1st Edition
Museum Collecting Lessons Acquisition Stories from the Inside
Museum Collecting Lessons explains how and why museums meet their fundamental duty to collect. It is the first book of its kind to explore the diverse ways these unique institutions acquire what is preserved and used for exhibitions, programs, publications, and online applications.
The 11 chapters that make up the volume are written by museum practitioners working in art, history, and science museums in the United States, Canada, and India. Together, the essays provide fascinating insights into a wide variety of significant acquisitions and museum collecting initiatives. The authors explain customary collecting methods, including donation, purchase, and field retrieval. Commonly shared acquisition denominators are also covered and include mission pertinence, quality control, the feasibility and legality of acquisition, personnel and volunteer involvement, and long-term retention assurances. The philosophies and realities presented within the case studies shine light on recent debates about who is included or excluded in museum collections – especially when it comes to race, ethnicity, gender, political perspectives, places of habitation, and economic status.
Museum Collecting Lessons reflects upon past and ongoing issues relating to museum acquisition practices. Offering valuable insights about philosophical, practical, and ethical collecting practices, the book will be of interest to aspiring, beginner, and experienced museum professionals around the world.
Introduction
Steven Miller
- Making Sense of Your Community Museum Collection: Strategies for Stuff Management
- Collecting our Culture: Eeyou Cree Collecting at Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute
- Strategies for Acquiring Contemporary Art: Creativity and Collaboration
- Collecting Period Rooms: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Francis W. Little House
- A New Museum Builds a Collection: How One Gift Leads to Others: The James A. Michener Museum of Art’s Acquisition Success
- A Museum Defining Acquisition: The Murtogh D. Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata. Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
- Unpacking the Baggage: The Smooth Acquisition and Transfer of the Lee L. Forman Collection of Bags
- How We Got Our F-16 Fighter Falcon
John Summers
Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute
Jennifer Jankauskas
Morrison H. Heckscher
Bruce Katsiff
Steven Miller
Jodi Kearns and Fran Ugalde
James Walther
9. Community Collecting Conversations: Acquisition Stories, District Museum, Jorhat, India
Abantika Parashar
10. Collecting Nonverbal History Documents
Steven Miller
11. Barnum Brown’s Bones
Douglas J. Preston
12. Conclusion
Steven Miller
Biography
Steven Miller began his museum career in 1971. He has served as a curator, administrator, director, trustee, writer, consultant, and museum studies educator. For 16 years he was an adjunct professor teaching core courses with the Seton Hall University MA Program in Museum Professions, South Orange, New Jersey, USA.
