FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS
Trustees Day 'Trustees Welcome'
September 15 2007
ROY SLADE
I welcome you with pleasure to the 2007 Florida Association of Museums. Today is Trustee day. The theme of the 2007 meeting is ‘making connections’ and focuses on collaborations. The most important connection and collaboration in any museum is between trustee and director.
As director emeritus of Cranbrook Art Museum and former director of the Corcoran, I believe that the director should direct and the trustees should trust. That seems simplistic nevertheless the role of the director is obviously that: ‘direction, decision and delegation’. The definition of direct is “to administer, manage, supervise, command’ and the director is “the person that directs, controls”.
The trustees are volunteers and, often, patrons. America is unique in the fact that museums came into being through patronage and volunteers; unheard of in my native Europe. Your role in the museum as trustee is critical as is your patronage. My board chairman put the role of the board simply as ‘give or get or get off’. However, the trustee does more than that by bringing in expertise, experience and knowledge from business, law, finance, medicine and other professions. Trustees offer objective oversight and invaluable support, yet must remember that trust is defined as”reliance on the integrity, strength and ability of a person” and, in the museum, that is the director.
If you go to a concert, you will expect the orchestra to be present and the conductor to be at the podium. You do not expect to come for a comptroller to be in the podium with a balance sheet? You anticipate the passion, experience and direction of the conductor. Within the museum, the director should direct, trustees should trust.
On Wednesday, I give the keynote address on “Why Museum's Matter”. Museums matter for many reasons: the most important is that museums educate and ennoble us and are bastions of culture and civilization. The collaboration between trustee and director is the essence for the vitality of any museum.
I certainly wish you well in your discussions and deliberations today. Thank you.
Roy Slade
Director Emeritus
Cranbrook Art Museum