Bigger Isn't Always Better
Why small museums have the advantage
I love museums. Every vacation my family ever took during my childhood involved at least one visit to a museum, science center or zoo. I have been lucky enough to visit such distinguished locations as the Chicago Field Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts,the Exploratorium and the Louvre,just to name a few, but my family also visited the Great Lakes Aquarium, the Brunswick Town Historic Site and countless other places you have probably never heard of.
When it came to vacation destinations, size wasn't even a factor for us, and if I am being truly honest I had more fun catching lizards at Brunswick Town and feeding the otter at the Great Lakes Aquarium than I did waiting in line for hours to get into the King Tut Exhibit at the Field Museum or shuffling by the Mona Lisa with thousands of other visitors at the Louvre.
I began working in a museum 7 years ago while I was studying Anthropology at the University of Winnipeg. I wanted to be an archaeologist but unfortunately summer jobs in that field were few and far between in Winnipeg. So, on the advice of my mother, who heard about it from a friend, I applied for a job with the Saint-Boniface Museum as an interpreter. To my surprise, and to my parents’ great relief (I was still living at home at this point), I got the job and worked that glorious summer as a guide, taking visitors on tours through the museum. I never in a million years imagined that someone would pay me just to talk. From that summer on I knew I wanted to work in museums for the rest of my life, and after spending the last 7 years working in small museums I have since decided I want to spend as much of my career as possible in the charming little museums no one has ever heard of.
This might seem like a strange goal, most people want to work their way up in their chosen field, so why would I want to work for the little guy? Why not strive for a job at a big federal museum with budgets in the millions and hundreds of staff? Aren't bigger museums better than smaller ones?
I am here to tell you that bigger isn't always better.
Sometimes being the little guy gives you some unexpected advantages. Sure small museums don’t have big budgets, but this can actually work in their favor. For one thing, small museums don’t let a lack of funds stop them from moving forward, this means that good ideas are never dismissed because the money isn't there, instead small museums just have to get a little creative. Some of the greatest museum events I have ever been a part of have included unexpected but amazing partnerships with other small non-profits and local businesses. These partnerships really help to create an amazing sense of community in these small institutions.
Another common lament of the small museum is a lack of space. Big museums have many galleries, auditoriums, spacious gift shops, food options and ample storage. However, being small can help to create a more comfortable environment that is welcoming and familiar. I hate to say it but I would rather see a cluttered room than a big almost empty white one. As for storage space I think being small can help museums to really focus on what it is that they hope to accomplish through their collections and can be very choosy about what they want to add to their collection.
One of my favorite advantages of being small is that all of your staff can be empowered to affect change in the museum. When you only have a staff of three, collaboration becomes the main pattern for work and everyone goes home at the end of the day with the knowledge that they are part of team that is striving towards a shared goal (and this helps them to forget that they are getting paid peanuts like everyone else in non-profits).
These are really only a few of the advantages of being small, and I am sure that anyone who has ever worked for “the little guy” can probably add a few more to this list. What I would love to see is for big museums to try and emulate the smaller ones more often, instead of the other way around.
I am an Emerging Museum Professional working as a Museum Programming Consultant in Winnipeg, Canada. If you have any thoughts I would love to hear from you. You can tweet me @sarahwatkins88.
