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Museums we have lost

  • 1.  Museums we have lost

    Posted 30 days ago

    Dear All 

    This is a list of museums that heave closed there doors for good. The space they filled meant something and now there gone. 

    Here is the link.      OUT OF BUSINESS_MUSEUMS SPREADSHEET

    Google Docs remove preview
    OUT OF BUSINESS_MUSEUMS SPREADSHEET
    SUBMISSIONS: Visit https://forms.gle/LkLRCP2Y2RenJnNW9 to add a closed museum entry to this list!
    View this on Google Docs >

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 27 days ago
    Edited by Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell 27 days ago

    Dear Rachel

    Such an amazing work in record time. I can't believe it. Without a doubt, this deserves to be published and known because it's exceptional. 

    A "next step" proposal could be to contact again with some of them who agree to do it to know their personal stories and create a podcast called "Of what could have been but still can be" recording the conversations. A tribute honoring the contributions of these professionals can be key to museums' future. Lessons from the past. I will be happy to collaborate with you on this journey. Please, DM me with your plans.

    With gratitude 

    Jose



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    Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell PhD
    CEO & Founder
    Meilen
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 27 days ago

    Dear Jose

    Yep, all worth exploring.

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 27 days ago
    This list needs close scrutiny and updating. The National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH) to give it its proper name, never closed. It did declare bankruptcy and came out of bankruptcy. It is operating under the name Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and while it still has financial constraints, it is fully operational. I suspect that others on the 2020 closure list are also back up and running.

    There are also omissions on this list. The B'nai B'rith Museum in Washington, DC, closed and passed its important collections to the HUC Skirball Museum in Cincinnati. A second, the Spertus Museum in Chicago, has closed its doors to the public, but retained its collections intact at the Spertus Institute. A third founding museum, the Magnes, was subsumed into the University of California, Berkeley, where it occupies a free-standing building and maintains an active program of exhibitions and programs.

    In fact, I saw an article last year suggesting the rate of museum closures was actually down post-Pandemic compared to the years preceding the Pandemic. Given more than 30,000 museums in North America, closing 100 museums over a 10-15 year period should not be unexpected. What is unexpected, at least to me, is the very low rate of attrition. I suspect that performing arts organizations have experienced a much higher rate of decline.

    Of course, losing any museum can constitute a loss, but frankly, there must be a fair number of museums that serve little social or communal purpose--and even that purpose might be better served by merger or other avenue that leads to closure. I know that individuals and communities can be distressed by a closure, but in the real world we may need to focus on how best to close a museum responsibly and planfully, rather than focus on anguish or loss.

    Avi Decter, History Now   avidecter@gmail.com



    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 27 days ago

    Dear

    Avi 

    I agree and welcome this. I am happy to see that all is not lost. 

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 24 days ago

    Hi Avi,

    I noticed many anomolies as well....thanks for pointing some of them out.  The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History is absolutely superb !

    Best,

    Myron Baer



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    Myron Baer
    Managing Director
    Orpheo
    Rego Park NY
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 27 days ago

    Hope Lodge in PA was not closed. It is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in association with The Friends of Hope Lodge.https://www.historichopelodge.org/

    Sara Buehler



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    Sara Buehler
    Art Collection Manager
    Swarthmore PA
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 27 days ago

    Dear Sara

    Good to know. Seems like revision would be a good thing.

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 26 days ago

    Dear All

    I want to make sure its claer that I found this spreed sheet and did not make it, that was Adam Rozan. It was posted as part of an article for AAM.  Here is the link.

    Thanks,

    Rachel

    https://www.aam-us.org/2021/01/08/crowdsourcing-a-database-of-permanent-museum-closings/



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 26 days ago

    Hi Rachel,

    Thanks for sharing this information and where it came from. I also have one correction. The listing for GulfQuest in Mobile, Alabama is another institution that did not close, but went through a name change. It is now The National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico. (Quite a mouthful) The list presents a heart-wrenching look at our museum community. While some of the institutions probably never should have opened in the first place, there are some that simply succumbed to the forces out there that take down so many worthy causes. 

    Thanks again,

    Joe Schenk, retired Director - Art Museum of South Texas 



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    Joseph Schenk
    Former Director
    Corpus Christi TX
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 25 days ago

    A good lesson to be learned here about attribution, context and rigor.



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    John Wharton
    Museum Docent &
    Retired Museum Professional
    Bonita Springs FL
    http://linkedin.com/in/john-wharton-9629149
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Museums we have lost

    Posted 24 days ago

    Dear John

    Yep I agree. I did not intended for people to think I created the spreadsheet it was my mistake. 

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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