.
I lived in Russia through the spiralling inflation of the late 1980s. I have had a sound experience in "working two or three jobs to make ends meet". But even at that time, many people did not exclude the arts from their lives, since our minds, souls and hearts also need their daily bread.
The argument that the paintings' price tag of £50m could "help right a lot social ills in this country", is a worn one. Cultural values not only do not compete with but are an inseparable part of social improvements. Cultural treasures cannot be sacrificed for any political or ideological goals. They should exist permanently and inviolably.
I agree that the well being of the Duke of Sutherland should be of little concern to the public purse. But our concern is not the duke's bank balance, but the securing the collection for the state, for the nation (a significant part of which is "ordinary struggling and coping classes"), for future generations.
It is worth reminding the duke that a title of nobility implies not only privileges, but also responsibilities and duties. The duke should feel greater obligations to his country, more respect for the nation to which he belongs, and deeper feelings for the artworks that he possesses.
Count Vassily Sheremetev, who survived the horrors of the Stalin era in the Soviet Union, never traded his family portraits. In 1956, he presented (not sold) his Rembrandt to the Moscow Museum of Fine Art, as he considered it immoral and vile to make a living from Rembrandt.
Olga Baird, Victorian collections officer, Wolverhampton Art Gallery
Middle East museums
It was a pleasure to read the thoroughly professional and balanced article by Sharon Heal on museums in the Middle East (Museums Journal October 2008, p28). I write only to correct the record in the list of Cultural Plans that accompanied the article on p31.
Although it correctly identified our role as consultant on the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Maritime Museum project for Saadiyat Island, it did not include our role as consultant for the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and the Sheikh Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi.
Barry Lord, co-president, Lord Cultural Resources
Thanks for the help
Do you have 20th-century British art in your collections?
My doctorate research on local authority collections of 20th-century British art is now available for consultation at City University: contact the Department of Cultural Policy and Management (email i.kim@city.ac.uk or telephone 020 7040 8752).
The thesis title is Interventions: Twentieth-Century Art Collection Schemes and Their Impact on Local Authority Art Gallery and Museum Collections of Twentieth-Century British Art in Britain 2007.
Funded by The British Academy, the research is the first major substantial study of our public collections of 20th-Century British Art. It addresses the ideas, theories and policies which have informed public collecting since 1845 ; the nature and function of these art collections themselves and the types of art and artists represented.
I would like to express my renewed thanks for all the help and enthusiastic support I have received, from museum professionals, whilst undertaking this research.
Angela Summerfield (amsummerfield@btinternet.com)
Supremes story goes on
Readers and regional museums may be interested to know that, following its successful reception at the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Story of the Supremes from the Mary Wilson Collection (Museums Journal September 2008, p44) is now at Blackpool's Grundy Art Gallery until 1 February, and afterwards will move to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Tourwest, which brought the exhibition to the UK from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in the US, is responsible for managing the tour through the UK and Europe, and can be contacted at supremes@tourwest.co.uk
Edith Lowe, Director, Tourwest
Clarifications:
Museums Journal November 2008, p49. The total cost of the Victoria and Albert Museum's Cold War Modern, including exhibition design and build, transportation of objects and curators' research and planning was £1,105,500. The information was delayed because Museums Journal had to submit a Freedom of Information request to get the cost.
Tony Butler in his Museums Association (MA) conference blog (7 October 2008) seems to suggest that consultants are more able to afford conference fees or less entitled to attend than others, or both.
I am uncertain who he thinks pays for consultants' continuing professional development, but I, for one, find it very difficult to justify the cost of attending conference as either a training or networking opportunity.
We may be able to set the expense against our tax returns, but the money still has to come from somewhere in the first place - hard-earned museum contracts. There may be some very well-paid consultants in the sector, but many of us have incomes that would not be out of place in medium-sized local authority museums.
But perhaps more galling is the notion that somehow consultants are a breed apart from other museum professionals and should be treated as such. This is ironic given the important contributions made by several freelancers to the subject specialist network of which Butler is vice-chair.
Collectively, museum consultants can claim achievements in a wide range of museum settings in their previous roles. We bring to our clients diverse skills and experiences - and that often important outside view - and frequently do not charge for our advice and guidance. Unlike much of the sector, consultants are invariably seen to be only as good as their last project.
The fact that there may now be more consultants in the sector than previously is perhaps a reflection of the downsizing of many institutions and the resulting reduction of in-house specialist skills.
We are as much a part of the museum profession as anyone else in the sector - perhaps the election of a consultant as MA president will help colleagues to see us as such and facilitate our equal participation in training events, conferences and other continuing professional development opportunities.
Steph Gillett, interim museum manager, West Berkshire Museum
Food for the soul
The piece by Felicity Heywood regarding the purchase (or sale) of the Duke of Sutherland's Titians evoked various thoughts (Museums Journal October 2008, p19).
It seems that Heywood is using the same double standards to which she points at the beginning of her piece. The question "What proportion of the British public visit either the National Gallery or the National Gallery of Scotland?" has a simple answer: they are each visited by more than 2m visitors a year.
Countless programmes and events have been developed for "ordinary struggling and coping classes", and they are welcomed in any museum of this country and elsewhere. However difficult their situation is, there are no financial impediments for them to visit the National Gallery of Scotland and the National Gallery, London, as the entrance to these institutions is free.
I lived in Russia through the spiralling inflation of the late 1980s. I have had a sound experience in "working two or three jobs to make ends meet". But even at that time, many people did not exclude the arts from their lives, since our minds, souls and hearts also need their daily bread.
The argument that the paintings' price tag of £50m could "help right a lot social ills in this country", is a worn one. Cultural values not only do not compete with but are an inseparable part of social improvements. Cultural treasures cannot be sacrificed for any political or ideological goals. They should exist permanently and inviolably.
I agree that the well being of the Duke of Sutherland should be of little concern to the public purse. But our concern is not the duke's bank balance, but the securing the collection for the state, for the nation (a significant part of which is "ordinary struggling and coping classes"), for future generations.
It is worth reminding the duke that a title of nobility implies not only privileges, but also responsibilities and duties. The duke should feel greater obligations to his country, more respect for the nation to which he belongs, and deeper feelings for the artworks that he possesses.
Count Vassily Sheremetev, who survived the horrors of the Stalin era in the Soviet Union, never traded his family portraits. In 1956, he presented (not sold) his Rembrandt to the Moscow Museum of Fine Art, as he considered it immoral and vile to make a living from Rembrandt.
Olga Baird, Victorian collections officer, Wolverhampton Art Gallery
Middle East museums
It was a pleasure to read the thoroughly professional and balanced article by Sharon Heal on museums in the Middle East (Museums Journal October 2008, p28). I write only to correct the record in the list of Cultural Plans that accompanied the article on p31.
Although it correctly identified our role as consultant on the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Maritime Museum project for Saadiyat Island, it did not include our role as consultant for the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and the Sheikh Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi.
Barry Lord, co-president, Lord Cultural Resources
Thanks for the help
Do you have 20th-century British art in your collections?
My doctorate research on local authority collections of 20th-century British art is now available for consultation at City University: contact the Department of Cultural Policy and Management (email i.kim@city.ac.uk or telephone 020 7040 8752).
The thesis title is Interventions: Twentieth-Century Art Collection Schemes and Their Impact on Local Authority Art Gallery and Museum Collections of Twentieth-Century British Art in Britain 2007.
Funded by The British Academy, the research is the first major substantial study of our public collections of 20th-Century British Art. It addresses the ideas, theories and policies which have informed public collecting since 1845 ; the nature and function of these art collections themselves and the types of art and artists represented.
I would like to express my renewed thanks for all the help and enthusiastic support I have received, from museum professionals, whilst undertaking this research.
Angela Summerfield (amsummerfield@btinternet.com)
Supremes story goes on
Readers and regional museums may be interested to know that, following its successful reception at the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Story of the Supremes from the Mary Wilson Collection (Museums Journal September 2008, p44) is now at Blackpool's Grundy Art Gallery until 1 February, and afterwards will move to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Tourwest, which brought the exhibition to the UK from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in the US, is responsible for managing the tour through the UK and Europe, and can be contacted at supremes@tourwest.co.uk
Edith Lowe, Director, Tourwest
Clarifications:
Museums Journal November 2008, p49. The total cost of the Victoria and Albert Museum's Cold War Modern, including exhibition design and build, transportation of objects and curators' research and planning was £1,105,500. The information was delayed because Museums Journal had to submit a Freedom of Information request to get the cost.
