To the editor:
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 15. 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 that the director, with his background in art, was taking the museum in that 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 are almost 3 million dollars, 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? The director, along with his senior administrators, should be removed. Their salaries could then be used to rebuild the curatorial staff and return the ROM to the collegiality of times past. More information is available on my website, WorkingAtTheRom.com.
Chris McGowan
Aurora
