The Money Pie Chart, with Amy Kaufman

06/25/24 • 51 min

How do new museums make money — really?

In this episode, we lift the veil on new museum projects and money. What is “the peril of the bicycle wheel”? Is it bad to rely on “anchor funding”? How many kinds of revenue should a new museum project have? What happens if you have the wrong number? (Hint: eh, not so good.) How much money do endowments make? And what’s so magical about thirds?

Amy Kaufman (Principal, Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “The Money Pie Chart”.

Along the way: Latin American Art curator jokes, coat-checking 200 motorcycle helmets at once, and a pharmaceutical metaphor Jonathan will never live down.

Talking Points:

1. Museums have to make money
2. Introducing the pie chart
3. Pac Man, peace signs, and anacins
4. The peril of the bicycle wheel
5. What happens when you don’t diversify
6. What’s next: Living wages and climate action

How to Listen:

Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:

Amy Kaufman (Principal, Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning) is an institutional planner with demonstrated success in strategy, business and facilities planning, branding, and operational implementation. She has successfully worked with organizations of all types and sizes, including museums, universities, parks, botanic gardens, visitor centers and heritage sites. She collaborates with government agencies, architects, developers, foundations, and institutional leaders to integrate a variety of goals and perspectives. She plans new institutions; and assesses performance and conducts qualitative and quantitative market research for existing organizations, integrating findings into strategic, operational and visitor experience plans. Previously, Amy was Managing Director at Lord Cultural Resources and Special Project Director at the Guggenheim.

About MtM:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning

https://www.akculturalplanning.com

MtM Show Contact:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Newsletter:
Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com

How do new museums make money — really?

Amy Kaufman (Principal, Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “The Money Pie Chart”.

Along the way: Latin American Art curator jokes, coat-checking 200 motorcycle helmets at once, and a pharmaceutical metaphor Jonathan will never live down.

Talking Points:

How to Listen:

https://www.akculturalplanning.com

Previous Episode

Circus Lessons for Museum Professionals, with Jennifer Lemmer Posey

What’s the role of wonder in experience design?

What can the circus teach us to make our exhibitions better? (Spoiler alert: a lot.) Could being “with it and for it” be the secret to success for museum projects? How much technology is too much? Can we really design for all five senses? Can an exhibition be a high-wire act — literally?

Jennifer Lemmer Posey (Tibbals Curator of Circus at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to teach some inspirational “Circus Lessons for Museum Professionals”.
Along the way: popcorn, a wall of clowns, and that special smell of elephants.

Talking Points:

1. Build a team that is “with it and for it”

2. Engage all of the senses

3. Technology shouldn’t steal the center ring

4. Wonder is in the details

5. Create opportunities for shared experiences

6. Design a space that can be ever-changing, never-changing

How to Listen:

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

As the Tibbals Curator of Circus at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Jennifer Lemmer Posey oversees the interpretation and care of objects and ephemera related to the history of circus. With more than twenty years of experience, Jennifer serves as a liaison to the international circus community and facilitates academic study of circus arts. A leading scholar in American circus history, her work has been included in numerous books, catalogs, and journals. Jennifer served as editor for Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society and was an Advisory Scholar in Circus Arts for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2017.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

About Jennifer:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferlemmerposey/
https://www.instagram.com/wonderfilled_curator/

About the Ringling:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/theringling
https://www.instagram.com/theringling/
https://www.facebook.com/TheRingling

From Point 1 - Building a team that is “with it and for it”:

Behind the scenes of the Howard Bros. Circus model - museum staff program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxntny_wC_M

Wagon Wheel installation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgF8__NDnJQ

From Point 2 - Engage all of the senses:

The Ringling
https://www.ringling.org

Wonder Symposium
https://www.ringling.org/wonder-symposium/

From Point 3 - Technology shouldn’t steal the center ring:

The Greatest Show On Earth Gallery at The Ringling
https://www.ringling.org/event/the-greatest-show-on-earth-gallery/

Manage This Podcast – My Project is a Three Ring Circus
https://www.velociteach.com/manage-this-podcast/my-project-is-a-three-ring-circus/

From Point 4 - Wonder is in the details:

Howard Tibbals & the Howard Bros. Circus Model
https://www.pbs.org/video/wedu-arts-plus-311-howard-tibbals/

Smithsonian Folkl...

Next Episode

Six Keys for Unlocking Your Most Playful, Creative Work, with Jonathan Goldstein and Kyle Talbott

Have we lost a sense of playfulness in our work ... and could we get it back?

In museums for children, why does “analog usually beat digital?” What’s a “climbing structure”? What are design metaphors, and why should planners beware of them? How can exhibition teams better empathize with one another’s fears and concerns? Why should a museum professional or designer “hyper-specialize”?

Jonathan Goldstein and Kyle Talbott (Principals, Skyhouse Studio) join host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Six Keys for Unlocking Your Most Playful, Creative Work.”

Along the way: ancient trees, vacuum tubes, and Easter eggs.

Talking Points:

1. Finish Every Sketch
2. Beware of Design Metaphors
3. Design as if You’re Going to Build It
4. Demonstrate Empathy Through Disruption
5. Analog Usually Beats Digital
6. Hyper-Specialize

How to Listen:

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bios:

As a child, Jonathan Goldstein accidentally built a 2-story treehouse surrounded by a thicket of poison ivy. Never deterred by a project’s audaciousness (or the limitations of his botanical knowledge), Jonathan designs climbing structures to conjure adventure and perceived risk—the stuff of childhood memories. Prior to his architectural studies, Jonathan’s earlier career as a junior high school history teacher prepared him for what would be his quest: To awaken people’s senses and engage their innate curiosities. His specialization in climbing structure design is born from a desire to make special places for families to share uncommon, joyous experiences. Jonathan is the founder and design principal of SKYHOUSE Studio.

Kyle Talbott is Design Principal at SKYHOUSE Studio. He is obsessed with designing complex three-dimensional labyrinths that challenge the mind and body. He uses cutting-edge parametric modeling software to sculpt weird, organic structures inspired by everything from a craggy mountainside to an osprey nest. Kyle sees the world as a complex, orderly whole, and his climber designs embody the harmony of natural and technological things. He is also a passionate educator who is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. In all his work, Kyle helps people cultivate a growth mindset and a heroic spirit through inquisitive play.

About MtM:

Show Links:

Skyhouse
https://skyhousestudio.org/
SKYHOUSE Studio is a service of the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus

Jonathan Goldstein
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-goldstein-49856b2a

Kyle Talbott
Email for Kyle: [email protected]
LinkedIn for Kyle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-talbott-9b17b325/

MtM Show Contact:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Newsletter:

Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email, three times a week, on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. (And the best way to find out first about new episodes of the podcast.)

Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com