Development Vice President

DARYL K. FISCHER

P.O. Box *** Grand Haven, MI ***17 Email: *****@*******************.***

Phone: 616-***-**** Fax: 616-***-**** Website: www.MusynergyConsulting.com

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

**** - *resent Principal, Musynergy, Grand Haven, MI

Musynergy helps museums of all types and sizes to create strategic plans with input

from internal and external stakeholders; incorporate staff and audience perspectives in

interpretive planning and exhibition development; and build capacities of internal

audiences through project facilitation, board development, staff coaching, and

volunteer training.

Strategic Planning Georgia O Keefe Museum. Reshaped a strategic plan that had lain dormant,

consolidating and aligning goals and objectives; facilitated staff and board retreat

to incorporate outcomes-based performance indicators.

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art. Led community-based strategic Planning Team that

conducted 70 interviews for an environmental scan used in identifying critical issues

and shaping strategic initiatives.

Hunter Museum of American Art. Facilitated strategic planning process involving

staff members at two sister institutions: the Tennessee Aquarium and the Creative

Discovery Museum.

University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History. Incorporated input from

stakeholders at four U-M Research Museums: Anthropology, Paleontology, Zoology,

and the University Herbarium in the creation of a strategic plan.

Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies. Established a long-range plan

based on needs assessment of constituents in eight regions across the state.

Zeeland Historical Society. Led an active group of volunteers and community

members in creating the organization s first strategic plan, which involved new

buildings and facilities.

Interpretive Denver Art Museum. Integrated front-end and formative evaluation in the design

Planning/ and development of new programs geared to families with young children. New

Audience techniques, such as family visitor panels, served to build institutional capacity.

Evaluation Minnesota Historical Society. Incorporated input from community-based steering

committee, visitor panels and online surveys in the development of an interpretive

plan that will increase visitation and sustainability at the Alexander Ramsey House.

Copper Country Trail National Byway. Conducted front-end and formative

evaluation of out-of-town visitors and local residents as part of an interpretive

master plan for a 47-mile stretch of road on Michigan s Keweenaw Peninsula.

Detroit Institute of Arts. Led staff in the development of visitor outcomes that guided

the reinstallation of the entire permanent collection; conducted front-end and

formative evaluation of a wide spectrum of interpretative models.

High Museum of Art. Conducted visitor panel study for high tech interpretive

devices in The Louvre and the Masterpiece, a year-long exhibition involving a

collaboration between the High, the Louvre, Georgia Tech and Accenture.

Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve. Coordinated the efforts of

staff and an exhibit design firm in a visitor panel study for a renovated visitor center.

Hunter Museum of American Art. Created an institution-wide interpretive plan built

on feedback from visitor panelists, which informed a new building and the

reinstallation of the permanent collection.

Morton Arboretum. Conducted visitor panel studies for the development of two

outdoor visitor stations and the Children s Garden.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conducted family visitor panels to inform decisions

regarding the future of ECHO, the CSO s interactive music experience.

Yale University Art Gallery. Conducted front-end evaluation as part of an NEH

planning grant for an exhibition of early American silver.

Organizational Crocker Art Museum. Facilitated an institution-wide capacity-building initiative,

Development leading staff and board teams on site visits to three peer museums, debriefing with

staff and board members to identify opportunities for the Crocker to better serve

family audiences, and inviting staff members from peer museums to the Crocker to

meet with one another and with the Family Audiences Strategy Team.

American Museum of Magic. Led small staff, working board and Audience

Development Task Force in integrating audience feedback in making the shift from

a founder-driven institution to a national museum that is economically sustainable

and visitor-focused.

Board Co-author of Templates for Trustees, a four-volume series of software-based tools

Development that help museum trustees and directors implement best practices in nonprofit

governance. (See Publications.)

Presenter at state, regional and national museum conferences on topics including:

A Museum Governance Forum, Crafting an Ethics Code for Your Museum, Building

Strong Executive/Board Partnerships, Reflecting Your Community s Voices and

Values on the Board.

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art. Led Governance and Leadership Committee in

creating board policies, handbook and leadership succession plan.

Figge Art Museum. Facilitated board retreat and worked with Board Development

Task Force and four working groups to create leadership succession plan, board

slate, committee job descriptions, bylaws and other board documents.

The Journey Museum. Led board retreat and worked with Board Development

Committee to strengthen a board that is linked to City government.

Exhibition Front Range Rising, Longmont Museum and Cultural Center

Development Visiones del Puelbo: The Folk Art of Latin America, Toledo Museum of Art

The Pioneer Room, Zeeland Historical Society

150 Years of Caring for the Community: Blodgett Memorial Medical Center, Public

Museum of Grand Rapids

A Bridge to Grand Rapids: Artists in Our Community, Grand Rapids Art Museum

Executive Search Holland Historical Trust, Holland, MI. Served as interim director during six-month

search process.

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee, OK

Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI

Camp Henry, Newaygo, MI

Docent Training Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Denver Art Museum

Frederik Meijer Gardens

Grand Rapids Art Museum

Holland Historical Trust

1991 - 1993 Director of Education, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN

Supervised a staff of 18 providing public programs, school programs, performing arts

events, audio-visual productions and library services to new and established museum

audiences. As one of six division heads, contributed to museum-wide policy and

management decisions and managed an annual departmental budget of $500,000.

1989 - 1991 Curator of Education, Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI

Built an exemplary museum education program with a small staff and a dedicated

volunteer corps, dramatically increasing support from schools and diverse community

members.

1980 - 1989 Assistant Director of Education, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Developed permanent and temporary exhibitions with a team of educators, curators,

designers and publications staff members; created innovative interpretive devices;

developed and taught a nine-month docent training program.

1977 - 1980 Principal, SLP Architects, Denver, CO

Managed interior design and space planning department of 100-person architectural

firm, designing a variety of commercial projects including offices, schools, banks,

churches, government buildings and retail spaces.

1975 - 1977 Classroom Teacher, El Paso County School District 11, Colorado Springs, CO

Taught second grade and served as co-founder of the Helen Hunt Children s Theater,

which received federal funding from Title IV-C.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE and AFFILIATIONS

1996 - present The Museum Group

Vice President 2004-2008

1980 - Present American Association of Museums

Excellence in Exhibition Judge, 2010-2011

Museum Assessment Program, MAP III Assessor, 1991-1993

Education Committee (EdCom), Regional Chair, 1991-1994

Committee on Audience Research and Evaluation (CARE), Regional Chair,

1990-1992

2000 - present Visitor Studies Association

Vice President for Organizational Development, 2006-2009

Secretary, 2003-2005

Local Host Chair, 2006 Conference, Grand Rapids, MI

1991 - Present Association of Midwest Museums

Council Member, Standing Professional Committee Council Chair, 1991-1995

1994 - Present Michigan Museums Association

2000 - Present BoardSource (formerly National Center for Nonprofit Boards)

1995 - Present Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts

Vice President, 1995-1999

Capital Campaign Cabinet, 1997-1998

PUBLICATIONS

Online review of Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus at the Detroit Institute of

Arts, www.ExhibitFiles.org, published February 8, 2012.

Strengthening Museum Leadership through Assessment, Hand-to-Hand, 24/3.

Fall 2010.

Redefining Successful Interpretation in Art Museums, Curator, 53/4, July 2010,

299-323. With Lisa Levinson.

New Roles for Evaluation at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Curator, 52/1, January

2009, 45-65. With Matt Sikora, Beverly Serrell, Deborah Perry, and Ken Morris.

The Incredible Disappearing Committee, Board Member, December 2004.

Strategic Thinking and Planning, Templates for Trustees, Vol. 4. Washington, D.C.:

Museum Trustee Association, 2004.

Executive Transitions, Templates for Trustees, Vol. 3. Washington, D.C.: Museum

Trustee Association, 2003.

The Leadership Partnership, Templates for Trustees, Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.:

Museum Trustee Association, 2002.

Building Museum Boards, Templates for Trustees, Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.:

Museum Trustee Association, 2001.

Value-Added Consulting: Teaching Clients How to Fish, Curator, 44/1, January

2001, 75-88.

Museums, Trustees, and Communities: Building Reciprocal Relationships.

Washington, D.C.: American Association of Museums, Technical Information

Services, 1997.

Visitor Panels: In-house Evaluation of Exhibit Interpretation, Visitor Studies:

Theory, Research, and Practice, Vol. 9 (August 1996), 51-62. Jacksonville, AL:

Visitor Studies Association.

Connecting with Visitor Panels, Museum News, May/June 1997, 33-37.

Art Museums and the Price of Success: An International Comparison. Book

Review, Curator, vol. 38, no. 1 (March 1995): 63-68.

"Turning Points: Voices from Other Fields." Guest Editor, Journal of Museum

Education, vol. 18, no. 3 (Fall 1993): 2-4.

New Frontiers in Touring Techniques. Denver: National Docent Symposium, 1992.

"Visitor Studies on a Shoestring: Small Studies with Big Impact on Didactic Labels."

Annual Review. Midwest Museums Conference, 1991: 97-102.

"Asking Questions: Parents and Kids as Partners in Art Education," Muskegon

Magazine. April/May 1990: 6-12.

EDUCATION

1982 The University of Denver, M.A. Art History (Museum Studies emphasis).

Charles Ramus Art History Scholar Award.

1974 The Colorado College, B.A., Art History, B.A., Elementary Education.

Summa cum laude.

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