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As a curator of palaeontology at the Royal Ontario Museum for 32 years, I had the best job in the world. What made it such a great place to work was the extensive collections of objects — objects from around the world throughout time. They range in age from the remote geological past, before life began, through the palaeontological period of fossils, and on through historical times to living organisms and human cultures, past and present.
The ROM was a cordial place to work and everyone got along well together, from curators and security guards to maintenance staff and technicians.
About half the curators worked on cultural objects, ranging from Egyptian mummies to European costumes. Many others studied animals, both living and extinct. It is through curatorial research, and the galleries curators help create, that visitors are attracted to the ROM.
When I retired, there were 52 curators, but this has plummeted to 16, according to a current online list of staff. Meanwhile, administrators have flourished. I only discovered this after a chance visit last fall. Seeing once-bustling labs and listening to distraught staff, I learned the director, with a background in art, was taking the museum in a new direction, negatively impacting curatorial endeavours. Significantly, since he took office, the heading “ART CULTURE NATURE” appears on the ROM website.
I’ve spent months documenting the facts. Among my significant findings is that the salaries of the senior administrators is equivalent to the starting salaries of 45 curators.
The ROM is a museum of natural history and culture, as defined in its mandate. The addition of art collections is incomprehensible. Would the addition of dinosaurs to the Art Gallery of Ontario make any sense? More information is available on my website, WorkingAtTheRom.com.
The more who know of the ROM problem, the greater the chances of change.
Chris McGowan
Aurora
