TORCH CLUB of the FOX VALLEY
M i n u t e s
8 January 2009
Atlas Coffee Mill & Café
Present: Jim Baumbach, Al Button, Marcia & David Debbink, Barb & Bill Kelly, Jan Mirenda Smith & Scott Valitchka, Bob Swain, Peter Thiel, Donna & Len Weis, Janet Wullner-Faiss Cloak
Guests: Wayne Defferding
PRESIDENT Barb Kelly called the meeting to order at 6:38 PM and introduced Peter Thiel’s guest, Wayne Defferding.
MINUTES of 12 December 2008 were approved as written.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
| Assests Ending December 11, 2008: | $2,418.84 |
| Income December: | None |
| Expenses IATC dues: | $ 495.00 |
| Total Assets January 8, 2009: | $1,923.84 |
| Convention Registrations — in the bank. | $8000.00 |
CONVENTION 2009: Since Travis was not present, no report. per se. Atlas Coffee Mill & Café is booked for a Board Meeting the night before the Convention begins. "Favors" were discussed. Len suggested the DVD, Rivertime. A paper item favor for the Paxton Dinner? Location for that dinner is still undecided. David asked about the budget for "mementos." $15 per person for the Attendees' Packets. Barb stressed the need to get the Convention plans firmed up.
Marcia "will be away for awhile." She will have total hip replacement on 26 January, in Sheboygan. We wished her the best of outcomes and a speedy recovery.
We adjourned for dinner at 6:55, followed by Christine Cross's paper: Relevance & Sustainability in the Museum Field. Barb accepted a motion and vote to encourage Christine to enter her paper for publication in The TORCH.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Wullner-Faiss Cloak
Museums and Authenticity
by Christine Cross
Presented to TORCH January 8, 2009
Authenticity often takes a back seat to entertainment and sensationalism in museums, especially today, as the museum field struggles to survive, our purpose is often forgotten as we are forced to focus on our chase for the discretionary dollar. The purpose of the museum field is to own, care for, and interpret original materials. That is what makes a museum unique. This paper argues that museums in America are beginning to lose their way as they radically change their focus to visitor experience and leave authenticity and care of artifacts behind, treating the very heart of the field as if it were only a secondary mission. Using recent surveys, reports and published articles, the paper explores what authenticity means and its importance to an institution’s credibility, relevance and sustainability. Museums must find a balance between visitor experience and collections care. The power of the real artifact can’t be forgotten or underestimated; it is the one thing that differentiates museums from all other enterprises, it is what makes us unique in a world of growing uniformity.