Thursday, March 26, 2009
Our Endangered Lakewood Museum
As one of the co-founders of the Lakewood History Museum, naturally I'm being asked about the announcement that the museum may have to close. You might want to read the article first. Then here are some thoughts:
- When we started the museum, there was an assumption that a lot of people who grew up here in the 20s and 30s would donate. Certainly, some have, and we are grateful. But donations have not met expectations.
That may well be the fault of our historical society. We may not have asked as effectively as we could have. It's not from lack of energy. A committee has been working very hard to translate good feeling for the community into a museum where we can interpret the Chief Leschi and turn-of-the-century periods that were such an important time. So far, the support just hasn't been there.
- The museum does make a rent payment now for the space in the Colonial Center. Some people have questioned that expenditure since we also need to save for a permanent home. To be honest, I am a bit frustrated with people who don't like the rent payment. If I had a nickel for every time someone said to me "Oh, I bet someone will donate you a storefront/land" then we'd have our $25,000 in nickels.
What Lakewood needs is someone to actually make a donation of space in support of local heritage. As someone who screens donation requests for my company, of course I know these donations don't just happen. Again, it might be our fault for not asking correctly. But what Lakewood needs are people to donate, not people who say there must be a donor somewhere.
- The other thing that's surprised me is the lack of interest in city government and the City Council for history. Frankly, I don't blame my colleagues. They're actually being pretty logical about it. If you asked a City Council member who cares about Lakewood history, they would list three people named Walter, Becky and Glen. There are about 13,000 people who vote regularly in Lakewood elections.
If there's no sense voters care about Lakewood history, it's not going to show up on the radar.
Government goes to those who show up.
And again, I'm not blaming anyone. You could argue the historical society has not done enough to mobilize the interest that we know is out there. There are plenty of volunteers in the historical society and the Landmarks and Heritage Advisory Board who work hard, but in obscurity. I know I could have done more, but my day job has got very busy. The people fortunate enough to still be employed are all working hard. Which brings me to the final thought ...
- It's a lousy economy in which to be running any sort of nonprofit. My day job includes getting requests for support; clearly, a lot of these nonprofits have just become incredibly desperate. Nonprofits in general are suffering. Many that provide human services will sink despite crushing human needs. Surely arts and culture groups will go down first. As a member of the Pierce County allocations committee for ArtsFund, I despair for coming months. Some potential donors will have suffered horribly in the stock market alone. You will see a lot of museums reducing efforts or closing.
In other words, it ain't just a Lakewood thing. This is not the first time hard economic times have threatened arts and culture. How ironic and yet inevitable ... a museum locked into a cycle of history.
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- When we started the museum, there was an assumption that a lot of people who grew up here in the 20s and 30s would donate. Certainly, some have, and we are grateful. But donations have not met expectations.
That may well be the fault of our historical society. We may not have asked as effectively as we could have. It's not from lack of energy. A committee has been working very hard to translate good feeling for the community into a museum where we can interpret the Chief Leschi and turn-of-the-century periods that were such an important time. So far, the support just hasn't been there.
- The museum does make a rent payment now for the space in the Colonial Center. Some people have questioned that expenditure since we also need to save for a permanent home. To be honest, I am a bit frustrated with people who don't like the rent payment. If I had a nickel for every time someone said to me "Oh, I bet someone will donate you a storefront/land" then we'd have our $25,000 in nickels.
What Lakewood needs is someone to actually make a donation of space in support of local heritage. As someone who screens donation requests for my company, of course I know these donations don't just happen. Again, it might be our fault for not asking correctly. But what Lakewood needs are people to donate, not people who say there must be a donor somewhere.
- The other thing that's surprised me is the lack of interest in city government and the City Council for history. Frankly, I don't blame my colleagues. They're actually being pretty logical about it. If you asked a City Council member who cares about Lakewood history, they would list three people named Walter, Becky and Glen. There are about 13,000 people who vote regularly in Lakewood elections.
If there's no sense voters care about Lakewood history, it's not going to show up on the radar.
Government goes to those who show up.
And again, I'm not blaming anyone. You could argue the historical society has not done enough to mobilize the interest that we know is out there. There are plenty of volunteers in the historical society and the Landmarks and Heritage Advisory Board who work hard, but in obscurity. I know I could have done more, but my day job has got very busy. The people fortunate enough to still be employed are all working hard. Which brings me to the final thought ...
- It's a lousy economy in which to be running any sort of nonprofit. My day job includes getting requests for support; clearly, a lot of these nonprofits have just become incredibly desperate. Nonprofits in general are suffering. Many that provide human services will sink despite crushing human needs. Surely arts and culture groups will go down first. As a member of the Pierce County allocations committee for ArtsFund, I despair for coming months. Some potential donors will have suffered horribly in the stock market alone. You will see a lot of museums reducing efforts or closing.
In other words, it ain't just a Lakewood thing. This is not the first time hard economic times have threatened arts and culture. How ironic and yet inevitable ... a museum locked into a cycle of history.
