Speakers:
Dr. Lori Birrell
Associate University Librarian of Special Collections and Director of Museums
University of Delaware
Kurt Neugebauer
Associate Director of Administration and Exhibitions
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA)
University of Oregon
Shaking things up for this year’s Virtual Convening, AAMG brings you a Plenary Discussion at the start of our day together. Focused on academic museum and gallery finances. we will hear from two members: Dr. Lori Birrell, Associate University Librarian of Special Collections and Director of Museums at the University of Delaware, and Kurt Neugebauer, Associate Director of Administration and Exhibitions at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) at the University of Oregon. Together, Lori and Kurt will discuss methodologies and practices that keep their own institutional finances clear as well as open the conversation up for questions from the attendees for tips and tricks to aid you in your own positions. We know that many of us have varying levels of authority and access to our own budgets and we hope this conversation becomes a starting block to finding some commonalities and support from one another within our varying institutions.
You’ll hear from Lori about:
Managing part of a museum’s budget is not something most museum professionals are taught. Instead, they must develop these skills once they assume management roles. In this plenary presentation, Birrell will share key components of how to implement a set of budget management principles within different organizational contexts. These principles empower managers to take an active role in the budgeting process. Even those without a formal role or responsibilities for a budget, should have a foundational understanding of the who, what, when, where, why, and how associated with such a process to then be able to leverage that knowledge and secure support for their initiatives.
You’ll hear from Kurt about:
Within our arts management and professional roles, we have a shared passion that the arts are essential for individual well-being and human enrichment. Unfortunately, this is not always substantially supported in our current culture, workplace, or with upper administration at our respective college or university.
Financial resources are necessary for our programs and work. I welcome the opportunity to share what I have learned and perhaps help empower and offer tools that may aid my fellow colleagues to be strategic with proactive fiscal management–identifying and soliciting funding, creating budget plans and proposals, expenditure oversight and monitoring and more. I believe it’s up to us within our work to promote, develop, support and foster a sound financial operating plan for success.
Bios:
Dr. Lori Birrell is Associate University Librarian of Special Collections and Director of Museums at the University of Delaware. Birrell provides strategic leadership of the division and its stewardship of rare and unique collections to serve the needs of researchers at the University and around the world. Previously, she served as Associate Dean for Special Collections at the University of Arkansas. Birrell completed a Doctorate of Education at the University of Rochester, a Masters of Library and Information Science from Simmons University, a Masters in History from the University of Massachusetts- Amherst, and a BA from Mount Holyoke College.
Kurt Neugebauer is the university’s JSMA Budget Authority for the museum’s 4.5-million-dollar annual budget. He’s also the designated DGA (Department Grant Administrator). He develops and oversees the annual fiscal year budgets for the departments, exhibitions and special projects. Kurt’s been with the museum for almost 30 years. Previously he owned two successful small businesses while attending graduate school. He also worked as a financial bookkeeper during his undergraduate studies. Other professional development in the financial arena includes Academic Leadership Training at the Kellog School of Management Center, Chicago IL, Executive MBA Program audit coursework, University of Oregon, AAM Museum Management Committee seminar, Seattle WA. He has a master’s degree in art education and administration from the University of Oregon, and bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Humboldt State University. He foremost considers himself a designer and artist, and he continues with this passion. He has designed and renovated many areas of the museum and has designed close to a hundred exhibitions in his tenure at the JSMA. But shortly after the museum reopened in the early 2000s, after a major capital construction campaign and project that doubled the size of the museum, there was a museum leadership shake-up. He was asked, at the request of upper university administration, major donors and some trustees of the university to step up and take over the museum operations, which included having to deal with an annual operating deficit of over 300K. That’s when he reached out and made university connections with the Foundation, Advancement, the Provost Office, Business Affairs, Contracting and Purchasing, and HR—learning and developing relational support. He then had the tools to completely restructure the museums system of budgeting and financial stewardship in line with university policies and procedures. The systems he developed and put in place are still serving them successfully today.