Texas is home to more than 900 local history museums. Whether housed in a historic structure or a state-of-the-art new building, each one is dedicated to telling the story of a community’s unique history. Collectively, they preserve the real places and the real things that tell the whole story of Texas.
The Museum Services Program enables small history museums to better carry out their missions by helping them to increase their capacity for meeting professional standards. We do this by providing the following services at no cost:
- Consultations
- Training
- Communication
- Resources
To be included in the THC Atlas, a history museum must exhibit and interpret objects and stories in a structure designed for public visitation, on a regular schedule at least 120 days per year.
Museum Services and the Field Services Alliance are conducting a survey to better understand how we can improve the services and resources we provide to museums and other cultural service organizations. Please take a few minutes (less than ten) to complete the survey and let us know how you currently use our services. Additionally, please let us know what training and resources you will find useful in the next two years.
Consultations
Program staff can provide free, individualized assistance and support to museums in any aspect of museum operations, including but not limited to:
Starting, planning, or reorganizing a museum- Writing mission statements
- Strategic planning
- Disaster preparedness and recovery
- Educational program development
- Exhibit planning and design
- Interpretation of collections
- Board development and relations
- Volunteer recruitment and training
- Special events
- Marketing and social media
- Collections care
- Security
- Fundraising
- Professional ethics
Training
Free Webinar: Incorporating AR/VR Technology Within Your Museum: A Behind the Scenes Look
Tuesday, July 30, 11:00 a.m. CT
Dani Marshall, Museum of Texas Tech University
Learn more and register now!
Workshop Series: Understanding Audiences and Visitors
July 9, 11, 15 and August 6, 8, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Various Locations
Learn more and register now!
Free Webinar: Insurance Basics for Historical Collections
Thursday, August 22, 10:00 a.m. CT
Joy Simpson, Higginbotham
Learn more and register now!
Free Webinar: Environmental Monitoring for Museums--The Basics
September 19, 10:00 a.m.
Stephanie Allen-Givens, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Learn more and register now!
Communications
Check out the "Highlights" and "What’s New" sections below for announcements and current news from Museums Services.
Program staff sends email notices on timely information about current trends, available resources, upcoming grant deadlines, training opportunities, and other types of assistance. To be added to this email list, contact program staff.
Resources
The Helpful Resources page provides a number of downloadable resource lists, articles, and other useful information for museums. All previous Museum Services Webinars are archived and available to view at any time. The Connect and Learn page provides links to trainings hosted by other organizations and services, as well as listings of museum professional organizations. Grants and Fundraising offers resources for grant-writing, fundraising ideas, and an extensive list of grant opportunities relevant to museums in Texas.
Highlights
Fast
Facts
165 million
The number of tourists museums attract annually
What's New
Workshop Series: Understanding Audiences and Visitors
Co-sponsored by the Texas Association of Museums (TAM), this series of one-day workshops, held across the state, will help participants learn how to collect visitor information, locate demographic research, identify overall demographic trends, and explore how to use that information to keep their museums relevant. These workshops will address ways to measure audiences, identify and target future audiences, and leverage free or low-cost resources for continual market scanning. Combining presentation with informal interaction, instructor Erin McClelland, an Austin-based independent museum specialist, will introduce participants to useful tools, including a simple spreadsheet design for tabulating data and audience profiles. Particularly appropriate for marketing and development staff, these workshops are designed for those responsible for interaction with visitors and audiences.
More About Workshop Series: Understanding Audiences and Visitors
Museum Free-For-All Conference
Please join us at the Lake Jackson Historical Museum on Monday, July 29 from 9:00 a.m.m to 3:00 p.m. for this one day, pay what you can, informal professional development conference for anyone from the museum, arts, and non-profit sectors. Come ready to ask questions, share ideas, and learn from colleagues and consultants. The summer meetings of the Brazoria County Museum Assliance and the Southeast Texas Museum Association will also be part of this conference.
Lunch and snacks provided. Contact programs@LJhistory.org for more details and to RSVP.
Publications
Forms
512.463.6427
