Longmont Museum Advisory Board DRAFT – Minutes of Meeting October 21, 2020 Meeting was held via Zoom
1. CALL TO ORDER: 4:29 pm.
2. ROLL CALL: Board members present: Dale Bernard, Kris Binard Carlson, Brydon Cooke, Thomas Kurtz, Eve Lacey, Rhea Moriarity and Council liaison Susie Hidalgo-Fahring.
Board member absent: Megan Arnold.
Staff present: Kim Manajek, Museum Director; Erik Mason, Curator of History; Aileen Jijina, Registrar; and Joann McCoy, Executive Assistant; and Zoom facilitator Steph Bergman, Communications and Marketing Specialist.
3. PUBLIC INVITED TO BE HEARD: None.
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Dale Bernard moved to approve the September 16, 2020, minutes as submitted. Her motion was seconded by Tom Kurtz and unanimously approved.
5. ACCESSIONS: a. Proposed accessions for October 2020, PowerPoint by Erik Mason: Kris Binard Carlson moved to approve the October 2020 list of proposed accessions to the Longmont Museum’s permanent collection. Her motion was seconded by Rhea Moriarity and unanimously approved.
The October accession includes: #2020.010 Peggy Carroll/Carroll family collection (family ephemera including photos correspondence, yearbooks, diplomas and certificates) COVID-19 Collection: o #2020.013 COVID-19 digital photo homemade mask o #2020.014 digital photo of mask on sculpture o #2020.015 digital photos of masked healthcare workers o #2020.016 digital media showing COVID impact o #2020.017 digital photos of COVID/Black Lives Matter impact o #2020.018 digital photos of COVID adaptations o #2020.019 COVID digital photos of school/family impact #2020.020 Flying School certificate 1945 #2020.021 Two Boulder County maps 1902 and 1976 #2020.022 Barbara Connor collection including typed manuscript “Just Watching the Great Western Sugar Company” detailing the sugar beet production in Longmont
Erik solicited the board’s thoughts about contemporary collecting. We will continue to judiciously collect photos and artifacts as they relate to the pandemic. Tom Kurtz inquired if the Museum will be collecting Blue Lives Matter objects as a counterpart to Black Lives Matter objects. Erik is open
1 Longmont Museum Advisory Board DRAFT – Minutes of Meeting, October 21, 2020 to collecting Blue Lives Matter items. At some point we could open up another call for coronavirus 3-D artifacts.
Councilmember Susie Hidalgo-Fahring advised that we provide prospective on the concept of Blue Lives Matter/Thin Blue Line, and look at it not in opposition to Black Lives Matter, but it is own separate entity. She encouraged the Museum to examine what the perception of the Thin Blue Line means from a historical perspective.
If we accession artifacts that include Thin Blue Line as well as Black Lives Matter, that it be done with context, talking about the impact that it has on individuals of color in our community. Making sure the context, historical components, and impact versus intent are carefully examined so we do not devalue those who have experienced social injustice and police brutality.
6. REPORTS a. Report of the Museum Director Some highlights of Kim’s September-October report included:
Staff has completed the Museum Assessment Program (MAP) in-depth self-assessment and submitted it to our two peer reviewers. One of the peer reviewers lives in Colorado Springs and was able to be onsite for a day of meetings. The other peer reviewer from Texas joined us virtually. They will submit a report of findings and suggestions. Completing the MAP is one step in the process of working toward accreditation with the American Alliance of Museums.
Our Annual Appeal, focused on COVID recovery, has brought in more than $6,200.
We have been awarded grants from the Community Foundation Boulder County and from Boulder County Diversity funds for our Day of the Dead programming.
The Día de los Muertos virtual opening reception was a success with Longmont Public Media collaborating to livestream the event. The rest of the Day of the Dead celebrations will be virtual as well. The Museum spearheaded making and distributing 500 Día de los Muertos home activity kits. We have also completed our first virtual school tour of the Day of the Dead exhibition.
Working with our partners from the St. Vrain Valley School District, staff is moving forward on the Mobile Lab project producing content to teach “hard histories,” topics like the Amache Internment Camp and the Sand Creek massacre.
Our Discovery Day virtual program has been a huge success, reaching maximum capacity.
We are working with CSU to bring in elements to demonstrate the process of printmaking for the Impressionist exhibit.
To date we have offered 19 programs via livestream that have been viewed nearly 25,000 times. We are encouraged with the number of people engaging virtually.
b. Report of the Chair: None. 2 Longmont Museum Advisory Board DRAFT – Minutes of Meeting, October 21, 2020
7. OLD BUSINESS: None.
8. NEW BUSINESS: a. Strategic Plan: Kim has shared her most recent revision of the 2018-2022 Strategic Plan executive summary. She recapped the “Strat Ops” background and process staff has gone through to develop the plan. The resulting plan is in spreadsheet format, which Kim noted is becoming more common in the museum field rather than a text/graphic format. Kim also noted that it is a draft and she is waiting on some input from the Friends organization, and more graphic design will be done for the final version. She welcomes any feedback and would like to adopt the plan at our next meeting. It is intended to be a tool for communication and updates. Kim asked that any questions be emailed to her.
9. BOARD COMMENTS: None.
10. MEETING ADJOURNED: Tom Kurtz moved to adjourn, his motion was seconded by Kris Binard Carlson and unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 5:20 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Joann McCoy Secretary to the Board
3 Longmont Museum Advisory Board DRAFT – Minutes of Meeting, October 21, 2020