Unresoloved Museum Issues: A Voice from the Inside 1985 to Now

UNRESOLVED MUSEUM ISSUES: a voice from the inside – 1985 to now

With the astonishing rise in popularity and number, museums globally enjoy unprecedented attention. That notoriety comes from many sources. Some are predictable and include cultural interests. Others are less obvious and include political, social, economic, spiritual sources and national identities.

The general public holds museums in hith esteem. However, they know little or nothing about how they operate. Consequently issues museums deal with are mysteries and those within these institutions prefer to keep it that way. Unresolved Museum Issues rebutes that proclivity. The author has deep experience in all aspects of museums. He has never been shy about discussing their strenghts and faults openly. This book presents his opinions on a range of topics that can be controversial. The topics center on ethics and especially how those impact museum collecting and collections. There are no books by insiders that are so frank and blunt. The vast majority of museum critics come from outside them. This means their information is hardly reality based.
Museums enjoy considerable media attention these days. Much is pleasant. Examples include creating a new museum, expanding an existing one, hiring a distinguished staff person, acquiring a stellar collection, receiving a major financial contribution, and opening an important exhibition. But press coverage can also be about difficulties. When curiously unresolved, loudly controversial, or, debated ad infinitum, they are referred to as issues. Most are brought to the public's attention by museum outsiders. Insiders with complaints about museums tend to be discrete. This book is a collection of essays I wrote over the past thirty-five years that contradict museum employee reticence to speak up and out about issues.

Steven Miller began his museum career in 1971. He has served as a curator, administrator, director, trustee, author, consultant, and museum studies educator. Having retired in 2018 he now writes on various museum profession topics. During his career he held leadership positions in six major museums in the northeastern United States. Miller holds a BA in sculpture (with honors) from Bard College, and, an international graduate certificate in the principles of conservation science from the International Centre for the Study of the Conservation and Preservation of Cultural Property, Rome, Italy. For sixteen years he was an adjunct professor with the Seton Hall University MA Program in Museum Professions, South Orange, NJ. He also taught museum studies as the New School for Social Research, NY, NY and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. He has contributed scores of articles, reviews, editorial comments, and blogs for museum profession publications and the general media. He serves on the board of trustees of the Center for the Conservation of Art and Historic Artifacts, Philadelphia, and the art committee of the Phillips Mill Community Association, New Hope, PA. His books include: The Anatomy of a Museum: An Insider's Text, Wiley Blackwell, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2018; Deaccessioning Today: Theory and Practice, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2018; How to Get a Museum Job, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2019; Museum Collection Ethics: Acquisition, Stewardship, and Interpretation, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2020. Museum Collecting Lessons: Stories From the Inside, Rutledge Press (Taylor & Francis), 2022.