ART • HIST OR Y • SCIENC E • SEUSS IN SPRINGFIEL D Strategic Plan • 2022-2024 5 MUSEUMS AND 1 SCULPTURE GARDEN
The Springfield Museums have been an impactful space for more than 160 years.
• created a new collections policy which emphasizes artists of color and the stories of contemporary Springfield;
• engaged with community and identity-based advisory groups to help ensure cultural competence as well as relevance;
Significantly, and perhaps uniquely, we have added “literacy” to our mission. The idea of literacy—mastering the building blocks for an expanded understanding of any given topic—is helping our Staff create exhibits and programs with interactive elements that increase skills while having fun. Thank you for looking together with the Museums at this strategic plan and helping us move the Museums forward for the benefit of all.
Philanthropy, generosity, and the desire to share beauty, ideas, and companionship have fortified the Museums, establishing the Quadrangle campus as a safe space to enjoy time together, to socialize, learn, play, and quietly contemplate.
• expanded our development team and our financial practices to help ensure financial sustainability.
In 2021, the Museums embarked on a strategic planning process to help ensure that we continue to offer our audiences what they want and what they need. Ongoing relevance is vital to the longevity of this institution.
This booklet outlines our new strategic plan with four overarching goals that will help the Museums build a Comprehensive Plan. This plan will guide our decisions and ensure a relevant, sustainable institution that is responsive to contemporary hopes and Importantly,needs. the Museums have
• embarked on a new branding initiative to emphasize that we are five dynamic, innovative museums plus one remarkable sculpture garden: 5 + 1 = FUN;
• augmented our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility initiatives across all aspects of the Museums;
As a tourist attraction, cultural anchor, and hub of literacy and STEM and STEAM learn ing, the Museums have a significant impact on the economy, social connection, and learning.
Goal 1 ExcellenceInternalandAlignment Goal 3 FinancialPlanning • Invest in inclusive, immersive, accessible design in all aspects of the Museums in partnership with community advisory groups • Invest in updating all Museums: Immersive, hands-on, accessible, refreshed • Invest in Staff: raising compensation levels and increasing professional development • Cross-functional teams to integrate the entire museum system to unified goals Goal 2 SustainabilityEconomic & RelationshipFinancialBuilding • Enable the goals of the Museums through financial investment • Grow the Development Office • Grow and nurture the relationships that will financially augment the Museums • Invest in the current infrastructure of the Museums • Leverage the current resources to meet the goals of Internal Excellence • Hone the financial plans to prioritize visitor-centric, inclusive, accessible Museums and Staff
Goal 4 Accessible,Inclusive,RelevantMuseums • Rebranding the Museums to reflect dynamic, interactive, accessible experiences • Building toward a Comprehensive Plan • Cross-departmental teams • Community engagement through advisory groups ComprehensivePlan for Ongoing Relevance
We are committed to partnering with Springfield to support our vibrant, culturally significant home that attracts and retains visitors, residents, businesses and educational organizations. We ensure that inclusion, equity, and access are represented in our collections, exhibitions and educational programs and among the board, staff and volunteers.
OUR MISSION
Springfield Museums promotes a boundless experience – we engage, inspire, connect and serve. We focus on creating people-centric experiences while respecting individuals from all backgrounds, identities and diverse life experiences. We embrace our roles of communicator, collaborator, convener and connector by sharing stories of individuals and communities past and present. We inspire creativity, experimentation and empathy with offerings that strengthen life-long learning informed by experiential and informal education. We strive to be a resilient organization by building talent, capacity and accountability in all areas of management and operations.
The Springfield Museums uses art, history, science and Dr. Seuss to explore our shared connections and unique perspectives to promote engagement, literacy and learning.
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES
OUR VISION Springfield Museums will be a leading cultural attraction with local and global appeal that draws audiences together in multi-generational learning. We will be known for inclusion, innovation and inter-disciplinary collaboration. As an anchor for our community, the Museums will advance knowledge by engaging diverse voices and perspectives.
Theforward.Strategic
Dorothy Chen-Courtin (lead), Maud Ayson, and Hilary Robbins
The plan calls for a period of strategic reflection or pause for the Board and Staff, to build an institutional culture of thinking, planning, and implementing as a group, across all museum functions and disciplines. Together, the Museums will consider what needs to be done or continued, what needs to be prioritized, and what needs to be eliminated or deferred. Then, come up with ways and means in inter-related discrete steps to maximize the collective power and benefits of “Five plus One,” the five museums plus the Dr. Seuss sculpture garden.
Over the recent decades, the Springfield Museums grew its capital assets exponentially, yet its operational budget and endowment/ trusts remain proportionally small. The Museums’ Board and Staff successfully achieved recognition as a cultural and educational destination for the City of Springfield and beyond. No mean feat, indeed.ThisStrategic/Business
The Museums have proven to be adaptable and resilient during two years of the pandemic. With these well-honed skills and ingrained can-do attitude, the Museums will give themselves the needed time to coalesce its collective thinking and re-define what growth direction it will take going Plan Consulting Team
Plan, developed for the period 20222024, with its four high-level strategic goals and associated set of objectives, accompanied by Board- and Staff-developed action plans is designed specifically to guide the Museums to its next growth phase.
