Q&A talks with Kathy Maher, executive director and curator for The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, about the unique challenges of marketing a closed museum.
Q: The museum, located in downtown Bridgeport, has been closed for a while. What happened and when will the museum open again?
A: Since the tornado hit on June 24, 2010, the historic portion of the museum has been closed. The building is structurally sound, but needs to be healthy before the general public can be allowed back inside. There was considerable heating, venting and cooling issues combined with poor air quality due to the large amount of moisture, dust and debris that came in when the two large glass windows broke during the storm. We are in the process of the delicate and careful restoration of the collection, which includes many textiles, items of furniture and documents. Obviously this work is slow and tedious, but must be done to preserve the historical nature of each artifact. We are projecting being open in about two years, but it will depend upon how our fundraising efforts materialize.
Q: What has the museum been doing to sustain interest in what was once a popular tourist attraction? How did you keep yourself on people’s minds when the front doors are locked?
A: Luckily, the museum never started behaving like a closed facility until January of 2011. With 2010 being P.T. Barnum’s Birthday year, we were insistent that “The Show Must Go On,” so all our programming and outreach continued using the newer People’s United Bank Gallery instead of the historic portion of the building. We never stopped marketing or sending e-blast reminders about the many outreach presentations done by our education team all around Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. Barnum’s “do or die” survival spirit has prevailed to the point where many of my colleagues have commented that “we are the busiest closed museum on the planet.” We have had numerous opportunities for the press to come in and see the packing, restoring process, and this news has spread back to the public. We received extraordinary coverage when we announced that Swanke Hayden Connell Architects would be handling the building restoration. They were the firm who completed the restoration of the Statue of Liberty.
Q: More importantly, how does a nonprofit museum like yours sustain interest from foundations and other donors? What have you been doing to make sure money sources don’t dry up? Those are key to your long-term sustainability.
A: From the very beginning of the disaster unfolding, our regular funders and grant sources were generous and many converted their normal operating gifts into special disaster relief funding. Organizations such as the Fairfield County Community Foundation and the People’s United Community Foundation have really shown support for the recovery efforts.
This situation also gives us the wonderful advantage of being able to re-create the interior of the museum completely. Everything in the museum had to be removed from their previous locations in order to be properly cleaned and stored until we re-open. We have invited scholars, civic leaders, designers and even asked the public to express their voices about what they want to see when we re-open. Our funding sources are delighted to be a part of the revitalization of this historic, iconic museum. In other words, this has been the ultimate “turning the lemons into lemonade.”
Q: In July, you turned to a Facebook page contest to generate interest in the museum. What was the thinking behind going to Facebook? Why does it make sense to do a campaign like this when people can’t go to the museum?
A: Barnum’s original museum opened in 1842, and Barnum has always been much more than his museum. He had numerous museums and vast entertainment enterprises that traveled around the United States and Europe. We are just following in the Barnum tradition by leaping into the social media and using it to spread the word about many interesting parts of the collection and the legacy of P.T. Barnum. This closing is just a moment in time in the 120 years since the original Barnum Museum opened. Losing a couple of years is so minor in the grand scheme of his history. Our use of social media with Facebook and Twitter began even before the tornado, and now it’s a bloodline for us. Linked to our home page www.barnum-museum.org, we have several virtual on-line exhibits showing some of the unique artifacts in our collection.
Q: How has response been to the social media marketing campaign? Would you recommend other tourist attractions like yours trying it?
A: The response has been local, regional and global, similar to Barnum’s influence on the world. We have had people participating in “The Hunt for P.T.” from Washington, D.C., to the state of Washington. Yes, I recommend every cultural institution should be using social media in some format to broaden their reach and education. What’s more, Facebook and Twitter users are having fun answering the trivia questions and learning more about Barnum’s heritage. This has given us an opportunity to get daily feedback and be able to listen to and educate our patrons.
Q: Any advice you can offer on rebounding from an act of nature like this? Is there anything you could have done differently beforehand?
A: Always have a disaster plan that allows for “no warning.” We did not know a tornado hit us until our front windows were gone and the collection compromised. Everyone should take their disaster plans more seriously and constantly update them as new resources and information become available.
