HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.29attachment1.pdfMay 29, 2020
To the Board,
I am pleased to say that we will have a Board meeting on July 9 at 4:00 p.m., to be held in the Sawyer
Library. The main item for action is the January repatriation request from the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe.
More information will be forthcoming prior to the agenda, but I wanted to give everyone notice that we
will be meeting.
As it stands now, the Museum will reopen on Tuesday, June 9. While we have work to complete prior to
that day, everything is coming together. Of significance, the point of sale system is operational and the
inventory and entry of existing merchandise is close to completion. With this system, we will be able to
tell at a glance what has sold, as well as total admissions by age group and where visitors are from.
Overall, it will be a powerful tool to help enhance sales, and will provide an accurate understanding of
visitors and revenue. As part of the larger store refurbishment process, we continue to assess products
and how we might maximize presentation of merchandise in our small space. When other projects are
finished, staff will build uniform store furnishings that match the new desk.
Last week the collection staff put their collective heads together and came up with a new temporary
exhibition to fill the void created by rescheduling Titanic. The replacement is titled Museum Curiosities
and Their Stories. Artifacts are being selected so labels can be researched and written and artifacts
mounts fabricated. To encourage distancing, exhibition cases will be separately widely and there will not
be interactives. This exhibition remain up until the Star War toys exhibition opens.
The refurbishment of the temporary gallery continues and the painters start on Monday. Matt Reinke is
doing an excellent job coordinating the project. Once the gallery is done toward the end of June, Matt
will turn his time to the Carriage House cupola.
Greg Witthun is close to finishing the in-house infrastructure necessary for Titanic. These components
were in production when the decision was made to reschedule the exhibition to 2021, and I wanted him
to complete the project. The Museum has limited clean storage space for exhibition furniture, so we will
utilize half of the Lecture Room. The Museum has put a great deal of time and money into these pieces
and we want to keep them pristine.
Of note in regard to the wreck of Titanic, a U.S. District Judge recently ruled in favor of salvaging the
Marconi telegraph machine. The wreck is deteriorating at a rapid rate and that decision means this
important piece of equipment with its powerful story can be salvaged and preserved. The decision alters
a previous ruling that blocked any form of salvage from the wreck.
Finally, if you would like to watch Remember Our Honored Dead, the short Memorial Day presentation
created by the Museum and Oshkosh Media Services, here is the link.
https://youtu.be/nYNZ7w8zUHg
That ends the week and I hope you have a pleasant weekend.
Brad Larson