National Museums and Social Relevance

As I have been reading Looking Reality in The Eye over the past couple of weeks I have been so interested in the way that different museums have approached the topic of social responsibility. It seems that museums rely on different criteria in defining what a socially relevant museum looks like depending on their location, content, and stakeholders.

I was very interested by the chapter “One National Museum’s Work to Develop a New Model of National Service: A Work in Progress” by Joanne DiCosimo. This chapter focuses on the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN) and its challenge of developing “a new model of national service” (p 59). This museum has such a unique definition of what it means to be socially responsible and relevant, and I think this stems from the fact that they see themselves mainly as a national museum. The CMN believes their mission should be inclusive of as many citizens as possible. It is so great to see how museums that don’t revolve around indigenous cultures or controversial ideas can also strive to be relevant in their communities. A lot of times I tend to think of socially responsible museums as institutions that are concerned with wrongdoings and errors of the past and how those can be overcome in the future, but this chapter has shown me that any museum, regardless of content, can work towards making a positive impact on their community.

I appreciate that DiCosimo outlines, in detail, the steps the museum has taken thus far to fulfill its social purpose and determine the unique role that CMN should play in the community. She summarizes their strategic planning sessions, community and institutional partnerships that were constructed, as well as the goals and steps to putting their strategic plan in action. I especially like that the museum conducted polls to determine what issues were important to Canadian citizens as it would be impossible to become relevant to a community without seeking their input.

One question that remains in my mind as the CMN continues to look forward and work towards implementing goals and strategies they identified in their strategic plan is how the government may influence their progress? Since the CMN receives federal funding, the government is a looming stakeholder that could derail plans to improve the museum’s social mission if they don’t agree with the steps being taken or feel that they don’t contribute to the ideals upheld by the government. I feel that the CMN needs to take further steps to communicate closely with the Canadian government and make sure they are on board with the strategic plan the museum has created.

The role of the government at the CMN makes me wonder how the CMN's obstacles to achieving social relevance may differ from that of a non-national museum, such as the East Side Tenement Museum discussed in the chapter “History is as History Does: the Evolution of a Mission-driven Museum”? Whatever the challenges I am happy to hear DiCosimo say that this is a work in progress and the work at the CMN is nowhere near done, it is just getting started.