Museos Unite reader Ann sent me this link today about museum directors in NYC living tax-free in museum-owned apartments--really, really nice apartments. (They are either at or near the museum, and are used for entertaining as well as housing the director, which is why the whole thing works.) People (not the government) seem to think that directors living in $5 million apartments is tad on the excessive side.
What do you think?
In the past, more employees than just the directors used to live at the museum. Check out this story from the Museum of Natural History’s blog.
Pretty cool that employees used to have the option to live at the museum if they were strapped for cash. Shame that the practice does not continue.
Or does it? More on that tomorrow…
Hmm, instead of a $5 million condo maybe they could go with a $4 million condo and fund A LOT of currently unpaid, unfed and unhoused interns.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently moving from Iowa to NYC to obtain my Masters in Museum Professions, the prospect of finding a position in my field that will allow me to survive in the city is looking grim. Interns often (at least from my experience) eat, sleep and breathe through their museum. It is a nice thought they might be allowed a bed roll in the basement of their institution.
@Pam - I like the way you think! Redistribution of funds is something we talked about earlier in the year that seemed to make people mad (well, people who believe that they will one day be the director reaping those benefits). At MU, we understand that a museum's workforce is made up of many parts, and you can't neglect everyone for the benefit of the head honcho... Unfortunately, many museums seem to do just that.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your master's degree! Please let us know how it is going for you, and update us on any comments from your classmates or profs about the state of the industry. The MU team is a couple of years out of grad school, and we would love to know how opinions in academia are shifting (if at all).
Oh yeah, and if you find any museums willing to let people sleep there (other than MSI in Chicago), we want to hear about it!