Letters

I am an out-of-work museum professional, writing an open letter to ask the government for more understanding for people in my situation.

My maternity cover contract could not have ended at a worse time – a few months after the election last year. Since then, I have experienced a challenging few months of unemployment.

Despite having several years of professional museum experience and two postgraduate degrees, my local Job Centre is now expecting me to look for other areas of work. They don’t want to hear about museums or culture. I am asked constantly: “What else can you do?”

I am treated as a number and not a passionate individual who has a lot more to offer the museum and art gallery sector. I ask the government how they can justify up to £9,000 a year per student in undergraduate tuition fees, when once new graduates find themselves out of work, such qualifications are dismissed.

You may take our jobs and close our museums, but please don’t take our dreams. My attitude is this: I have no plan B; and, no, I shall not look at other industries to suit the coalition government. (Or in simple terms, take any crappy job.)

What I have gained these last few months is resilience. One day, I will talk, from a public platform, about my experience as a museum director.

I urge other professionals in my situation to keep going. One day, it will all be worth the anxiety and sleepless nights. The museum sector is nothing without the many passionate, hard-working and committed individuals who work in it.

Name and address supplied

Has anyone ever considered how biased Museums Journal has become towards local authority museums, how the focus is on politics and funding and how many times we have seen large articles on senior museum personnel?

Isn’t it time the magazine provided articles for those of us who surely are the majority of the readership – curators, conservators, education officers, museum assistants and volunteers?

Why focus on purely the Department for Culture, Media and Sport sponsored museums? Us military curators under the control of the Ministry of Defence seem to be forgotten.

I’m sure my professional colleagues in military museums would agree that we face many issues, too – many peculiar to working in a service environment. I am sure that curators governed by other government departments would feel the same.

As a Royal Air Force (RAF) curator, I am fortunate to have a foot in two totally different worlds and, as I thoroughly love working with the RAF, and am proud to do so, I wouldn’t have it any other way. But I rely on Museums Journal to keep me updated on issues such as new ideas for display, ethics, conservation and so on.

Surely I can’t be the only museum professional frustrated with “our mag”? I think we’ve all worked out that financial times are not good for anyone, that the Diversify programme has good and bad points, and that some big cheese has grand plans for their museum.

Please throw out the politics and big cheeses and bring in relevant issues which appeal to the majority of those of us who care for, interpret and use our wonderful collections.

Hazel Crozier, curator, RAF College Cranwell

I’ve just written to Sophie Cummings (collections manager, Swindon) to thank her for her letter, printed in the December issue. It was the most sense I’ve read in Museums Journal in years. Probably ever.

I’ve been banging on about most of these issues for years. It’s good to know I’m not the only one who wishes that the high headyins would get a bit realistic. And it’s not just the Museums Association – though they are just as culpable of inaction.

Back in the day, I worked on a regional development project and came across the issues Sophie was talking about on a daily basis. But whose job was it to assist museums in need, or speak up for the little guy?

Local authorities are pushed. Is it in the remit for the nationals? And those higher up seemed to be unwilling to think or delve deeper to get to know the real issues.

I now work for a medium-sized independent museum. I’m lucky to have supportive, forward-thinking trustees; I have a great boss; and I have a member of staff, all of my own!

But we face all the issues Sophie mentioned in her letter, and feel like we’re fighting against the tide in trying to get our medium-sized voice heard. Let alone in supporting our local small, volunteer-run museums to speak up, be heard, and be supported.

It was interesting that Sophie’s letter was printed next to the Vox Pop about spending less on national projects and more locally.

That’s another one of my soap box rants: if nationals had to fill out an application form (like I do to get grant funding from our national representative body) every time they spent over £200, I bet they’d save a packet.

I reiterate Sophie’s plea for colleagues in a similar situation to speak out.

Emma Halford-Forbes, museum manager, the Museum of the Black Watch, Balhousie Castle, Perth

Museums Journal December 2010, p20

I was delighted to see Felicity Heywood’s column on the Royal Academy of Arts’ (RA) recent Aware exhibition.

She suggests that the RA should work with schools all over London to break the perceived exclusivity of the academy. In fact, the RA presents tours, self-guided visits and workshops for primary and secondary students.

In 2009/10, over 20,000 students from throughout London participated in these activities. To encourage students beyond London to engage with the RA, we offer the A-Level Summer Exhibition Online and, now in its 20th year, the RA Outreach Programme of life drawing workshops.

The RA attRAct programme for A-Level art students in seven north London boroughs offers 60 students practical workshops with artists, studio visits and mentoring by students in the RA Schools in order to increase their confidence and creativity.

The RA presents workshops to adults involved with Capital A, an organisation that serves the homeless, and collaborates with Kids’ Company, offering workshops to young people and their families. Last year also saw a significant increase in the RA’s Access Programme.

Because the RA receives no government funds, these activities are made possible by the very generous support of private, corporate and foundation donations and a strong commitment on the part of the entire RA to engage with a diverse public.

Beth B Schneider, head of education, Royal Academy of Arts, London

www.royalacademy.org.uk/education

Museums Journal January 2011, p19