Week Two: Meetings Galore

       My second week at Glen Foerd offered me the opportunity to participate in several experiences of museum professionals. Tuesday morning I attended a meeting held in the dining room of Glen Foerd with a group of professionals from the Northeast section of Philadelphia interested in promoting the arts and culture of the area. This group of people forms the Northeast Philadelphia Coalition for Arts and Culture, a new organization composed of individuals from various cultural institutions in the area, including Glen Foerd, Ryerss Museum and Library, The Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center, and several others. Historically, Northeast Philadelphia has been stereotyped as non-diverse and lacking culture. Northeast Philadelphia Coalition for Arts and Culture was recently formed to unite arts and cultural organizations in the area to promote the arts and culture in the Northeast. The coalition is currently planning an event in April for possible funders, which will showcase many of these groups and generate interest. Attending this meeting allowed me to understand the importance of museums and historic sites being involved in their community, and the amount of planning and cooperation it takes to successfully establish a group like Northeast Philadelphia Coalition for Arts and Culture. Each member hopes that his or her participation in the coalition will both educate Philadelphians to the culture present in the Northeast and draw specific attention to their particular organization.

         On Wednesday Meg invited me to join her for a tour of the grounds and a conversation with Thaddeus Squire, Founder and Managing Director of CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia, and the Director of Management Services, Liz Sytsma. CultureWorks offers services to organizations of all sizes in the arts, heritage, and creative fields. For small or medium sized organizations like Glen Foerd, CultureWorks often provides Management Services; they “provide comprehensive financial management, fundraising support, grant writing, project management, board and leadership development, strategic and business planning, and marketing support, among other services.”  These services could prove helpful considering the type and amount of work that Meg hopes to complete at Glen Foerd.

       Meg led us from the statue of Little Ugly (a beloved dog!) on the waterfront to the boathouse, gardens, playhouse, water tower, and carriage house. She explained what each structure had been intended for through the MacAlaster, Foerderer, and Tonner families’ residences. Most of these structures are now used for storage, and Meg explained her vision for the future of each structure. For example, once cleaned out, Meg believes the carriage house could be home to a gift shop, small catering space/restaurant, and staff offices.

     After our walk around the grounds, Glen Foerd Board President Colleen Sharp joined the group as we settled on the sun porch for a conversation. Thaddeus Squire explained many of the services offered by CultureWorks that would apply to Glen Foerd’s needs and described similar projects they had completed. One issue discussed by Squire interested me in particular. Squire mentioned that the profit brought in by Glen Foerd’s use as a catering space, which totals about seventy-five percent of their annual profit, is a vital piece of maintaining the site. He voiced his opinion on one of the most frequent questions currently asked in the field of house museums: should museums host events that take little account of the museum’s mission? Squire says yes, that Glen Foerd must continue to generate this profit in order to move forward. After reading a few articles on the topic, and interning for three days at a house museum, when it comes to answering this question, I am still undecided.