2019-2021 FAIC Strategic Plan

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 1 (to be written when plan is complete)

Mission Statement (Approved 28 April 2016)

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 To elevate the vital role of cultural heritage conservation by applying its expertise to urgent global preservation initiatives while empowering conservation professionals, motivating collecting institutions, and engaging the public.

Mission Statement [Revision suggested by DHN]

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 3 To advance the conservation of our shared cultural heritage by applying research and expertise to urgent preservation initiatives. Our work empowers conservation professionals, strengthens cultural institutions, and engages stakeholders, including public audiences, as we work together to protect cultural heritage for humanity.

Core Values (Approved 12 November 2015)

Honoring Cultural Heritage

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 1 FAIC promotes the preservation of cultural heritage as a means toward a deeper understanding of our shared humanity—the need to express ourselves through achievement in all disciplines. We honor these achievements by preserving them for current and future generations.

Honoring Cultural Heritage [revision suggested by DHN]

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 FAIC promotes the preservation of cultural heritage as a means toward a deeper understanding of our shared humanity.

Equity and Inclusion [addition suggested by DHN]

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 1 FAIC seeks, values, and embraces diverse backgrounds, experience, and perspectives.

Advancement of the Field

¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 FAIC promotes advancement of expert knowledge of the materials and technologies of material culture and mastery of the strategies necessary for their conservation and preservation. We promote the understanding of the values and contexts of cultural heritage and stress informed decision-making in conservation. We are dedicated to service in the field, research, sharing knowledge, and continued education.

Advancement of the Field [revision suggested by DHN]

¶ 8 Leave a comment on paragraph 8 0 FAIC promotes advancement of expert knowledge and skills centered on the examination, documentation, analysis, treatment, and preventive care of cultural heritage. We promote understanding of the values and contexts of cultural heritage and stress informed and shared decision-making.

Partnership and Community Engagement [addition suggested by DHN]

¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 1 FAIC creates and sustains private and public partnerships that enrich and advance the preservation of cultural heritage.

Building Operational Strength and Sustainability

¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 2 FAIC embraces sustained, strategic management of our organization, reflecting our responsibilities to conservators, allied professions, partners, the public, and our cultural heritage preservation mission. FAIC supports and enhances the goals of AIC, and in turn builds on the achievements of AIC and its members.

Situation Analysis

¶ 11 Leave a comment on paragraph 11 0 The following observations, trends, developments, and indicators are drawn from strategic planning discussions based on the AIC and FAIC boards’ experiences and interactions with allied professionals and members, as well as recent events and activities. They serve to describe key considerations that are likely to influence FAIC’s direction and success over the next three years.

The Economy and Support for Conservation

¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 1 • Political and economic realities indicate decreased support for funding the arts and culture in future years. This along with the uncertain economic environment will continue to adversely affect conservation practice in all settings.

¶ 13 Leave a comment on paragraph 13 0 • Growing numbers of conservators and collection care professionals and shifting opportunities or priorities in institutions have led to more conservators entering private practice, thus more training in business, administrative, and marketing skills will be needed.

¶ 14 Leave a comment on paragraph 14 1 • A limited universe of private foundations support conservation education, research, and practice, and they will continue to adjust their priorities and giving patterns based upon their individual areas of interest.

Need and Demand for Conservation Services

¶ 15 Leave a comment on paragraph 15 0 • The need and demand for conservation services will continue to outstrip financial resources available to support the delivery of these services.

¶ 16 Leave a comment on paragraph 16 0 • The growing and changing impact of emerging technologies and expectations for instant access to information will continue be an important consideration for conservators, their clients, the institutions they serve, and the public-at-large.

¶ 17 Leave a comment on paragraph 17 0 • University-based degree-granting programs in conservation continue to be in demand and are responsive to emerging disciplines.

¶ 18 Leave a comment on paragraph 18 0 • Additional education and training are needed for collection care professionals.

Awareness

¶ 19 Leave a comment on paragraph 19 0 • Awareness and appreciation of conservation, and its role in keeping collections accessible as core resources, is lacking among many leaders of art, science, and humanities institutions.

¶ 20 Leave a comment on paragraph 20 0 • A perception by the general public that conservation practice is limited to major art museums is only beginning to change.

¶ 21 Leave a comment on paragraph 21 0 • Public awareness of conservation is gradually expanding, in part due to increasingly informed coverage by the press and a greater use of technology and social media showing conservation activities in labs, public spaces, and archaeological sites.

¶ 22 Leave a comment on paragraph 22 0 • Major international and national political and military conflicts that have destroyed, and even specifically targeted, cultural heritage are increasing awareness of the fragility of cultural heritage and the need for protection and preservation.

¶ 23 Leave a comment on paragraph 23 0 • Natural disasters occurring with more intensity and frequency are affecting personal and private collections as well as public collections and are increasing public awareness of cultural heritage emergency response efforts.

Internal Factors

¶ 24 Leave a comment on paragraph 24 0 • Conservators in many specialty areas characterize the profession as having made many advances (principally as the result of the application of new and emerging technologies), but also claim that the profession suffers from a sense of disparity between institutional and private conservators.

¶ 25 Leave a comment on paragraph 25 0 • The conservation profession lacks the diversity mandatory to ensure multiple cultural perspectives and inclusive decision-making.

¶ 26 Leave a comment on paragraph 26 0 • Conservation departments are contributing actively to public outreach and audience development without a commensurate increase in staff levels, while opportunities to advance research and scholarship are minimized.

¶ 27 Leave a comment on paragraph 27 0 • There is a recognized need among conservators for a cross-disciplinary approach and recognition of the importance of expanding relationships with allied professionals.

¶ 28 Leave a comment on paragraph 28 0 • An awareness of the community-based and interdisciplinary nature of conservation today is increasing, along with the need to have buy-in from many different stakeholders.

¶ 29 Leave a comment on paragraph 29 0 • Climate change and concern over the loss of both national and cultural heritage highlights the need for collaborations with environmental conservation.

¶ 30 Leave a comment on paragraph 30 0 • While the Foundation has operated for more than forty years, its operations, purposes, and priorities are not particularly well understood in the conservation community, even within the ranks of AIC.

¶ 31 Leave a comment on paragraph 31 0 Next section: Goals & Strategies >>

Page 3

Comments

1 Comment on the whole Page

Peter September 24, 2018 at 1:43 pm

I agree with all of Debbie’s suggested changes.

Reply to Peter

1 Comment on paragraph 1

ecommerce March 15, 2024 at 11:06 pm

Comment awaiting moderation

0 Comments on paragraph 2

3 Comments on paragraph 3

Annelien September 11, 2018 at 9:54 pm

I think this is too narrow – I don’t think we are only talking about urgent preservation initiatives, but also about making the general public and donors more aware of conservation.

Reply to Annelien
1. Suzanne Davis September 25, 2018 at 4:41 pm
  
  I agree – I think we could put a period after “our shared cultural heritage.”
  
  I also agree with Debbie about the use of first person – it’s more powerful, and her re-write is great. The second sentence has a compelling series of active verbs and “including public audiences,” and “work together” also makes it feel like an inclusive, team effort.
  
  Reply to Suzanne Davis
Debra Hess Norris September 22, 2018 at 9:11 pm

Some may wish not to use “our” and “we” in this document – but I think such language can be more compelling …

Reply to Debra Hess Norris

1 Comment on paragraph 4

Suzanne Davis September 25, 2018 at 4:50 pm

I like Debbie’s rewrite. I find the syntax of the original quite awkward, and the clause at the end of the first sentence always confuses me because I’m never sure what it relates to or refers back to. We also preserve things from terrible periods of history – things I would not describe as achievements, so I like the removal of the second sentence as well.

Reply to Suzanne Davis

0 Comments on paragraph 5

1 Comment on paragraph 6

Suzanne Davis September 25, 2018 at 4:51 pm

I like this addition, as well as the simplicity of the statement. We should consider it for AIC’s strategic plan, too.

Reply to Suzanne Davis

Suzanne Davis September 25, 2018 at 4:54 pm

I’d like to keep this addition. It’s an important value to hold and validate as we begin the new capital campaign.

Reply to Suzanne Davis

2 Comments on paragraph 10

Debra Hess Norris September 22, 2018 at 9:20 pm

Oh no – I forgot to save my comment! What I wrote earlier was that we need to be sure this positions FAIC as a leader – while we (FAIC) support and enhance the goals of AIC there are also instances were we (FAIC) set the goals…. given our campaign we want to be certain this plan speaks clearly to the centrality of our mission and goals. Funders may turn to the plan before determining how they will invest.

Reply to Debra Hess Norris
1. Suzanne Davis September 25, 2018 at 5:01 pm
  
  The second sentence could be deleted – it does make FAIC and its work seem secondary to and dependent on AIC. The first sentence describes the core value well, so maybe it could stand alone?
  
  Reply to Suzanne Davis

0 Comments on paragraph 11

1 Comment on paragraph 12

Suzanne Davis September 25, 2018 at 5:11 pm

I noted this on the AIC plan as well – how do we have these data? The jobs forecast in the museums sector is pretty good over the next 8 years. I know we’re trying to raise money, but this gets the section off to a depressing start and we should make sure that economic indicators actually do support the statement if it will be the lead in this section….I’m not sure it’s the most compelling lead. The first and last statements both set us up as victims of economic vicissitudes.

The first statement in the next section begins to make a better argument for me – there’s so always much to be done, that even when the economy is great, we’ll still need help to do it.

Reply to Suzanne Davis

0 Comments on paragraph 13

1 Comment on paragraph 14

Debra Hess Norris September 22, 2018 at 9:18 pm

We must connect our work with societal needs and challenges, including literacy, economic stability, cultural understanding sustainability, and reconciliation, increasing opportunities for external support and the creation of new partnerships.

Reply to Debra Hess Norris

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