Historical Commission Agenda and Packet 2022 07 20

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LCiotyof Louisville Historical Museum Memorandum To: Historical Commission From: Bridget Bacon, Museum Services Supervisor Date: July 12, 2022 Re: Proposed revisions to the Museum's Collections Management Policy regarding exhibit space and conditions in other City buildings besides the Museum In 2016, the Museum staff developed a new Collections Management Policy that the Historical Commission reviewed and approved. Gigi Yang, who is the Museum Associate for Collections & Exhibits, and I have discussed how we would like to review and update the policy, now that it's six years later, and bring it to the Commission for approval again. However, we have identified a need for which we would like to propose a revision before we have a chance to review the entire policy. While we realize that it is preferable to not revise a policy simply based on new circumstances that arise, we also think that making a small revision now could provide the Museum with much greater flexibility in sharing Louisville history with the public for two upcoming exhibits to be in a location where the Museum has never had an exhibit before. At the time that the Collections Management Policy was written and adopted, it stated that items in the collection could be exhibited in other City buildings if they were locked in display cases. At that time, the Museum had never installed an exhibit in the Gallery on the first floor of the Library. That space mostly consists of wall space, much of which can be utilized at higher levels so as to keep items at a distance. Now, however, the Museum is planning two upcoming exhibits in the Gallery: the exhibit on "Louisville's Signs of the Times" for Louisville History Month in September and an exhibit about Louisville's journey through recovery from the Marshall Fire in January 2023. For both exhibits, the staff would like to exhibit contemporary items. For the "Sign" exhibit, these might include recent yard signs such as the one for the plastic bag tax. For the fire recovery exhibit, we could display some of the original signs of hope and resilience that came from the community itself and popped up in neighborhoods. We are proposing revisions that are shown below and that can be seen in context on page 8 of the attached Collections Management Policy. The revisions would allow a Museum exhibit of contemporary (less than 20 years of age) items in a City building such as the Library under certain conditions. Thank you for considering these proposed revisions.