Class Exercises: Museum Positions and
Responsibilities
(see handout on Professional Positions)
Directions:
Each person has a "role" or title of his or her position in a museum. As each scenario is presented, the person whose area of responsibility is affected stands and describes their reaction.
1. A visitor to the "Cultures of the Arctic" points out some pieces of fur on the exhibit floor to a guard. She files a report at the end of her shift to her supervisor who notifies the curator of the collection. An investigation reveals an infestation of insects in a fur cloak borrowed for the exhibition. Who should get involved now?
2. A bequest of a substantial amount of money has been offered to the museum with the one condition that the museum also take the donation of the donor's prized collection of "Cigar Store Indians". While it is a museum of Native American Culture, the objects do not meet the current collections policy. The Director wants to call a meeting. Who gets the e-mail?
3. A curator has concluded two years of extensive research on one of his museums most prized possessions, a painting by an Old Master. The curator has concluded that there is substantial evidence to suggest that the work can no longer be reliably attributed to the artist. What happens next?