June
2002
View
from the Hill: An Ellarslie perspective piece
By Brian Hill
The
Museum Society's 2001-02 season at the Museum of the City of Trenton
is coming to an end. There were five reception openings with and
estimated attendance of 2,700 patrons coming to Trenton's Cadwalader
Park at night for culture.
We
also had four concerts, a couple of fundraisers and several lectures
and a few mini-exhibits, most recently the hundredth anniversary
of Cadwalader Park, for which we had a good crowd of about 250.
The interest at the museum is growing and membership has expanded.
With membership you get notification of the openings, concerts
and lectures as well as the newsletter.
One
of the best things about a membership, if you like to support
artists and buy their works, is that you can get a discount at
the museum store. In 1998, store sales were not very high. Without
giving away actual numbers, the store sales have skyrocketed to
about 1000 percent of what they were. Yes a factor of ten.
The
store committee has done a wonderful job in marketing, presentation
and point of purchase design. Every time you come in to the museum,
it has changed. Members (who receive 10 to 15 percent discounts
on all purchases) buy birthday presents, holiday gifts or simply
get one of the many varieties of notecards and books to write
in.
The
sales in actual art are amazing. We have had opening nights where
we have sold in excess of 15 works at an opening. This helps the
artist community in Trenton and Mercer County. With the Visa/MasterCard
machine humming, the museum society has stepped up their sales
to meet the demand for Trenton Art. Many is the time I get the
calls of "Do you have any Tom Malloys at the museum?"
or "I need a Trenton Makes T-shirt, what time does the store
open?"
Sometimes
I get calls from patrons thinking we are the New Jersey State
Museum and they say something like, "Can you connect me with
the gift shop?"
"Sure"
I say, and put them on hold. I then pick up and say, "May
I help you?" If I cannot get the sale I plug what we do here
and I then suggest a call to the N.J. State Museum at 292-6464.
That
brings me to another subject. The New Jersey State Museum is the
first number I memorized in March of 1998 when I began working
at Ellarslie. We get about ten calls a week asking for our planetarium.
This is what makes it amusing because just like there is no Trenton
State College, there is no Trenton State Museum. I casually explain
that if they called information and asked for the museum in Trenton
they get the Trenton City Museum and if they asked for the New
Jersey State Museum they get 292-6464.
Although
I originally disliked these calls I have since found these calls
a blessing in disguise. If they had gotten the correct number
in the first place I would not get to talk them into coming here.
That happens about 25 percent of the time. They all still take
their kids to see the dinosaurs but at least we get to see them
here as well and talk about the history of Trenton.
One
last note: We have a terrific children's art program in place
and it's free to children from Trenton or to Museum Society members.
It's sponsored by the Princeton Area Community Foundation. Call
Molly at 392-4561 and let her know the name and age of your child
and she will let you know when your child can start. See you next
month!
#
# #
