Menu
Bushwhacker museum assessed
By Colette Lefebvre-Davis
Nevada Daily Mail
A rainy day in Nevada did not deter Terry Ramsey, director of the Bushwhacker museum, and her visiting assessors from making the rounds.
Ramsey had been taking the two women around the community, speaking with various institutions that support the museum, in order to get the community's perspective. It's all part of a grant that the museum received two years ago, according to Ramsey, part of the Museum Assessment Program, which is titled under the American Association of Museums.
"It's the largest in the country." said Ann Billesbach of the Nebraska Historical society. Billesbach and her associate, Diane Kirby, the director of Fulton Mansion State Historic Site in Rockport, Texas, arrived in Nevada on Wednesday, to evaluate how the Bushwhacker Museum can better serve the public.
The Bushwhacker Museum received one of 120 map grants that were awarded across the nation, explained Billesbach. "So it's indicative of where they stand."
She praised the local museum and the historical society for seeking the grant -- not everyone took the trouble of doing so.
"You're lucky to have such dedicated people here," she told the Rotary Club Thursday.
The American Association of Museums services all types of museums, including history museums, zoos, natural history and science museums.
"The Museum Assessment Program is funded by the federal chapter of museum and library services who lend grants to institutions of all sizes, to fund social studies." explained Billesbach.
"So, museums can step back and see where they are in the evolutionary process," said Kirby.
Typically, the program sends out one or two surveyors to speak with the community, museum staff and community leaders about specific topic assessments. There are three main types of assessments, one is collections, the second is a general museum assessment and the third is a public demonstration assessment.
"The public demonstration assessment asks, 'Who is coming to the museum? Who isn't? How can we reach others? What are our strengths' with an emphasis with out of state and local," said Billesbach.
Ramsey has been working hard on this project.
"Our self-study included focus groups in the community, surveys of people and special tours," said Ramsey. "We were seeking input on where we are and what the next step is, in order to make ourselves more visible to the community."
Ramsey stated that they discovered only 24 percent of residents of Vernon County, including students, visit the museum, whereas 49 percent of the museum's tourists came from outside the state. "Why is it we don't have great local visitation? What can we do to better serve?" stated Ramsey. The grant paid for Billesbach and Kirby to assess the current situation. The women were nearly finished with their task on Friday morning and have six weeks after that to present their final report, which should include suggestions on how to make the museum more "visible."
"We have been very impressed with the exhibit quality. It indicates their desire to evolve," said Billesbach. The women met with Presiding Commissioner C. David Darnold, to discuss his views on the museum and how it could better service the local vicinity. The women expect "positive things" to grow out of this assessment, however they were not ready to discuss what exactly these things are going to be. Its a still evolving project to Ramsey who has been working for two years in this grant work. Perhaps, in six weeks, Vernon County will see some of the visible changes, until then, it's only speculation.