Thar She grows!

Old  Museum,  New  Audience  -  Great Blog!

By Nomi Dayan, Executive Director

When I first joined the Whaling Museum, I remember thinking: am I going to be stuck teaching about dead whales every day? ... I had up until then worked in institutions with live animal exhibits. 

The answer? No, it has not! But it didn't just happen that way. Our museum made a strategic, deliberate choice to go beyond the subject of whaling. It has been a wild ride!  Our museum has a new title, new mission, new logo, new website, not to mention new events. And for good reason, too, because we do not exist to only talk about what happened yesterday. We want to talk about what's happening today and tomorrow. We want to talk about why our whaling history matters. 

We're nearly 80 years old. Why have a whaling museum anyway? Yes, whaling happened here, and it was important at the time. But that's not why we exist. We are here to help the visitor to understand our whaling past as part of a larger story, with lessons that matter today.  

This blog, "Thar She Grows," will highlight and celebrate a small maritime museum's journey to keep up with the pace of the world around us, in a time when building attendance at history-based organizations is dropping. Follow our ideas, celebrate our achievements, and offer suggestions to our challenges! 

Welcome aboard!

Humpback whale feeding