|
MUSEUM ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK
Strategic Plan for 2005-2009
Approved by the Board of Directors: April 24, 2005
Challenges & Opportunities for New York State’s Museums
New York State’s museums are a diverse group of organizations integral to the social and economic well
being of communities throughout the state. They teach, they challenge, they commemorate, they inspire. They
are places of quiet reverie and noisy exploration.
Through its most recent survey and discussion with focus groups, MANY identified a number of challenges
and opportunities for New York state museums and the associations who serve them.
-
Partnership and collaboration are important to all organizations. New York’s
museum community, MANY and the regional museum service organizations must work together for the benefit
of all museums and historical organizations.
-
New York state museums are key players in educating the public, particularly
children. MANY and New York State’s museums must forge partnerships with the New York State Education
Department based on the unique educational opportunities available in and through museums.
-
New York's museums are frequently divided and isolated by the state's
geography. The museum community must overcome these distances, both geographical and intellectual, to
foster respect and build community.
-
Museums and heritage organizations are frequently lumped under a larger
cultural umbrella with other arts organizations. The museum community needs to define itself,
communicate that definition to society at large as well as within state government, particularly the New
York State Department of Economic Development/Division of Tourism, the New York State Museum/Chartering
Office, the Governor’s office and the New York State Legislature and other appropriate agencies or
stakeholders.
-
Technology is vital to New York State’s museums. As it continues to transform
data storage and retrieval, teaching, communication and a host of other activities, museums must support
across-the-board technological advancement, whether that means a sophisticated IT department or the
acquisition of a first computer.
-
Museums have an economic impact on neighborhoods, cities and regions.
Collecting and standardizing data is a powerful advocacy tool. Museums in New York State need
action-oriented data so as to speak with one voice.
-
Museums in New York State require varied and talented staff. The state’s
museum community as a whole must encourage a broad spectrum of talent, diverse in gender, race and
ethnicity, to become museum professionals.
-
A lack of professional standards continues to plague the field. Museums need to
support professionalization, whether through training or salary standards.
Challenges & Opportunities for MANY
-
MANY needs to utilize the tools of the new technology while remaining mindful
that there are some within the museum community for whom it is not accessible.
-
Throughout New York state museums and historical organizations are engines of
economic development: as employers, builders, and managers of shops and restaurants they impact
communities. MANY needs to continue to quantify that impact so that the public--and particularly the New
York State legislature-is aware of the museum community's role in the growth of cultural and heritage
tourism in New York state. Further, MANY needs to synthesize the museum community’s economic data and
translate it into action.
-
MANY will continue to be the link between the wider museum community and New
York State Department of Economic Development/Division of Tourism, the New York State Museum, the
Governor's office and the New York State Legislature.
-
MANY needs to find ways to support museum training programs and to encourage a
broad spectrum of talent, diverse in gender, race and ethnicity, to become museum professionals.
-
MANY needs to find ways to support professionalization, whether through human
resources training or salary standards.
Introduction | Challenges & Opportunities | Goals
& Strategies for 2005-2009
|
|
