photo by Andrea Zucker / memphis tourism
An interactive digital exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum encourages activism.
This year has done a brutal number on museums and other attractions that rely on a steady stream of visitors gathering, lingering, and sharing experiences. What you used to be able to do six months ago has been changed if not prohibited by the coronavirus pandemic.
How things will be a few months down the road can only be guessed at, depending on the status of a vaccine, the economy, and even the weather, the election, and the mood of America. But it’s the job of museum honchos to do their best prognosticating and plan accordingly.
And at the core is the unsettling question: In the middle of the trifecta of crises — health, economic, and social — do museums still matter?
We interviewed the leaders of four such places: Terri Lee Freeman at the National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM), Emily Ballew Neff at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Kevin Sharp at The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, and Carissa Hussong at the Metal Museum.
photo by brian groppe
Spring flowers in full bloom at The Dixon Gallery and Gardens.
Safety and Staffing
Considering how singular 2020 has been and that no playbook existed that anticipated what’s been happening, the museums have responded in very similar fashion.
For all of them, the mandate to close their operations in March was, as Freeman says, “hard to make only in that you want to make the absolute right decision to be able to take care of your staff.”
At the Dixon, Sharp says, “my one really clearly self-articulated goal was do my best to keep everyone healthy.”
The gardens at the Dixon were among the first places in the city to welcome back visitors following a period of closure. That was in early June and through the month, Sharp observed how people were reacting. “I would guess in the first three weeks, maybe we had 250 visitors,” he says. “They are wearing their masks as we’re requiring. They are social distancing. They’re being respectful of one another. It’s gone very, very smoothly on that front. But I think the trick more than anything is going to be to regain the confidence of our audience.”
photo by brian groppe
It’s not easy, he says, when what you’ve been accustomed to doing in the normal course of things is urging more people in the buildings, in the seats, at the exhibitions, in the gardens. “But now,” he says, “it’s ‘Come if you want to. It’s perfectly safe. But we understand if you’re just not ready.’”
The Metal Museum eased back into operation, first by opening the grounds and making available an audio tour of the sculptures. The grounds and gazebo are typically popular for gatherings and weddings, but, Hussong says, as of June, not much has been scheduled for the fall. “I think people are trying to move their events further out,” she says.
The main museum building opened three days a week to the public in July. Not, however, the library — and metalworking demonstrations were put on hold. Hussong says the popular Repair Days event will happen, but will likely be approached differently.
“We’re just having to think differently about how we deliver on our mission, reach our audiences, and build new audiences during this time.” — Emily Neff, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
At the Brooks, the main gallery reopened to members and first responders early in July. It’s focusing on the “Native Voices” exhibition that had been on display when the museum had to close. Originally scheduled to end May 17th, the show has been extended through September 27th.
Each of the four institutions endeavored to keep their staff as long as possible although furloughs became necessary for some, and bringing people back or refilling positions will be done carefully. “We’re going to wait until we feel a little bit better about what the next fiscal year is going to look like,” Hussong says.
Freeman hopes the NCRM will have all its staff back by year’s end, but can’t be certain about capacity. The museum reopened in July, gingerly, using online ticket purchases and a limited number at that, timed throughout the day. There are sanitation stations and social distancing is maintained. Staffers get a daily temperature check, gloves are available, gift shop transactions are touchless. The plan is for the nearby Legacy Building to open in September. But September will also bring a new exhibition partnering with the Smithsonian on the Green Book, a guide book for Black travelers through Jim Crow America.
photo by Alex Shansky / memphis tourism
Future Plans
Even COVID-19 hasn’t been able to stop the planning and dreaming.
A committee formed to find a new tenant for Rust Hall at the recently closed Memphis College of Art recommended to Mayor Jim Strickland that the Metal Museum go there. It offered a well-regarded plan that would meet its needs and preserve the essence of the building in Overton Park. The museum would keep its existing property on the river for artist residencies. Hussong says there’s great interest on the part of funders to make that expansion, despite the pandemic.
Another long-term project is the relocation of the Brooks to Downtown, scheduled for 2025. Neff says that although it’s navigating the current crisis and planning to get through the next few months, the museum is proceeding with what it calls Brooks on the Bluff. “If anything,” she says, “what we’re hearing is that we should speed up the process and don’t slow down. The excitement is palpable.”
The design concept for the new structure was to be revealed in March; the pandemic forced a postponement. But those who are backing the move are saying it’s a transformative project that needs to move ahead, Neff says.
Maintaining Their Mission
Even when the buildings and grounds are closed and the money isn’t coming in, these cultural organizations have remained committed to staying visible and relevant.
Crucial to that is the use of the internet and social media, which have become the primary point of contact between museums and visitors.
Sharp says the Dixon’s education department prided itself on being analog — hands-on, being together, collaborating — and doing it in the new education building on the grounds. “And then suddenly everything turns to digital and virtual experiences,” he says. “But I’ve been rather amazed and impressed with the education team and the communications team for how quickly they adapted to the new circumstances.” He says the facility closed on March 22nd and by March 25th they were producing programming on Facebook and the website.
A sketch from the life drawing program at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art which was offered via Zoom during the quarantine.
At the Brooks, Neff says, “We’re just having to think differently about how we deliver on our mission, reach our audiences, and build new audiences during this time.” The museum has virtual school tours lined up in the fall and is doing its Wacky Wednesdays program online, getting curriculum and activities out to members and the public for free. It also has put its literary salon online and launched a new partnership with Carpenter Art Garden in Binghampton.
“One program I’m really proud of is the life drawing,” Neff says, “which filled a niche that we didn’t even know was desired in Memphis. It’s a passionate group of people who really depend on us to provide the live model and do a drawing class, and they were able to do that via Zoom throughout quarantine.”
The proliferation of the use of online connections to the public has the added benefit of being a data gold mine. Neff says the Brooks had been wanting to measure its impact, so thanks to a grant from ArtsMemphis and the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, the museum has embarked on a project to measure data in a purposeful way. “A lot of what we’re doing became accelerated by these crises, and it really causes you to focus on your highest priorities and be hyper disciplined,” Neff says.
Staying Relevant
But beyond the high-tech engagement are other programming efforts to maintain relevance.
The NCRM was hamstrung by the shutdown, but found that online events were effective, including a commemoration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on April 4th, just after the museum had to close.
“We planned a significant digital commemoration, and it was outstanding,” Freeman says. “We had a lot more people actually view the commemoration than we would have had it been just in the courtyard of the museum.”
When it comes to protests, “you know, the National Civil Righs Museum is really founded on the principle of protest as a right and protest as an effective way to create positive social change.” — Terri Lee Freeman
She says the museum has always pushed out information on social media and screened some programming, “but we were not as intentional as I think we could have been. It was in our strategic plan to begin this fiscal year, but the closing forced us to do it a little more quickly. We have beefed up our virtual programming, and that’s here to stay.”
That presence has been amplified by the social protests and Black Lives Matter movement that have been going on nationwide since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in late May.
The NCRM has been busy streaming programming relating to Black music, education, voting, and other topics. And when it comes to protests, Freeman notes that, “you know, the museum is really founded on the principle of protest as a right and protest as an effective way to create positive social change.”
When the local protests began happening, many of them started or ended at the museum. “And it is because of what the museum represents,” Freeman says. “The museum is a symbol of what people want to be able to see in the future, which has positive social change that will propel us into a state of what was the hope of Dr. King, which was a beloved community.”
The museum opened its doors for some meetings with activists, she says, because activism has a place in society. “One of the things we do know about activism — and it’s demonstrated and depicted on the walls of the museum — is that it’s never a one-and-done,” Freeman says. “People have to be tenacious. And my anticipation is that this is going to go on for a very long time.”
For her facility, it is both a harrowing and an exciting time. “I see the incredible parallels between what we depict in the museum and what is actually happening on the ground,” Freeman says. “It’s energizing in a way to know that the people and the generations that folks had counted out as not being engaged, really are very engaged.”
