North Country museums innovate to outlast the pandemic

Last March, the Hyde Collection, a historic house museum in Glens Falls, closed to the public when the pandemic hit, along with virtually every museum in the state.

In August, the Hyde reopened with all the new features of the COVID era: plexiglass shields and markers for social distancing.

Signage in the lobby the The Hyde Collection explained how to get around the museum and use the smartphone information system. Photo courtesy: The Hyde Collection.
Signage in the lobby the The Hyde Collection explained how to get around the museum and use the smartphone information system. Photo courtesy: The Hyde Collection.

But capacity, said the museum's CEO, Norm Dascher, remained "very limited."

"We only allow two people at a time in 15 minute intervals, so we never had more than 20 people in the museum," Dascher said, noting the museum lost not only ticket revenue over the past year but also corporate sponsorships tied to exhibitions. Organizers had to cancel its biggest yearly fundraiser, a gala, in September.

Like museums throughout the North Country, the Hyde has struggled to sustain revenues that will allow it to survive until people can return in larger numbers to galleries and exhibitions.

Dascher said in December that he expected the museum would end the year with a budget shortfall of more than $500,000. To help close that gap, the Hyde will be closed to the public from January through May. 

"We are going to be open for the six busiest months of the year and closed for the six least busy months of the year," Dascher explained, and have furloughed staff, "in order to bring our expenses in line."

Cases in The Hyde Collection were spaced 6 feet apart and decals on the floor reminded visitors to stay physically distant from each other. Photo courtesy: The Hyde Collection.
Cases in The Hyde Collection were spaced 6 feet apart and decals on the floor reminded visitors to stay physically distant from each other. Photo courtesy: The Hyde Collection.

A survey of New York museums over the summer found 23% faced a "significant risk of […] closing permanently in the next 16 months" without more financial assistance. 30% weren't sure if they could survive.

The pandemic has presented such unprecedented challenges, the national Association of Art Museum Directors said in April that it would not sanction any museum that decided to put funds from normally restricted endowments or even the sale of art towards its operating budget. 

Dascher said that the the Hyde briefly considered but rapidly dismissed deaccessioning any objects from the collection.

Historic Saranac Lake at the Saranac Laboratory Museum, and The Frederic Remington Museum in Ogdensburg applied for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans through the federal stimulus to help retain staff.

Amy Catania, Executive Director of Historic Saranac Lake, said the museum also participated in a state work-share program. Besides the loss of revenue for museum admissions and tours for much of the last year, she said a tenant of the museum has been unable to pay rent.

The Remington's director, Lora Nadolski, said her institution also lost important sources of income with the cancellation of events. 

Fortunately, she noted, "Memberships and donations were steady with the previous year, demonstrating that our supporters wanted to help the museum even when they couldn't come visit."

Sharon Williams, director of the North Country Children's Museum in Potsdam said that PPP funds also helped her hold on to her educational staff when the museum closed in March.

Screen capture from a video created by The North Country Children's Museums about its safety procedures prior to its reopening in September.
Screen capture from a video created by The North Country Children's Museums about its safety procedures prior to its reopening in September.
"We started a YouTube channel, I think maybe the day after we closed," she said, with videos of science lessons and projects for kids to do at home.

Education staff also created craft kits for members to borrow. The museum has used them on site since reopening, with limited capacity, in September. Ultimately, Williams said, the institution's annual appeal for donations in November raised a record amount.

"I don't know, maybe people are feeling like they want to help out," she speculated, to sustain, "resources that are meaningful to them in the community."

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