The Smithsonian and the MHC
This year the Maine Humanities Council did something it has never done before. From April to October, it brought one of the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibits, Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon, to Maine for a tour that visited three sites: the Saco Museum, the Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel in Lille, and the Bethel Historical Society.
When Deedee Schwartz, our Executive Director, first asked me to coordinate the Barn Again! tour, I was rather stunned. Although born and raised in Maine, I am certainly no authority on barns or farming. At the same time, it sounded like an intriguing project I might enjoy and a wonderful opportunity for the Council to work with museums on an entirely different level than usual.
Since then, I am happy (and relieved) to report that everything has worked out beautifully. We pulled together a wonderful group of advisors to serve on our planning committee, and the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibit branch (known as Museum on Main Street or MoMS) has provided information and encouragement to help things along. Special thanks should go to Don Cyr, Director of the Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel, who also served as Project Scholar; to Christi Mitchell from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission; to Deanne Herman from the Maine Department of Agriculture; and to the tireless workers at all three museums.
The Smithsonian Institution has a unique arrangement with the state humanities councils to provide these traveling exhibits for state tours. Besides their obvious goal of reaching a broad segment of the public, the Smithsonian hopes this program will provide opportunities specifically for smaller museums which otherwise might not have the chance to host a significant exhibit of such high quality. Barn Again! itself provided general information about barns across the United States including styles, historical uses, and preservation issues. To that foundation, we added our own panels with information specific to the history of barns in Maine, and each site added its own local stories and artifacts.
In the process of organizing the exhibit, we found several themes that deserved highlighting. Of particular concern to us was the question of how to preserve some of these structures which are very old and threatened, not just by age but also development pressures and changes in current farming needs. We also wanted to shine a spotlight on farmers in the state and applaud their efforts in a difficult line of work. We hope Barn Again! has provided enough information to encourage the public to continue discussions on these topics.
For me, it’s been a joy to work with the museums, plus a wonderful opportunity to learn so much more about the history of barns and farming in Maine. Barns are something I’ve seen around Maine all my life, but I’ll never look at them in quite the same way after this.
The Smithsonian at the Saco Museum
The Smithsonian. For many people those two words bring instant name recognition and an association with prestige and respect. Hosting the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon at the Saco Museum this spring proved that being aligned with such a well-known institution is a great advantage for a small museum like ours. Barn Again! benefited our museum in several ways:
- It presented us with the opportunity to cultivate relationships within a new segment of our local area—the agricultural community.
- It attracted new visitors to our museum, both local residents and tourists.
- It generated great press for our institution and thus, greater visibility.
- It challenged us to experiment with new programming, such as an outdoor family event.
By establishing an Advisory Committee, we were able to tap into firsthand knowledge of farming in the greater Saco area, garner wonderful “farm profiles” for inclusion in the exhibit, as well as great generosity in loaning objects which enhanced the local component our of our exhibition. People were eager to participate in the exhibit, because, in part, of the Smithsonian connection.
As we all know, we cannot simply “install it” and wait for people to come to the museum. Marketing is becoming an increasingly vital component of a museum’s budget. The quality and quantity of marketing materials available to us was one of the greatest advantages of partnering with the Maine Humanities Council and the Smithsonian Institution on this project. A full-color brochure, web site links, public relations assistance, and gorgeous posters are examples of the superb marketing tools that were at our disposal for this exhibition.
The Smithsonian exhibition kiosks were as easy to assemble as touted in all the written materials. (Yes—one did have to follow the directions. As the first site in the state to host the exhibit, we benefited from many people being on hand to learn and assist in assembly.) Our staff of one-and-a-half, along with a couple of volunteers, were readily able to disassemble the kiosks and store them in their proper crates.
All in all, the Smithsonian experience in Saco was tremendous! We exceeded our visitation numbers for the previous year for the same time period and our outside family program had people asking if this was going to be an annual event. Well...now there’s an interesting idea. It was a great experience to work with the Maine Humanities Council and the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service. We’re already looking forward to the next one!
