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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07072020 SMAB minseE.V0 Museum Advisory Board Tuesday, 5 PM —July 07,2020 Monroe Hall 400 East First St. Sanford, FL Minutes4 Approved Call meeting to order: 5 PM Attendance: Scott Carpenter, Chairperson Pasha Baker, Vice Chairperson Mike Smith Christina Hollerbach Ryan Handley Stephanie Pilk Donna Peterson Joyce Qualls Mayor Art Woodruff, City Commission Liaison Brigitte Stephenson, Curator, Staff Liaison Jerry Sullivan, Recreation Manager Approval of Minutes: Motion by Scott Carpenter to approve minutes of January 07, 2020, seconded by Christna Hollerbach . Motion carried. Old Business: Removed due to the length of time in-between meetings. New Business: Introduction of Brigitte Stephenson, Museum Curator. Ms. Stephenson shared her educational background with the board and advised them of the current operating hours of the Museum with the possibility of changing the operating hours. Mr. Carpenter asked for and update of the state grant and the docent position associated with the grant. Ms. Stephenson informed the board that with the assistance of Mayor Woordruff we have received a second grant toward the cataloging of artifacts. Per Ms. Stephenson, the new docent, Bea Martin, has been phenomenal in cataloging the artifacts in the Museum. The amount of the second grant awarded was $7672. Due to COVID-19 the City was also approved for an extension to spend the previous grant funds until September30, 2020. The new grant funds will be available at that time. 1 Ms. Baker asked about the use of Past Perfect catalogue. Ms. Stephenson stated that the Museum staff are reorganizing storage space in order to note catalogues where the items are for easy access. Without the funding to utilize Past Perfect Five, which provides an online source to find information regarding catalogued items the storage, organization and photos will assist in the ease of locating items. Due to the large amount of original items that the Museum is in possession of, Ms. Baker asked if there was any way to include fireproof cabinets in the budget for these items to be placed in as they are catalogued. Mr. Sullivan stated that the City does offer surplus items such as office furniture/supplies that other departments that no longer need to all City employees. If a department is in need of any of these items, they are able to receive them. There was no further discussion on budgeting of fireproof cabinets. Ms. Baker also asked if the Museum has all of the Sanford Herald newspapers. Ms. Stephenson, stated that the County has all of the newspapers. Mr. Stephenson would like to meet with the collections committee to discuss the possibilities of finding grant funding or a project that would assist in cataloguing of the Henry Shelton Sanford collection as well as the Sanford Negative collection. Mr. Carpenter asked if at some point would a decision be made as to relocating some of the items to another museum? Ms. Stephenson stated that museum staff is working on determining who the items originally belonged to in order to return the items to the original owner. Ms. Hollerbach has asked if a person who is not on the advisory board can be added to the Collections committee. Mayor Woodruff will confirm whether or not a person not on the board can join the sub -committee. Ms. Hollerbach asked if there is a recommended agenda for the collections committee. Ms. Stephenson would like to restructure the gift and loan forms. As well as begin to include the collections committee in the review and decision of what items will be received by the public. Mr. Carpenter has asked how often donations are received. Ms. Stephenson stated that there has been an increase in donations due to COVID-19, however typically donations are received on average once a month. She would like to only allow that donations are received either bi-monthly or quarterly. Mr. Carpenter asked how many times have the sub -committees met. Mayor Woodruff advised that the Marketing/Programming Committee has met twice and the Collections Committee has not yet met. Mr. Carpenter stated that while everyone is present that they would discuss meeting times/dates and share it with the board. Ms. Baker likes the idea of including the collections committee regarding the donation process as this makes it more of a working board. This also gives the board the authority to reject and bring in items that fit within the scope of the City of Sanford Museum. Ms. Baker asked if this would need to be voted on by the advisory board. It was determined that ultimately the rejection or receiving of items would be made by Museum staff and the committee members would only be providing a recommendation. Therefore voting would not be necessary. Ms. Baker asked if the shuffleboard club house was supposed to be used as a meeting space for the Museum. Mayor Woodruff replied that it was discussed to use to the building as a meeting space, however it was already being used. Mr. Sullivan advised that the building is used for small groups as well as the shuffleboard club. Mayor Woodruff stated that we were looking for a meeting space rather than storage space and the board can use Monroe Hall as a meeting 04 space. Ms. Baker also asked if the former meeting space at would now be used for storage. Ms. Stephenson stated that the room will still be used for research and to continue to use Monroe Hall as a meeting area. Ms. Hollerbach shared with the advisory board that the Marketing/Programming committee is working on logos, POS system integration, merchandise display, a template for special events, shared ideas from other museums regarding social distancing, and readdressing a brochure once they have approval on branding/logo. Ms. Stephenson provided an update regarding a Historical Society meeting that she and Mr. Sullivan attended. Ms. Stephenson suggested that the Historical Society donate all of the items that they have in the gift store to the Museum. The Museum would then be able to sell those items for the Historical Society using the Civic Rec software that is already in use by the Parks and Recreation Department. This would be beneficial to the Historical Society as they would be able to earmark the money for events for the Museum. As well as removing the need to submit quarterly tax reports as the City is tax exempt. This would also allow customers to purchase the items with a credit/debit card. Mr. Sullivan reiterated the need and the benefits of using the Civic Rec software. Ms. Hollerbach also mentioned that during the Marketing/Programming Committee that it was discussed as to whether or not to create an education committee, which could include field trips, and children's activities. Ms. Stephenson agreed and stated that our new Museum Curatorial Assistant, Savannah Bitto-Poole is interested education and outreach. Mr. Sullivan informed the board that our future plans are to have Ms. Bitto-Poole arrange visiting schools to share information about the Museum to the children in order to potentially get parents to bring their children to the Museum. Mr. Sullivan also shared with the board that we have a new docent that has been hired and will begin in a couple of weeks. We will also be hiring another docent to replace Savannah Bitto- Poole due to her promotion. Mr. Carpenter asked what are the duties of a docent. Ms. Stephenson explained that docents greet and assist guests with research and provide any other information that is available. With the additional staff Ms. Stephenson is hoping to change the operational hours of the Museum to better serve the community. Ms. Hollerbach and Mr. Carpenter both asked if the Savannah Bitto-Poole Museum Curatorial Assistant and a Bea Martin, Docent will be available to attend the Collections meeting. Ms. Stephenson agreed that they could be in attendance and can assist in the Collections meetings. Ms. Hollerbach advised that they need connect with Buffy Beck, Museum Secretary to make sure that sub -committees get posted with meeting times so that we have something to report at our next meeting. Mayor Woodruff informed the board that the City Manager agreed with him that non -board members can serve on sub -committees. Mayor woodruff asked that the he be given the name(s) so that he can share this information with the Commission. Ms. Hollerbach will determine a regularly scheduled meeting date at the next Marketing/Programming committee meeting, that date is to be determined. Mr. Carpenter and Ms. Qualls agreed that the Collections committee will meet on the last Thursday of the month at the Museum. Ms. Baker: motion to adjourn, second by Mr. Carpenter. Meeting Adjourned: 5:45 PM R