Let me extend my gratitude to everyone who braved the weather and attended our community forum at the Mercury Theater last week. I was extremely enthused by wide range of people who attended; people from the theater and dance communities, the press, and the museum, library, and archive communities all showed up to give their input and support.
The meeting officially began at 7pm, but Advisory Board member Albert Williams and I had a roundtable discussion with representatives from the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Newberry Library, and the Chicago Public Library Special Collections Division about an hour before. Albert started it off by expressing his frustration with the vast locations of research materials (the Newberry Library and Harold Washington Library being two of the major collections), and since no one expects anyone to just hand over any of their materials, we discussed loan relationships and collaborations. Everyone seemed very receptive to working together in any way possible, though the libraries stressed that they have no interest or ability to collect 3d objects, ruling out the idea of just beefing up one of their collections into a museum. The library representatives informed us of a consortium already in the works to simplify the location of archives, soon to be accessible via web portal. Julie Burros of the DCA offered a wealth of suggestions on how to get started, including the possibility of a temporary exhibit at the Cultural Center, however she stressed that the Cultural Center would be an unlikely partner in any sort of permanent exhibition, since it wouldn't really fit with their mission. She let us know that if we set solid goals, the she and the DCA would be there to help keep us on the right track. Eventually Advisory Board members Joan Mazzonelli, Jay Kelly, and Don Hall showed up and started to share their ideas. We quickly realized we were entering a broader scope and decided to break for ten and resume the conversation in the main meeting.
We congregated in the auditorium and got underway at about 7:10 after waiting for latecomers due to Cubs traffic. I took a seat on the edge of the stage and looked out to a very diverse crowd of artists, educators, friends, and strangers, about 40 in all according to my quick count. I shared a few words about the foundation and then opened up the floor to ideas. I have to admit I was a bit worried about a few short comments followed by awkward silence and I wouldn't have much to fill it with. My concerns disappeared within 2 minutes. The conversation was intense, lively, and thoughtful.
Don Hall started us off by stating that we need to start by gauging interest outside of the industry. He cautioned against putting the cart before the horse by focusing on funding first. Kevin Heckman proposed creating a traveling exhibit that could tour theater lobbies and the like to raise interest. Elizabeth Carlson, a freelance museum consultant cautioned about proper care of artifacts, including climate controlled storage and detailed archiving. People really seemed to grab on to the traveling exhibit idea, perhaps a little too much, causing Richard Shavzin to bring us back to the idea of a bricks and mortar museum. While many were pessimistic about being able to create an actual building for this to be housed in, Richard reminded us that we all probably came in with the idea that this would be a stand alone-building. We then got into a lively discussion of what could be in such a place. Stefan Brun was interested in live action exhibits, and not just making this a place for us to “store our junk”. Jay Kelly sees this as an audience development tool, a place to show tourists and the general public the behind the scenes of what we do. Hedy Weiss suggested tying in with the possible 2016 Olympics, and championed thinking big, echoing many sentiments of making this something as interesting and as fun as the Museum of Science and Industry. A few questioned if this approach would turn into a tourist trap and neglect scholarly research, prompting Elizabeth Carlson to note examples of how museums and archives can play together.
Eventually some really strong storms hit, cutting short any conclusion to the discussion. I’m told there were 90 mph winds, and a quick walk down the street the next day would seem to confirm those reports. All in all it was a great discussion, and it will help us identify the direction to head and the goals we need to set in order to proceed. I look forward to having more of these forums in the future, with more specific discussion goals to be met.
Jason Epperson