Economic Health of the Field graph from 2019 State of NYS Museums Report

Dear Colleagues, Members, and Supporters,

Like most of you, most of MANY’s plans for 2020 changed in ways we couldn’t imagine. One plan that didn’t change was the publication of our State of NYS Museums report that distributed data collected in 2019 from 206 museums of all disciplines, budget sizes, and geographic locations in New York. 

The report presented new information about New York museums and 

• fiscal health

• staff sizes and salaries 

• funding resources 

• facilities

• governance

• programs

• outreach

• school partnerships
  

We shared the report with legislators, funders, and members of the press to shine a new light on the ways in which museums were (or weren’t) well positioned to face the challenges of the pandemic and the awakening (for some) of the racial and gender biases in many of our museums.

We began work on the last survey with a call for questions. We are starting the process for our next survey by asking you to let us know what you want to know about the state of New York's museum field.

Some of the questions in the 2021 survey will duplicate those in 2019 so we can compare data. Others will reflect our past year’s shared experiences such as:

• How are museums using digital technologies to reach audiences that can’t visit in person?

• What strategies are museums using to stay financially viable? 

• How have staff structures changed with layoffs and work reassignments to accommodate drastically reduced revenues? and 

• How are museums creating room for the full range of human experience on their staff and in their galleries? 

Click here to submit a question for our survey panelists to consider including in the 2021 State of NYS Museums survey. We will collect questions through February 5 and launch the 2021 State of NYS Museums survey on March 19 to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Governor Cuomo’s NY on Pause Executive Order.  

With thanks, 

Erika Sanger, Executive Director