Episode 02: Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko on Small Museums

This episode gets into the nitty gritty of the museum world. After Jim and Amelia briefly chat about recent trips to small museums, first year public humanities student Maddie Mott interviews Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, President/CEO of the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine. Cinnamon shares her career trajectory, offers advice for folks wanting to get into the field, and talks about running a small museum. Their conversation also touches on one of the most important topics in the field right now: “decolonizing the museum.” Learn more about the Abbe Museum on their website.

Maddie Mott is a graduate student studying Public Humanities at Brown University. Before she came to Brown, she worked in development at the Clackamas County Historical Society and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. She is interested in studying new ways to make museums more inclusive, accessible, and sustainable, both internally and externally.

Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko joined the Abbe Museum as President/CEO in 2009. Prior to that point, Cinnamon was the director of the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum in Crawfordsville, Indiana where she led the organization to the National Medal for Museum Service in 2008. A passionate advocate for museums – their successes and their needs – and small museum expert, Cinnamon holds a BA in Anthropology and Art History from Purdue University, and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) MA program in Anthropology with a specialization in Museum Studies.

In 2004, the Indiana Historical Society published Cinnamon’s first book The Art of Healing: The Wishard Art Collection. She is the co-editor of the Small Museum Toolkit, a six book series, published by Altamira Press in 2012. In addition to editing, she authored the chapters on strategic planning and fundraising tactics. She is currently revising the second edition of the popular textbook Museum Administration.

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Episode 02: Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko on Small Museums by Public Work: a public humanities podcast

Maddie Mott, a first-year Master’s Student in Public Humanities at Brown University, interviews Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, President and CEO of the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine. Catlin describes how she came to work at the Abbe, what small museums offer employees and audiences, and what it means to “decolonize” museums. Public Work is produced and hosted by Amelia Golcheski and Jim McGrath.

Show Notes

In the intro to this week’s episode, Amelia discussed a recent trip to the Robert Russa Moton Museum in Farmville, Virginia. Jim talked about his visit to the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and its exhibit on Kris Kristofferson.

Among other topics, Catlin and Maddie’s conversation makes reference to the Small Museum Association, NAGPRA, and Amy Lonetree’s Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums (2012).

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