The Fund for Arts and Culture 2009 Annual Report

Message fr oM our Ceo
2008 was a challenging year for The Fund. We provided a variety of
workshops to Russia and Ukraine, held our Fourth Annual Regional
Museum Directors Conference in Romania, and sent a consultant to
Azerbaijan to explore possibilities for Fund activity.
We made major efforts to find options for expanding The Fund’s
activities geographically. Our aim was, and still is, to find a way to
restructure this organization to one with a paid chief executive and
a new Board to broaden our mission. Our desire to widen our reach
is predicated on the proposition that our operating model has been
thoroughly tested. Over 100 senior executives have served in 21
countries where our services have been effective and welcomed; we
would like to offer these same services to countries in Latin America,
the Middle East, and East Asia. Present Fund activities will be folded
into this new larger international organization (The Culture Corps). In
the meantime, we are shortening our name to The Fund for Arts and
Culture to reflect wider interests.
We investigated whether there may be a useful and appropriate
role for our work in India and Indonesia and explored the possibility
of a strategic partnership with the Salzburg Global Seminars. We
solicited options for creating a business model for our proposed
Ice fishing in Kozmodemyansk, Russia
Culture Corps with a business consulting firm, and then more
extensively with the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Alas,
the financial markets collapsed in the months our proposal was finalized.
We also developed new programming options. One was a partnership proposed to us by the Museum
of Political History in St. Petersburg, Russia. At their suggestion, we recruited twelve distinguished U.S.
museum directors to meet with an equal number of Russian directors to explore the role of museums in
creating civic awareness. However, prior to our scheduled November meetings, the political climate in
Russia changed, and our Russian colleagues indicated they did not think it timely to discuss the topic
they had proposed with Americans.
Another new initiative involves a proposed partnership with one of the American Enterprise Funds to
undertake an in-depth evaluation of the cultural capacities in their country of operation. This could develop
into a three-year consulting program with some reimbursement for The Fund. I hope to be able to share
more about this program if it develops in the coming months. China may also be on our horizon.
My own brief October trip to Bucharest, Belgrade, Kiev, and St. Petersburg reconfirmed that requests for
our consultants in the coming year and for 2010 remain strong. Whether we will be able to fulfill these
requests depends, of course, on our funders. Although our overhead is minimal (our only paid staff is
part-time administrative support), our costs have risen. Our support has not. I don’t know what The Fund’s
future holds, but some of it can surely be determined by readers of this report who have generously made
our past work possible.

Jillian Poole

The Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe—2008 Annual Report 1

aZerBaIJaN
Baku, May 14-19

Consultant: In 2008, Jahangir Selimkhanov, Director of the Arts & Culture Program of the
Ward Mintz Open Society Institute (OSI) Assistance Foundation in Baku, contacted The Fund
about establishing “a partnership to transfer knowledge about best practices in
cultural management to the state bodies and NGOs throughout Azerbaijan.” The
Fund, in turn, asked Ward Mintz, Director of the Coby Foundation in New York, to visit
Baku, tour museums, meet with their directors, and establish whether The Fund could
be of assistance.
Azerbaijan is located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, and
thus has a rich cultural heritage; some Azerbaijani monuments have been submitted
for entry onto the UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea
to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the west and northwest, Armenia to the
southwest, and Iran to the south. It is an oil, natural gas, and mineral rich country,
and its main ethnic group is composed of Azerbaijanis.
Mr. Mintz coordinated his visit with the celebration of International Museum Day.
He visited several museums during his trip, and had the opportunity to meet with
many museum staff members to discuss their concerns. He was also able to view
exhibitions, participate in International Museum Day programs, and take part in an
international roundtable.
While at the State Museum of Art, Mr. Mintz met with its director, Dr. Israfil
Israfilov and deputy director, Ms. Gulyana Mammadova. They had a wide-ranging
conversation concerning the challenges facing their museum and other museums,
particularly those administered by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Dr. Israfilov
explained that most museums in Azerbaijan are under jurisdiction of the Ministry,
while a few are under the Academy of Sciences. There was a feeling that those
administered by the Ministry were set up to serve tourists, while those under the
Academy stressed “scientific investigation.” He explained that the Fine Arts Museum
had no money to do exhibitions, to put collections online, or to do research, while
experienced young scholars receive yearlong fellowships and complete major papers
at museums within the purview of The Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Israfilov also expressed concern with the state of museum studies in the
country. He explained that none of the Art Academy’s museum studies teachers have
museum experience, and students are not required to carry out internships in local
museums as a prerequisite for getting a degree.
Mr. Mintz also visited the offices of OSI with Mr. Selimkhanov and met with its
Executive Director, Dr. Farda Asadov. They discussed the fact that although museums
are experiencing diminished attendance, they are receiving more funds for new
buildings and additions to, or renovations of, existing ones.
While at the Carpet Museum, Mr. Mintz met Ms. Roya Taghiyeva, its director and
President of the Azerbaijani ICOM National Committee, and Mr. Fikret Babayev, Head
of Cultural Policy for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. They discussed the need for
management and marketing training. Ms. Taghiyeva echoed the feelings of Dr. Israfilov
about the need for more professional staff. Among the programs she thought would
be helpful were those on exhibition design and children’s programs, especially the
need to learn how to connect programs to curriculum.

2 The Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe—2008 Annual Report

On May 18th, Mr. Mintz participated in the first ever International Roundtable, We all here highly appreciated the

Museums in the 21st Century: Tasks and Perspectives, co-sponsored by the precious recommendations and notes
which Ward made during his visit to Baku,
Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the ICOM National Committee. Mr. Mintz gave
and especially those he expressed in his
a presentation entitled Museums and Visitors: Challenges for the 21st Century. His
thoroughly written report. Each of his rec-
talk focused on five issues: attracting audiences of different ages and backgrounds;
ommended points deserves a profound and
ensuring that visitors enjoy coming to the museum and are learning; making
steadily planned action.
collections accessible through a variety of means; having an effective mission
~ Jahangir Selimkhanov
statement that explains the purpose of the museum and the audience it serves; and
financial survival—developing strategies to find the money to operate effectively, pay
staff well, and assure the museum’s future.
Mr. Mintz also shared two American Association of Museum publications with the
attendees: Hein and Alexander’s Museums: Places of Learning and Cunningham’s
The Interpreter’s Training Manual For Museums. They generated great interest,
and Mr. Selimkhanov wondered whether it might be possible to translate these
publications into Azerbaijani or Russian and distribute them to museums in the
country. Mr. Mintz said he would explore doing so.
Several other speakers made presentations at the roundtable. Their concerns
included: the need to make museums more alive for visitors; the need for museums
to communicate national identity; the need for non-traditional solutions to the collective
problems of the museum community; the need for museum staff with different skills;
the problem of low salaries of museum guides; and whether or not schoolchildren learn
during their visits. One speaker suggested that museums should have one free day a
month to combat flagging attendance.
In late October, Ralph Appelbaum and his team traveled to Baku. They also met
with Roya Taghiyeva and discussed The Fund’s current programs and continued
interest in working with her museum. Mr. Appelbaum confirmed that there is much
work to be done with the Ministry, as museums in Azerbaijan rely on top-down
policies for every aspect of their operations. The focus is currently on architecture
and construction. Strategic institution building, interpretative planning, and the
visitor experience are an afterthought. He concluded that if the Ministry is to
become an effective agent for tourism development, change is necessary. How The
Fund responds to this reinvention of the government’s role in cultural development
will define our future in this region.
Recommendations for future Fund activity in the area are currently under discussion.


r oM aNIa
Bucharest, October 19-22

Consultants: The Fourth Annual Regional Museum Conference was held in Bucharest in late
Ralph Appelbaum October. This year’s topic, New Directions: Using Museum Assets in the 21st Century,
Nicholas Appelbaum
was designed to underscore that museums in the Balkan region have extraordinary
Jemima Fraser
Melanie Yae Ide
assets that they can use to build their communities and regions. The conference
Mark O’Neill explored ways to use these assets.
Marc Pachter
The Fund’s faculty included Ralph Appelbaum, Nicholas Appelbaum, and Melanie Ide
Jillian Poole
of Ralph Appelbaum Associates, New York; Marc Pachter, former Director of the National
Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Jemima Fraser, Director of the Royal Museum Project
at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh; and Mark O’Neill, Head of Arts and
Museums, Cultural and Leisure Services for the Glasgow City Council, Scotland.

I would like to thank you for making this
In addition to Fund faculty, the Ministry invited guest speakers, including Dr. Ioan
Opris from the National History Museum; Alexandru Iftimie and Razvan Lazar from the
conference possible as it became one of
the most fascinating experiences in my life
Grigore Antipa Natural History Museum; Dr. Laura Manolache of the George Enescu
so far. I do hope that we’ll cooperate in the National Museum; Viorel Rau, of the Vasile Grigore Painter and Collector Art Museum;
near or further future as I strongly believe Wim G. van der Weiden, President of the European Museum of the Year Award; and
that thus I shall enrich both my profes- Boris Micka, a renowned museum designer in Europe.
sional and personal lives.
The Fund is grateful to the Ministry of Culture for providing financial and logistical
~ Participant at the 4th Annual Regional support, and to Ralph Appelbaum, a long-time friend of The Fund, who contributed
Museum Conference in Bucharest toward the cost of the seminar.
Dr. Virgil S tefan Nitulescu, Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture and Religious
,
Affairs, began the conference with an overview of the issues facing the museums in
Romania, particularly those relating to achieving professional standards in the care of
collections, sustainable funding, and reaching new audiences.
Wim van der Weiden touched on the subject of reaching new audiences. Because
his job requires that he travel extensively to museums around Europe, he sees trends
as they begin to emerge. He noted that the newest, most important trend museums are
embracing is refocusing their collections to reflect the interests of the public rather than
that of their staff.
Ralph Appelbaum spoke eloquently about what he called the “Third Wave” of
museum development. He explained that the first wave was the establishment of
museums after the Victorian era, the second wave involved the modernization of
museums using new communication psychology and techniques, and the third wave
encompasses a more in-depth engagement with visitors and, above all, a commitment
to storytelling. He noted that building support from everyone who might be interested
in the project (visitors and non-visitors, politicians, the media, and local businesses) is
important to promote the feeling of shared ownership.
To further emphasize Mr. Appelbaum’s main talking points, Melanie Ide, a senior
executive at Ralph Appelbaum Associates, gave a detailed presentation of a case study
of a natural history museum in Texas. She described the detailed planning and project
management processes required to create a new vision for a museum which has depth
and resonance, and which can be sustained through the difficult process of raising
funds, securing community and political support, and delivering the project.
As Director of the Royal Museum Project in Edinburgh, Scotland, Dr. Jemima
Fraser is overseeing a 15-year project to reinvent the 150-year-old historical museum
in Edinburgh, link it with the New Museum of Glasgow, and present international
collections in a Scottish context. When Scotland opened its new Parliament in 1998,


there was a serious re-examination of what it means to be Scottish, and how various
identities can be reconciled. The master plan for the Royal Museum Project defines
the museums’ strategic objectives, and links them to wider societal policies, promotes
the use of resources for learning, and enhances the economic role of the museum
through tourism. During her presentation, she used her work to illustrate the role
and use of cultural assets in helping to create an inclusive national identity in a
changing political climate; the role of education and learning using cultural assets;
the creation of an overall master plan for a cultural site; exploration of funding
sources and priorities; and business planning and audience development.
Boris Micka, a leading museum designer in Europe, recounted his experience
of moving from Czechoslovakia and establishing the first modern museum design
company in Spain, at a time when Spain was struggling to put the consequences
of a long dictatorship behind it and build a new and dynamic future. He offered the
success of the museum sector in Spain, which is now one of the most vibrant in
Europe, as an inspiration to all. His presentation described a number of projects
and lessons he had learned as he explored the language of objects, architecture,
and design in museum storytelling.
Marc Pachter shared the lessons he learned as Director of the National Portrait
Gallery in Washington. He focused on the importance of creating spaces where
people feel welcome, where all the elements – the architecture, the colors of the Ralph Appelbaum in Bucharest
walls, the deployment of the objects – respond to people’s awareness of space and
their enjoyment of being in safe public spaces among strangers. This approach also
allows displays to direct attention to the objects and to raise questions about them
in simple and unobtrusive ways. He also emphasized the important contribution the
National Portrait Gallery makes to the economy in Washington, especially because it
helped launch the regeneration of its city district.
To illustrate how cultural institutions can reinvent and reinvigorate national identity,
Mark O’Neill recounted the rebirth of civic museums in Glasgow, Scotland. When the
economy collapsed in the 1960s, Glasgow became one of the poorest, most unhealthy,
and derelict cities in Europe. In the early 1980s, the city decided to reinvent itself as
a cultural tourist destination, and in 1983, the Burrell Collection, based on a collection
gifted to the city in 1944, opened. Glasgow was named European City of Culture shortly
thereafter and was able to successfully rebrand itself globally. The city continued to
build on its cultural assets, refurbishing old museums and creating new ones that
served local residents but also attracted tourists. As a result, much of the city’s
regeneration in the past twenty-five years has been driven by culture.
On the last day of the seminar, Dr. Ioan Opris, a leading figure in the preservation
of Romanian cultural heritage, discussed the preservation work that the National
History Museum has done on the historical landscapes at Capidava. Messrs. Lazar
and Iftimie gave an account of plans to modernize the Natural History Museum.
A recurring theme at the conference was the role of museum education
and learning, and its importance in reaching a wide variety of audiences. Nicholas
Appelbaum presented various criteria established for excellence in learning activities,
in which he demonstrated how the quality of the art gallery experience, especially for
younger people, depends not so much on money as on good pedagogy.


The relationship of cultural assets to the economy was also a recurring theme.
There was some reluctance to accept that a change of attitude is required in the
cultural sector to find shared objectives with agencies responsible for economic
regeneration and tourism. All the presentations emphasized that it is important for
museums and other cultural institutions to form partnerships with educational and
economic regeneration agencies (especially tourism) and to work on developing
shared agendas. It was continually emphasized that museums must work hard at
ensuring that local and national government policies and strategies include museums
as essential elements in a modern society.
On the final morning of the conference, Ralph Appelbaum summarized the
proceedings in some detail. He noted that the museum of the 21st century should
Bucharest seminar participants
be designed to engage the community. The visitor should be the object of attention,
and the programs should be socially relevant. A museum’s main goal, therefore,
should be to strengthen the community’s identity and to provide a tool to give form
The brainstorming and team work I to that identity. Because museums display objects in the context of a larger life story,
participated in at the Third Annual they have become agents of national branding and identity.
Museum Conference last year helped In summary, the faculty asked the participants to consider two questions
me construct an exhibition entitled “The
for their own activity: (1) What will you do? and (2) Whom do you need to involve to
Woman in Society”, which is currently
make changes?
on display at my museum in Bulgaria.

~ Participant of the 4th Annual Museum
Conference in Bucharest Future Plans
After the conference, Virgil Nitulescu, Marc Pachter, and Jillian Poole discussed
the future of these regional museum conferences. The Fund’s view is that the Fourth
Annual Regional Museum Conference in Bucharest brought to a close this series of
conferences in Romania. However, it was agreed these meetings provide valuable
exchanges and should be continued in another venue. Dr. Nitulescu had suggestions
on other locations and agreed to explore this matter with us.


THe russIaN feDeraTIoN
Kozmodemyansk and Kazan, March 10-16

Three-day museum management seminars were held in both Kozmodemyansk Consultants:
and Kazan in mid-March. The seminar in Kozmodemyansk was rescheduled from Deborah Edward
Jillian Poole
2007, and at the suggestion of the Russian Museum, the rescheduled seminar was
Sally Yerkovich
combined with a seminar requested by Kazan. Both seminars were led by Jillian
Poole, CEO of The Fund, and facilitated by Olga Reva, The Fund’s longtime translator
and colleague to whom we are deeply grateful. We were joined during our entire stay
by Tamara Yakoleva and Olga Bondar from the Russian State Museum.
Kozmodemyansk is a small, economically-depressed town on the Volga River
in the Mari El Republic, population 22,000 and shrinking. It has four small museums:
the art museum, an outdoor ethnographic museum, a 19th Century merchant’s house,
and the Humor Museum. These museums are almost entirely dependent upon three
months of tourist river traffic. During the seminar, Ms. Poole encouraged options for
serving local residents during the off-season, and had the impression some of these
ideas might be implemented.
Participants at seminar in Kozmodemyansk
The art museum gathered forty-five participants for the seminar representing ten
very different museums from the town and from communities in the Mari El Republic;
they were joined by nine participants from the museums of Nizhny Novgorod in the
neighboring Republic. The group was interested, involved, and completely engaged
for the three days. It was noteworthy that two of them had read The Fund publication
Managing for Money.
The seminar began with a representative of each institution describing their
museum, its most important accomplishment in the past year, and its three greatest
concerns for the future. These included funding, staff, equipment and storage
shortages, lack of audience, administrative challenges in dealing with “authorities,”
and acquisitions. Ms. Poole succeeded in addressing all topics.
The first topic focused on the importance of a mission statement. This led to
discussions of core competence and ways to attract people to their institutions. In the
days that followed, Ms. Poole distributed Fund consultant Barbara Charles’ checklist
for assessing exhibitions from the visitor perspective (which is on The Fund’s
website). Participants visited the local museums to evaluate them against the list, and
then created programs while bearing in mind the list’s criteria. They discussed ways
of promoting and marketing these projects. Merchandizing opportunities were also
developed and fundraising options explored, including techniques for implementation.
One lunch hour Jillian Poole and the Russian State Museum team visitors walked
out on the ice of the wide and gloriously glistening Volga River to explore ice fishing
and talk with the fishermen.
According to comments on the evaluation forms and those made to Russian
Museum colleagues, the participants were highly satisfied with the seminar results.
The Nizhny Novgorod team asked for a Fund seminar next year, and they were
assured that their request will have high priority.
Kazan is the capital of the Tartar Republic. Its language, Tartar, and customs are
deeply rooted in history. Its Kremlin is renowned. The city has some twenty museums
considered of importance as well as a number of smaller ones.
The seminar group was comprised of thirty staff members representing thirteen
different organizations—museums, art schools, music organizations, and a union
of schools—an unexpected selection since The Fund had been told it would be a


museum audience. It was clear almost from the outset that some held, and were
prepared to defend, convictions and management practices rooted in the middle of
the last century, while others were readily accepting of current best-practices. This
dichotomy produced some tension, but their diversity made for interesting, if not
always cohesive, discussions, particularly in the group-work sessions.
As they introduced themselves, Ms. Poole noted and listed areas of
greatest interest and concern. In many ways they shared concerns reflected
in Kozmodemyansk. And, once again, their introductions clearly indicated little
understanding of mission. Ms. Poole reviewed the concerns with the group,
prioritized them, and agreed to address issues raised. This changed the
original direction and schedule of the seminar program, which was designed
for public relations and marketing, although elements of the original outline
were incorporated.
Under the rubric of Building a Constituency for Your Institution, participants
were given group exercises on ways of enlisting volunteers for fundraising, public
Participants at seminar in Kozmodemyansk relations, merchandising, and marketing. They talked in depth about press relations,
merchandising, and marketing. The groups developed a variety of promotion ideas,
and were particularly intrigued by the possibilities of “viral marketing.” Again Ms.
Poole distributed Barbara Charles’ visitor assessment document, and they applied
it to their visit to the art museum. This produced rich discussion and perceptive
comments.
Review of the evaluation forms gave the seminar high marks—a couple of
participants were so candid they wanted assurance that their directors would
not see their comments!


Kostroma, September 29-October 2 Sally Yerkovich created a very
positive and constructive working environ-
The Kostroma Art Museum invited The Fund to present a workshop on museum ment. The sessions were inspiring and
marketing and fundraising to museum professionals in the Kostroma Oblast. engaging, leaving the participants highly
Sally Yerkovich, President of The Fund, and Deborah Edward, co-founder and past satisfied. In their evaluation forms the
Executive Director of the Austin Children’s Museum, led the seminar. They were overwhelming majority said they will be
hosted by Natalia Victorovna Pavlichkova, Director of the Kostroma Art Museum. able to use the knowledge obtained at the
seminar in their work.
Thirty-one participants represented nature preserves, art museums, museums
of regionalism, municipal museums, a museum of literature, and departments and ~ Director of the Department for the Art
Museums of Russia, Russia State
branches of the Kostroma Museum. Many had already been involved in some
Museum
marketing and fundraising on behalf of their institutions, and were interested in
learning how to engage audiences and donors in museum activities.
Ms. Yerkovich gave a presentation on The New Jersey Historical Society and
described how she ensured sustainability by attracting new audiences, diversifying
programs, creating new visitor-focused programs and exhibitions, and attracting
stronger funding support. Ms. Edward led a discussion about why people visit
museums and introduced the concept of using cross-community themes to inspire
programming and marketing. The participants divided into working groups to identify
programmatic themes that would inspire collaborative programs and joint marketing
projects. Their themes reflected the region, focusing upon the Oblast’s forests and
rivers, its unique crafts, and traditional ways of making a living there.
A slide show on the Austin Children’s Museum provoked discussion of visitor-
centered and collections-centered interpretation. The groups used their themes
to develop multi-faceted programs to attract specific audiences. They spent time
preparing presentations to the larger group by creating elaborate and lively graphic
representations of their programs and their marketing ideas.
These activities provided a basis for discussion and presentation about sources
of support. Ms. Yerkovich led a conversation about setting up development systems
by using examples of what to do and what not to do from her museum experiences,
while Ms. Edward gave examples of how to conduct focus groups and presented a
tool for creating a marketing plan. Both Fund consultants described various models
for board and community leadership. The participants were particularly interested
in the logistics of setting up a development office and organizing a systematic
development plan for their museums.
The seminar ended with group presentations. Each group identified how they
would approach marketing and fundraising differently as a result of what they had
learned. It became quickly evident that the participants had fully absorbed the central
themes of the seminar. One group had initially stated that they were interested in
attracting more people, more money, and more people with money to their museums.
At the conclusion of the seminar, this group said that now understood how to begin
a dialogue with their potential sponsors as well as systematic ways to make this
dialogue effective. A second group had stated that they wanted to become equal
partners with their sponsors; however, they realized that they can not just ask for
money, but that they need to do research on their potential donors’ interests and
patterns of support.
Final evaluations were unanimously positive. Individuals mentioned that they
especially appreciated working in teams. They praised the seminar for its organization


On July 8, Russia celebrated its brand and energy. When asked what other topics they might like to see addressed in future
new holiday, the “Day of Family, Love and seminars, they mentioned educational programs for children, museum merchandising,
Fidelity.” This day was chosen because interpretive design methods that go beyond guided tours, and how to build collections
July 8 honors the memory of two Murom
about contemporary history and art. Ms. Pavlichkova is eager to see participants
saints, Peter and Fevronia. Last year,
begin to work more independently, especially in terms of fund raising, and it appears
when we had the seminar in Murom with
they will do just that.
Honee Hess and Deborah Edward, we
discussed museum audience extension.
One of the explored ideas was making
Ulan-Ude, Russia, June 17-19
a better use of the cultural assets of the
city, including the relics of ancient Murom One three-day seminar was held in Ulan-Ude, the capital city of the Buryat Republic,
monasteries. So, it can be justly said that in mid-June. The seminar was led by Sally Yerkovich, President of The Fund, and
The Fund’s experts contributed to the ably facilitated by Olga Reva, The Fund’s longtime translator. The Art Museum
making of this new national tradition. It organized and hosted the seminar.
has already attracted a lot of public atten-
The Buryat Republic is located in Siberia east of Lake Baikal, the deepest
tion to Murom and will continue to bring a
great number of tourists, as well as new
freshwater lake in the world, and just north of Mongolia. Buryats, numbering some
audiences to museums, and this meets 350,000, are the largest indigenous group in Siberia and are of Mongolian descent.
our goal for the seminar in Murom. Traditionally, the region was agricultural, and while it still produces agricultural and
food products, it is also home to aircraft, machine-building, energy (coal and ore
~ Director of the Department for the
mining), and timber processing industries. Tourism is a growing part of the economy,
Art Museums of Russia, Russia State
and the Republic maintains a tourism website: www.baikaltravel.ru.
Museum
Prior to the seminar, Ms. Yerkovich visited the Ethnographic Museum and
Zoological Garden, a large open-air complex outside of Ulan-Ude, with serious
development plans for increased tourism in the area; the Buryat Historical Museum;
the Art Museum; the Ivolginsky Buddhist Monastery (Datsan) Center for Siberian
Buddhism; and the Buryat Theater.
As the thirty-one seminar participants introduced themselves, Ms. Yerkovich learned
how diverse the group was; many were from outside of Ulan-Ude. They represented
boards or departments of culture in small villages; literary, art, and regional museums;
a theater; and a library for the blind. A number of representatives from Ulan-Ude
museums also attended the seminar. Their concerns included the lack of cross-
museum cooperation, developing new audiences (especially young people), lack of
long-term planning, the stagnation of curators, the need to attract funding and media
attention, and the desire to develop traveling exhibitions and exhibition exchanges.
Ms. Yerkovich began the seminar by discussing the importance of effective mission
statements as a means to attract sponsors and define an institution’s unique contribution
to community life. Participants created mission statements for a museum of Old Believers,
an art museum, a ministry of culture, and a library for the visually impaired.
The first day of the seminar concluded with a dinner attended by the Minister and
Deputy Minister of Culture. The Minister of Culture expressed concern for
the well-being of the museums in Buryatia. She predicted that subsidies to cultural
institutions will be reduced in the near future and that organizations will have to apply
annually for support. She felt that this dramatic change will come about in spite of the
push to develop cultural tourism in the region. To create a magnet for future tourists
to the area, the Ministry is very interested in supporting efforts of the Ethnographic
Museum to develop their zoo park.


The focus of the seminar’s second day was upon audiences and visitors. Developing
programs targeted to new audiences produced lively discussion. The groups then visited
local institutions to assess their effectiveness for visitors. The day concluded with an
unforgettable evening visit to Lake Baikal.
After reports and discussions of the previous days’ museum visits, the final day of
the seminar focused upon developing support for cultural institutions, with further
discussions focused on various kinds of support—foundation, corporate/business
(partnerships, sponsorships and in-kind donations), and government—and how
to match an organization’s needs to its potential sources of support. The seminar
concluded with a presentation of letters the working groups wrote seeking flour for a
pancake festival from a pasta factory; support for a photo competition from a camera
manufacturer; help for the library for the visually impaired from an optics company; and
support for an exhibition on workers’ dynasties from the Ministry of Railroads.
Evaluations of the seminar were overwhelmingly positive and detailed. Some
requests were made to see more photos of other institutions and exhibitions, as well
as to have a variety of print materials available to consult. The Fund agreed to review
materials from the Ethnographic Museum and advise them on possible next steps in
their quest for support for their expanded zoological park/garden.

Sally Yerkovch at the Datsan in Ulan-Ude


St. Petersburg, October 30-November 1
Meetings were held in St. Petersburg to plan The Fund’s activities. Jillian Poole met
with representatives from the Russian State Museum to discuss programs for 2009
and 2010. Two regional seminars will be held in Russia, one in Barnaul in June and one
in Nizhny Novgorod in early Fall. The seminars will focus on marketing for art museums,
including audience development and fundraising. Marketing-focused seminars for art
museums will also be held in the towns of Yaroslavl and Kemerovo in 2010.
A seminar for regional museum directors will be held in St. Petersburg in June and
will include discussions and illustrations of ways art museums have adapted buildings
(particularly those not originally designed as art museums) through renovation and
reconstruction. The Fund was invited to send a speaker to cover this topic in a
substantial way.
At the State Historical Museum of Religion, Ms. Poole met with Boris Arakcheev.
The museum has a distinguished collection but one that requires a guide for the
entire experience. Among other things, the museum could use a major signage
project. A Fund consultation in that area might be welcome, and Ms. Poole will
explore the possibility.
The final meeting of the trip was held with Evgeny Artemov, Director of the Political
History Museum. He once again expressed gratitude for the work of The Fund’s
consultant, Barbara Charles, principal of museum design firm Staples & Charles, to
help them plan the renovation and expansion of the museum. Dr. Artemov and Ms.
Poole also discussed the cancelled Civic Consciousness Forum, a conference that was
to be held in November. It was to have been the first conference of its kind, and would
have brought together twenty-four senior museum people from Russia and America,
including representatives from the Hermitage, the State Historical Museum, and the Leo
Tolstoy Museum-Estate in Russia, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, National
Constitution Center, and the Detroit Institute of Art in the United States. Ms. Poole
reiterated The Fund’s commitment in helping the Political History Museum.

Yekaterinburg Visitors to Washington, D.C.
In late October, staff of the Yekaterinburg Philharmony/Ural Philharmonic Orchestra,
including Alla Petrova, Rustem Hasanov, Yaroslav Sartakov, and Elena Vadovskaya
came to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for a seminar on board
management and marketing headed by the Center’s Chairman, Michael Kaiser.
This trip came about as a result of The Fund seminar held in Yekaterinburg in 2007
conducted by Carole Wysocki, Chairman of the Education Programs of the National
Symphony Orchestra, and Michael Brewer, former Chairman of the Board of the
National Symphony. Ms. Wysocki hosted the group during their visit, and The Fund
introduced them to Erica Bondarev of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The group
expressed pleasure and gratitude for their American visit and the opportunity they
gained as a result of their contacts with The Fund.


serBIa
Belgrade, October 25-27

Three representatives from the Ministry of Culture in Serbia met with Jillian Poole Consultant:
to discuss the possibility of Fund activities. The Ministry expressed interest in a Jillian Poole
number of projects, including developing distinctive, regional festivals for towns and
communities, and developing a cultural route to encourage cooperation among small
towns. The Ministry is clearly enthusiastic about a Fund seminar, and Ms. Poole is
following up with them to plan one for March 2009. She also met with the Cultural
Attaché Susan Delja and Cultural Assistant Marija Bjelopetrovic at the U.S. Embassy,
both of whom expressed interest in supporting Serbian cultural activities of The Fund.

Typical building in Kozmodemyansk


uKraINe
Kiev, August 31-September 6

Consultants: Last year, The Fund received a request to assist museums in Ukraine with their
Ihor Poshyvailo communications, marketing, and fundraising efforts. To this end, The Fund organized
Catherine Schwoeffermann
a four-day seminar, Museum Exhibitions, Communications, and Public Outreach, which
Deborah Ziska
was led by Fund consultants Deborah Ziska, Chief of Press and Public Information
at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and Catherine Schwoeffermann,
Executive Director of The Stewart W. and Willma C. Hoyt Foundation in Binghamton,
New York. The seminar was hosted by Ihor Poshyvailo, Deputy Director of the Ivan
Honchar Museum, and Olha Krekoten, Cultural Affairs Assistant at the U.S. Embassy
in Kiev. Our thanks go to the Ivan Honchar Museum for hosting the seminar and the
U.S. Embassy for their support in making the seminar possible.
Forty participants attended the seminar, including 38 Ukrainian directors and senior
staff primarily from art, ethnographic, and history museums in Kiev and the surrounding
suburbs. Two women, one from Ukraine and one from The Netherlands, represented
the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine.
After welcoming remarks from museum director Petro Honchar, Ms. Krekoten gave
a brief history of Fund seminars in Ukraine and explained the mission of The Fund and
the goals of the seminar. Seminar organizers had requested a short presentation on
Traditional Ukrainian celebration in Kiev trends in U.S. museums in the 21st century, which Ms. Ziska gave. Her presentation
emphasized rising attendance, community outreach, interactivity, family programs, the
use of communications technology, and branding.
Ms. Schwoeffermann’s presentation focused on exhibition planning, development,
and interpretation, especially how to integrate issues of cultural equity, respect, and
acceptance. She explained how she creates exhibitions that are interdisciplinary and
experiential while emphasizing the power of story.

The seminar was a great success. We By highlighting four major exhibitions and related education and public programs,
Ms. Schwoeffermann illustrated how exhibitions could be effective without being
had over 40 participants who enjoyed four
days of intellectual communication. Deborah expensive, as well as many other considerations, such as positioning of objects to
Ziska and Catherine Schwoeffermann were show similarities, creating vistas to draw people forward, and various ways to tell the
fabulous. We consider it to be the best of all objects’ stories.
the Fund seminars we’ve held in Kiev. We
The primary topics of Ms. Ziska’s presentation were the elements of a promotional
are all very grateful to you for your endless
campaign for an exhibition. She also showed the participants how they could utilize
energy, activity and wisdom.
social media for promotion. Actual examples of branding that targeted young adults
~ Deputy Director of the Ivan Honchar
were presented from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Hirshhorn
Museum, Kiev, Ukraine
Museum of Modern Art in Washington, D.C. Flyers, bookmarks, and postcards and
their avenues of distribution to target audiences were presented as effective, low-
budget ways to promote exhibitions.
During the seminar, the participants were divided into four working groups, an
idea that was initially met with some skepticism. At Ms. Schwoeffermann’s suggestion,
each group was assigned to one of four exhibits, and they were asked to spend
one hour visiting or touring them accompanied by presenters and consultants. They
were encouraged to assign people in their group to lead, record, and produce the
presentation, as well as to consider multimedia, such as Web sites and white board
illustrations, or actual examples of objects. It was apparent that they continued to do
research and communicate overnight; all four groups made creative use of multimedia.
In addition to resourcefulness, creative problem-solving, and respect for each
member’s contribution, each group demonstrated that they thoroughly understood


the presentations and assignments. Overall the presentations were enthusiastic,
thought-provoking, and professional. Ms. Honchar was so impressed with one group’s
reconceptualization of an exhibit that she asked the group to advise the museum on
an upcoming exhibition.
At the request of the participants, the end of each day was devoted to an open-
question forum with Ms. Ziska. Subjects ranged from how exhibitions are developed
and their timelines to standards of security.

Future Activities
To plan for The Fund’s 2009 activities, Jillian Poole spent two days in Kiev at the
end of October. She met with Courtney Austrian, Cultural Attaché at the U.S.
Embassy, and Ihor Poshyvailo, Director of the Ivan Honchar Museum. It was decided
that another seminar will be planned for Kiev in Fall 2009. The topic will be Audience
Development and Support (Fundraising). Jillian Poole chatting with hosts at
reception in Kiev
Ms. Poole visited the Museum of Book and Book Printing of Ukraine. Their director,
Valentina Bochkovska, is passionately interested in the restoration of books and
is eager to attract funding to reproduce them for distribution to libraries. Instead,
Ms. Poole suggested that Ms. Bochkovska develop the museum’s excellent story,
currently on their website, into a DVD format for distribution to schools, libraries,
and other museums. She noted that their story explains the history of the books and
illustrations in ways far beyond the original small black and white manuscripts she
was eager to reproduce. Ms. Poole also suggested she explore the possibility of
entering the project into The U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.
Ms. Poole’s final meeting was with Halyna Soroka, Director of the National Museum
of Ukraine Literature. The museum covers the history of Ukrainian literature from
its origins to the present. Though there are many challenges facing the museum/
historical society, the museum offers a plethora of well-attended activities, and their
exhibits are well done and interesting. Ms. Poole is pursuing the idea of holding a
seminar at the museum, which would give the director and her institution some of the
recognition they both deserve.


2009/10 sCHeDuleD fuND aCTIvITIes
(as of 1/26/09)

Museum Audience Development;
March 24-27 Belgrade, Serbia
programming and advocacy

June 24-26 Barnaul, Russia Meeting the Challenges in Art Museums

June or later St. Petersburg, Russia Annual Regional Directors Conference

September/October Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Museum Education Opportunities

September Kiev, Ukraine Audience Development/Fundraising

2010 Yaroslavl, Russia TBD

2010 Kemerovo, Russia TBD

The Fund is also exploring the potential of additional seminars in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and possibly China within the next two years.

Working group presentation in Kostroma


our CoMMuNICaTIoNs

In 2008, The Fund introduced a quarterly e-newsletter, FundLink, to keep friends, Your presentations were excellent and

consultants, past seminar and conference participants, and donors updated on Fund informative and the first informal response
from the Ministry was one of satisfaction
activities. Monika Jansen, FundLink’s editor, includes brief overviews of seminars and
as expressed by many attendees through
conferences, a list of upcoming events, and other editorials that may be of interest
an informal poll taken during our last lunch
to our readers. FundLink is published in February, May, August, and November. To
together.
subscribe to FundLink, please email Ms. Jansen at editor@fundlink.org.
In our busy lives it’s easy to forget the plea-
Our website, www.fundforartsandculture.org, is kept updated by Monika Jansen sures of sharing ideas and time with our
and Charles Turner, who regularly post photos, reports, and announcements from The international counterparts. The community
Fund. Visitors can review trip reports and pictures from consultation assignments as of museum professionals shares a special
well as outlines from related presentations. It is also possible to download the complete bond and duty and it is encouraging to see
texts of two of The Fund’s publications: Managing for Money, available in English, it flourish with such passion to do good and
Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Romanian, Serbian, and Albanian; and get things right in far away places.
Writing Effective Grant Proposals, which is posted in English, Russian and Serbian. Thanks again for your hard word, brilliant
thoughts and friendly spirits.

~ Ralph Appelbaum addressing the
faculty following the 4th Annual Museum
Conference in Bucharest

Kozmodemyansk on the Volga River


THe fuND’s PeoPle

Officers, members of the Board of Advisors, and Consultants for The Fund contribute
their services without compensation.

Officers

Paul H. Elicker has been Chairman of The Fund since 1997. His background
is in private industry and more recently in government-oriented service. He was
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SCM Corporation, a $3.4 billion Fortune 500
conglomerate company. He was Executive Director of The Center for Privatization,
the first and largest consulting firm devoted exclusively to privatization work in about
eighty countries, and has personally participated in assignments in about thirty
countries. By Presidential appointment, he is a member of the Board of Directors of
the Baltic American Enterprise Fund, which is responsible for U.S. foreign aid to small
and medium-sized private enterprises in the Baltic countries.
Jillian H. Poole is CEO of The Fund, which she founded. She has a wide background
in institutional development for museum and performing arts organizations, government
liaison, and nonprofit management, including public relations and fundraising. For
nineteen years she was responsible for planning and executing the development
programs of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, America’s National
Cultural Center, a responsibility that ultimately included its partner The National
Symphony Orchestra. Prior to that, she held a similar position at the Corcoran Gallery
of Art in Washington, D.C. She was also Adjunct Professor of Arts Management in the
graduate school of the American University for sixteen years. She has been retained as
consultant to a variety of cultural organizations. Trusteeships included The North Carolina
School for the Arts, The National Building Museum, the Acting Company and the Erick
Hawkins Dance Company. She currently serves on the Board of the Amadeus Concerts.
Sally Yerkovich is President of The Fund. She has over twenty-five years of leadership
experience in high profile American institutions including the National Endowment for the
Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, New Jersey Historical Society, South Street
Seaport Museum, and Museum for African Art. She has been a volunteer with The Fund
for over twelve years.
Frank S. Johnson, Jr. is Corporate Secretary of The Fund. He has served as top public
relations executive to some of the nation’s best-known corporate, government, and
not-for-profit organizations, including NASA, the U.S. Postal Service, USIA, the Chicago
Board of Trade, General Dynamics, Revlon and others. He is also a former President of
the Revlon Foundation, and served as assistant to the President of the Solomon R. and
the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundations. He was also a member of the Board
of Directors of the Acting Company and The Virginia Opera.
David F. Graling, CPA, has been Treasurer of The Fund since its inception. He is a
Managing Partner of Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman.


Governing Board It’s clear after every conference that

Marc Breslaw is Executive Director of the U.S. Association for the United Nations High the ongoing success of The Fund’s work

Commissioner for Refugees. Prior to this, he was Chief Operating Officer of the New is a blend of interpersonal, international
Israel Fund, and Associate Museum Director at the United States Holocaust Memorial dialogue coupled with high level profes-
Museum. sional informational exchange.
Stephen A. Brown has an extensive 34-year career in international theatre, opera, ~ Ralph Appelbaum following the 4th Annual
and ballet management, which has included the Opera Company of Boston, the Royal Museum Conference in Bucharest
National Theatre of Great Britain, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. After
18 years as Stage Manager for the Metropolitan Opera, he was appointed Company
Manager in 1997.
Karen Franklin is a guest curator at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living
Memorial to the Holocaust in New York, serves on the AAM/ICOM board, and is Co-Chair
of the Board of Governors of Jewishgen. She is a past Chair of the Council of American
Jewish Museums.
Lyndel King has been Director and Chief Curator at the Frederick R.Weisman Art
Museum at the University of Minnesota since 1981.
Patrick Sears has been in the museum profession since 1973. He is currently Chief
Operating Officer of the Rubin Art Museum in New York City. Previously he was on the
staff of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,
ending his 20-year career there as Associate Director.
Robert Workman is Executive Director of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in
Bentonville, Arkansas. Prior to this, he was Deputy Director at the Amon Carter Museum
in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Rena Zurofsky is a consultant specializing in museum management and planning,
as well as non-profit business development. Her clients have included art, history, and
natural history museums, and historical sites throughout the eastern seaboard.

Senior Advisors
Robin Berrington, former Deputy Director of President Bill Clinton’s Committee
on the Arts and Humanities and Cultural Attaché to the Court of St. James in London,
retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 1999. During his 32-year career, much of it
spent in Japan, he was awarded the U.S. government’s Meritorious Honor award and
the Superior Honor.
Harold Burson is Founding Chairman of Burson-Marsteller. Burson-Marsteller is the
world’s largest communications counseling firm.
Martis Davis, a past Fund consultant, has an extensive background in public
affairs, public policy, marketing communications, crisis management, branding,
and advertising. His experience includes senior positions in public relations at the
Washington Post, AT&T, Burson-Marsteller, New York City’s Health and Hospitals
Corporation, the AARP, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at HHS
during the Clinton administration.


Ralph Appelbaum’s team was Robert W. Duemling served as President and Director of the National Building Museum
excellent and their presentations were in Washington, D.C. He currently serves on the Board of the Society of Architectural
memorable. They shared knowledge in Historians, and is a lecturer in architectural history at Washington College in Chestertown,
their particular fields, which was beneficial.
Maryland. He is a former member of The Trustee’s Council of the National Gallery of Art.

Not less significant was learning about Jay A. Levenson has been the Director of the International Program at The Museum of
the cultural revival in Scotland. The local Modern Art in New York since 1996. Prior to that, he was Deputy Director for Program
Administration at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, also in New York.
communities’ support of the museums was

essential for their economic recovery, and Senator Richard G. Lugar is Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.
I argue that this is equally important for the

transition of our countries. Virgil Nitulescu is the Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs in
Bucharest. He also served as Secretary of State at the Ministry, and as a senior counselor
Conference in Bucharest with the Committee on Culture, Arts, and Mass Media of the House of Deputies, where he
drafted or amended legislation related to the audiovisual and cultural sectors.
Marc Pachter is former Director of the National Portrait Gallery. From 1985 to 1990, he
was Senior Cultural Advisor to the United States Information Agency. Dr. Pachter is an
historian author and editor.
Blair A. Ruble is Director of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies of the
Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. He also serves as Program Director for
Comparative Urban Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
Jane Safer has held senior positions at the New York City Department of Cultural
Affairs and the New York Hall of Science. As a consultant, she has worked with the
Andrei Sakharov Museum in Moscow, the Kunstkammer in St. Petersburg, the National
Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and the Arts and Business
Council, New York City.
John C. Whitehead is past Chairman of AEA Investors Inc. and a former Deputy
Secretary of State. He currently serves on the following boards: Chairman of the
Goldman Sachs Foundation, Co-Chairman of the Greater New York Councils of the Boy
Scouts, the Nature Conservancy, the East-West Institute, and the Eisenhower Exchange
Fellowships. In late 2001, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of the Lower
Manhattan Development Corporation, the organization responsible for the rebuilding and
revitalization of Lower Manhattan. He is also former Chairman of the World Trade Center
Memorial Foundation.

Consultants Who Served in 2008
Nick Appelbaum is an education specialist and historian at Ralph Appelbaum Associates
in New York. He is currently involved in planning Africa’s first Presidential Library in
Nigeria, and he supports other RAA projects in content development, writing, and
strategic positioning.
Ralph Appelbaum is President of Ralph Appelbaum Associates, a New York City-
based firm that plans, designs and produces museum exhibitions, visitor centers, and
educational environments, including the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Corning
Museum of Glass, and the Rose Center for Earth and Space of the American Museum of
Natural History.
Deborah Edward was Founder of the Austin Children’s Museum, which she led for
sixteen years. She was Executive Director of Greenlights for NonProfit Success, providing


consulting, education and resources for nonprofits of all kinds. In 2006 she took a lead
role in launching Psychology Without Borders, an international nonprofit alleviating
suffering caused by disasters.
Jemima Fraser is Project Director of the Royal Museum Project at the National Museum
of Scotland in Edinburgh. The project, of which she was a key developer, will incorporate
the Royal Museum and Museum of Scotland into one site and oversee the complete
renovation of the 150-year-old Royal Museum. Previously, Ms. Fraser was Head of
Education at both the National Museums of Scotland and Glasgow Museums.
Melanie Yae Ide has been a planner, designer and project director for over 18 years
at Ralph Appelbaum Associates in New York.
Ward Mintz is Executive Director of The Coby Foundation in New York City. He was
Deputy Director for Programs and Collections at The Newark Museum, responsible
for curatorial, education and collections-related activities, including the exhibition
program. Prior to that he was Assistant Director of Programs of The Jewish Museum
in New York City.
Mark O’Neill is Head of Arts and Museums, Cultural and Leisure Services for the
Glasgow City Council in Scotland. He was previously Head of Glasgow Museums. He
originated the concept for and established the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life
and Art, one of only four museums of religion in the world. For the past twelve years,
he worked on the Heritage Lottery-funded redisplay of the collection of Kelvingrove Art
Gallery and Museum, which is the most visited museum in Britain outside of London. Annunciation Cathedral in Kazan

Marc Pachter. See biography in “Senior Advisors” section.
Jillian Poole. See biography in “Officers” section.
Ihor Poshyvailo, Deputy Director of the Ivan Honchar Museum in Kiev, is a scholar and
researcher in arts and crafts and has published numerous articles and several books.
Catherine Schwoeffermann is Executive Director of the Stewart W. and Willma C.
Hoyt Foundation in Binghamton, New York. She was previously Curator and Program
Director at the Roberson Museum, also in Binghamton. Ms. Schwoeffermann has
served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Association
of Museums, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and the New York State
Council on the Arts.
Sally Yerkovich. See biography in “Officers” section.
Deborah Ziska is Chief of Press and Public Information at the National Gallery of Art in
Washington, D.C. She has thirty-seven years experience in communications, marketing,
public affairs and management.


Consultants Who Have Served in Prior Years
James C. Armstrong was a Principal in the management-consulting firm Armstrong/
Stelzer in New York City.
Hubert Bari, an independent museum consultant. Works include the Neanderthal
Museum and the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Exhibit in Glasgow.
Paxton Barnes, an exhibit designer with recent projects at the Tyler Arboretum, Bronx Zoo
and New York Botanical Garden.
Guillermo Barrios, former National Director of Museums, National Council of Culture in
Venezuela.
Graham Beal, Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts. He has held directorships at the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art and Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.
James M. Bradburne, a British-Canadian architect and designer and museum specialist,
has designed World Fair pavilions, science centers and international art exhibitions. He is
Director General of the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence.
Michael Brewer was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Symphony
Orchestra for five years and has been a member of the board since 1994. He also sits on
Working group putting together their project
the boards of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas in Arlington, VA, the Joyce Foundation
in Kostroma in Chicago, and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C.
Teresia Bush was Senior Educator, Department of Public Programs at the Smithsonian’s
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
Stefano Carboni is Curator and Administrator of the Department of Islamic Art at The
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Kathleen Charla, a Russian language scholar and a communications expert, has
consulted for various Russian cultural institutions. She ran her own advertising/marketing
firm and was named Detroit Adwoman of the Year in 1991.
Barbara Fahs Charles is Managing Partner of Staples & Charles, Ltd., a museum
interpretative planning and design firm in Alexandria, Virginia. Recent projects include
the reinstallation of the permanent galleries of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Patricia Ciraulo was Deputy Director for External Relations, Russian National
Orchestra, Moscow.
Andrzej Choldzunski, an award-winning Polish architect and teacher of architecture
currently residing in France.
Ruth Ann Coggeshall was Chief Development Officer of the National Gallery of Art in
Washington D.C. She is now an independent consultant.
Martis Davis. See biography in “Senior Advisors” section.
Louise Douglas is the General Manager of the Audience and Program Division at the
National Museum of Australia, Canberra, the major institution charged with researching,
collecting, preserving and exhibiting historical material
of the Australian nation.
Jacqueline Duke has been Deputy Director at the Museum of International Folk Art in
New Mexico since 2000.
Paul Elicker. See biography in “Officers” section.


Stephen Feber has twenty-seven years of experience in the leisure and tourism Conferences of this size and scope
sectors with a particular focus on visitor attractions, urban regeneration, heritage are crucial as they stimulate our creativity

and project inception, development, and operations. He has worked as consultant, and, most importantly, remind us why we
have chosen this path, a path in a former
development director, and chief executive for museums, National Trust properties,
communist country where mentalities (not
and interactive centers.
society) change at an amazingly slow pace.
Miguel Fernández Félix, Director of the National Museum of Viceroyalty in Mexico City.
He was Mexico’s cultural attaché to UNESCO and followed this assignment with the Conference in Bucharest
directorship of the Dolores Olmedo Patiño Museum.
Barbara Franco is Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum
Commission. Prior to this she was President and CEO of The Historical Society and the
City Museum of Washington, D.C. She has wide experience in promoting community
history and heritage tourism.
Karen Franklin. See biography in “Governing Board” section.
James H. E. Finke was President and Chief Operating Officer of Commodore
International, Ltd., and Vice President of European Operations for Data General.
Patrick Gallagher, President and Founder of Gallagher & Associates, a leading
professional design firm that creates exhibits for public and private sector museums,
visitor centers, and natural science centers. Clients include the Gettysburg National
Military Park, Oceans Hall at the Smithsonian Institution, and the International Spy
Museum in Washington, D.C.
Anton Ginzburg, Partner in the design firm Studio RADIA. In 2004, he created a
collection of products for Cooper-Hewitt and the National Design Museum.
Jessica Glass, a video producer, editor, technical director, audio-visual installation
consultant and technician, and film/video projectionist with the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in New York.
Elaine Heumann Gurian is a consultant/advisor to a number of museums and visitor
centers that are beginning, building or reinventing themselves. Clients include the
Nassau County, New York Parks and Recreation Service, the Museum of the City of
London, the National Children’s Museum, Washington D.C., and The National Museum
of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
Wayne Harvey is Comptroller for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He is a former CFO
of several nonprofits including EastWest Institute, Big Apple Circus, Orbis International
and Center for Reproductive Rights.
Kenneth Haas* was Managing Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Honee A. Hess is Director of Education at the Worcester (Massachusetts) Art Museum.
Jonathan Hess, AIA, is Executive Vice President of Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf
Architects in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Hess’ work has included museum design
expansions, including the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Children’s Museum in
Indianapolis.
Michalann Hobson is an arts management consultant with extensive experience with
theatres and theatrical programs.
Virginia Hubbell is President of Virginia Hubbell Associates. She serves as Executive
Director of The Mental Insight Foundation in Sonoma, California, and Grants Program
Consultant to the Louis R. Lurie Foundation in San Francisco, California.
*deceased


Aldona Jonaitis has been the Director of the University of Alaska Museum since 1993.
Robert C. Jones is President and Executive Director of Opera Pacific. He has extensive
background in museum and arts management.
Jerold Kappel is Director, External Affairs, at Opera Pacific. He was Director of
Development at the American Association of Museums in Washington, D.C.
Brian Lacey, former Director of the Museums of Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Gilbert Levine conducts worldwide. In 1986, Sir Gilbert Levine became the first American
to head a major orchestra in the East Bloc when he was appointed Artistic Director and
Principal Conductor of the Krakow Philharmonic.
Seminar in Kozmodemyansk
Sharon Litwin is Senior Vice President, External Affairs of the Louisiana Philharmonic
Orchestra. She was formerly Assistant Director of the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Elaine M. Lomenzo was Managing Director of the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema.
Laura Longley was Director of Communications at the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She is now an independent consultant.
Sandra Lorimer, an independent museum consultant from Ontario, Canada, specializes
in the communication and management aspects of museum exhibition development.
Peter Lyman, University Librarian for the University of California, Berkeley.
Jack McAuliffe founded Engaged Audiences LLC as an executive coaching service
to help orchestra leadership teams develop the strategies, infrastructures, and skills
necessary to retain engaged audience members. He is the former Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer, American Symphony Orchestra League.
Christine M. Miles is Director of the Albany Institute of History & Art. Prior to that she
worked at six museums, and has served as President of both the Museum Association
and the Gallery Association of New York State.
Ann Mintz has twenty-five years of museum management experience. She has served
as Director of the Berkshire Museum, and CEO of the Chester County Historical Society.
Amy Módly is the former International Liaison/Special Projects Director of the Cultural
Office of the Deputy Mayor of Budapest.
Valerie Morris is Dean of the College of Charleston, S.C. School of the Arts.
Klaus Müller is a museum and web consultant, independent filmmaker, and European
Program Coordinator for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. Dr.
Müller is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Pamela Myers is Director of the Asheville Art Museum in North Carolina. Prior to that
she was Director of Exhibitions, Guggenheim Museum, which included responsibility for
exhibition and public programming at New York City, Venice and Bilbao sites.
Susan Nichols is the Lunder Education Chair at the Smithsonian American Art
Museum. She was the founding director of Save Outdoor Sculpture! Heritage
Preservation, an award-winning national cultural program to inventory all public
sculpture in the United States.
Barbara Niemczyk was Director of St. Petersburg 2003 for CEC International. She
has taught literature, culture and film of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in
several U.S. universities.


Jane D. Norman was Exhibits Conservator for the Freer Gallery of Art and the The most interesting presentations for me

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, museums of Asian art of the Smithsonian Institution, were Marc Pachter’s, because it was gen-
eral, practical, offered many things to learn,
Washington, D.C.
and corresponded to my personal field of
Gary Osland is Principal of Osland Design Associates, Inc., New York City. interest and research; Ralph Appelbaum’s

Jack Pascarosa was formerly with Ralph Appelbaum Associates. for his final conclusions; Mark O’Neill’s and
Jem Frazer’s for their case studies and
M. Drake Patten is Executive Director of The Steel Yard in Providence, Rhode Island, good examples of strategies and tools for
and was formerly with the Millay Colony for the Arts in Columbia County, New York. museum development, and Nick Appel-

Elisa Phelps was the Director of Collections and the Curator of Anthropology at the baum’s, who analyzed strong and weak
points of educational trends at museums.
Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas.
The conference was very inspiring and
Jill Emery Phillips was Director of International Visitor Programs at the United States
made me realize the need for changes at
Information Agency.
my own museum. It also left me feeling
Charles R. Ritcheson was Vice Provost and Dean of Libraries of the University of enthusiastic about the process of develop-
Southern California, and former U.S. Cultural Attaché in London. ment and the future of museums.

Julius Rudel was General Director and Principal Conductor of the New York City I hope to follow up with some of the people
Opera for twenty-two years, and now conducts worldwide. I met in Bucharest. We have already
discussed the possibility of exchanging ex-
Jane Safer. See biography in “Senior Advisors” section. hibitions in the near future with colleagues
Lady Sainsbury was Prima Ballerina of the Royal Ballet. She is a teacher and coach at from Moldova.
the School of the Royal Ballet and the Ballet Rambert. ~ Participant of the 4th Annual Museum
Conference in Bucharest
Lord Sainsbury, former Chairman of Sainsbury’s Ltd., former Chairman of the Board
of the Royal Opera and Ballet, and a member of the board of the National Gallery,
London, and of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
A.N. Scallion, former Director of the Corporate Support Program for IBM.
Sheldon Schwartz was Executive Director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
Patrick Sears. See biography in “Officers” section.
Mary Delle Seltzer, former Director of Corporate Advertising and Cultural Sponsorships
for AT&T, and former Director of the Oklahoma Art Center.
George Stuart Sexton, III, Principal, George Sexton Associates, a Washington, D.C.
consulting firm in architecture and museum services.
Ken Shifrin has been Principal Trombonist of the City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra and the Radio Stuttgart Orchestra, and Associate Principal with the Israel
Philharmonic.
Kathy Dwyer Southern is President and CEO of the National Children’s Museum in
Washington, D.C. She serves on the Boards of the American Association of Museums,
and the International Committee on Museums, U.S.
Julian Spaulding was former Director of the Glasgow Museums and Galleries with
overall responsibility for ten venues for the Museum.
Chris Stager, Principal of CR Stager, a marketing and audience development firm. He
has consulted with The Cleveland Orchestra, The Boston Pops, Houston Grand Opera
and many symphony orchestras around the U.S.
Robert Staples is Design Partner of Staples & Charles, Ltd., a museum interpretative
planning and design firm in Alexandria, Virginia.


Cathy Card Sterling, an independent consultant, served as Director of Corporate
and Foundation Relations with The Phillips Collection and Administrative Officer and
Exhibitions Manager with The Corcoran Gallery of Art, both in Washington, D.C.
Gary Sturm is Chair of the Division of Music, Sports and Entertainment at the National
Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution, and is responsible for its
diverse collection of 5,000 musical instruments.
Martin Sullivan, is Director of the National Portrait Gallery, and was Chief Executive
Officer of Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland, an outdoor museum of history and
archaeology in Maryland. He was Chairman of the U.S. Advisory Committee for the
UNESCO Convention on Cultural Property.
Sonnet Takahisa is Director of Education at the National September 11 Memorial &
Museum at the World Trade Center. For 10 years she was Founding Co-Director of the
New York City Museum School. She worked at the Boston Children’s Museum, Seattle
Art Museum, and Brooklyn Museum, and has over thirty years of experience in museums
and school reform.
Lawrence Tamburri, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Wendy Tiffin, former Director of sponsorship for the Southbank Complex in London.
Allen Townsend, Chief Librarian at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
Formerly he was the Arcadia Director of Library and Archives at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art.
Linda Vadász is the former Executive Director of Arts Worcester in Massachusetts. She
founded the Friends of the Budapest Fine Arts Museum, the first museum volunteer group
in Hungary.
James Weaver was Curator of Cultural History at the National Museum of American
History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Mr. Weaver is especially noted
for creating public programs that expand the reach of individual exhibits to include concert
performances, lectures, recordings, and radio and television broadcasts.
Albert K. Webster, an arts consultant and former Managing Director and Executive Vice
President of the New York Philharmonic.
Peter Wexler, Principal of Peter Wexler, Inc., which produces programs for organizations
including the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic and the Smithsonian
Institution.
Carole J. Wysocki is the Director of the National Symphony Orchestra Education
Program, and a senior staff member of the Education Department of the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts. During her twenty-five year tenure at the Kennedy Center,
Ms. Wysocki has built the NSO Education Program into a vibrant force to further classical
music education for young people.
David Young is the graduate research professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance
at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. For more than 15 years, he was the
Producing Director of the American College Theater Festival (ACTF) at the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.
Rena Zurofsky. See biography in “Governing Board” section.


THe fuND sTaff

Hugh Southern, Program Director
Hugh Southern, a graduate of King’s College, Cambridge (UK) has had a long and
varied career in arts management. After working for Robert Whitehead and Elia
Kazan in the original Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center, and for Kurt Herbert Adler
at the San Francisco Opera, Mr. Southern was the founding Executive Director of the
Theatre Development Fund in New York City in 1968. For The Fund he established
the TKTS half-price tickets booth in Duffy Square in 1974. In 1982 he was appointed
by President Ronald Reagan to the position of Deputy Chairman for Programs at
the National Endowment for the Arts, where he also served as Acting Chairman until
1989. Mr. Southern has served on a number of nonprofit boards, and as a consultant
to many arts organizations.
Nancy Robinette, Executive Assistant
Nancy Robinette is part-time assistant to The Fund. She is also a long-time
professional actress, having appeared in shows on Washington, D.C. stages for over
twenty-five years. She first worked with Jillian Poole in the development office of the
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as Manager of their Corporate Fund.
Monika Jansen, Editor
Monika Jansen is a freelance marketing writer and consultant. She joined The Fund
in 2002 as Jillian Poole’s executive assistant. Since 2003, she has been editing
the consultant, semi-annual, and annual reports, overseeing website content,
and managing communications. Prior to joining The Fund, Ms. Jansen worked in
marketing and public relations.

The Officers of The Fund are also grateful to Officers and Advisors who served in
earlier years:
Madeleine K. Albright, Raymond J. Batla, Jr., Grant Beglarian*, Charles C. Bergman,
Livingston Biddle*, Alexander Brody, John L. Callahan, Jean-Claude Carriere, Milton
Cerny, C. Mathews Dick, Jr., Milos Forman, Andre H. Friedman, Leo-Ferdinand Graf
Henckel von Donnersmarck, Heyward Isham, Robert C. Jones, Bradford Kelleher*,
Roger Kennedy, Martin Klingenberg, Charlotta Kotik, Robert Lantz*, Gilbert Levine,
Wendy W. Luers, Garrett Mitchell, Garrick Ohlsson, Senator Claiborne Pell*, Lorin
Maazel, Julius Rudel, Peter Shaffer, The Honorable Leonard L. Silverstein, Martin
Sullivan, and Alexander C. Tomlinson.
*deceased

On the Volga River


The Fund for Arts and Culture 2009 Annual Report

The Fund for Arts and Culture 2009 Annual Report

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (6)

Similar to The Fund for Arts and Culture 2009 Annual Report

Similar to The Fund for Arts and Culture 2009 Annual Report (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The Fund for Arts and Culture 2009 Annual Report