Warmest of greetings everyone, and a heartfelt expression of welcome to come see us any day that we are open (10-5 Tuesday to Friday, 10-4 PM Saturdays). I hope that all of you know already, or will commit to long-term remembrance, that the professional staff, student workers, and I are here to assist your needs for any visit you make, whether in your advance planning; while on-site[ or in post-visit follow up.
All of the following are not only in our skillsets to offer, but are squarely in the sweet spot of our hope to make your visiting the University Museum and Rowan Oak the best and most rewarding of experiences possible. Each of these is yours for the asking, or by contacting pre- or post-visit:
· Pre-visit logistics planning, and ease of arrival…including what might be the simplest entry, free-of-charge vehicle parking lot on the entire University campus
· Maximizing and prioritizing your time to focus on what interests you most greatly, and what type of visit itinerary (and pathway) will best fit your available time
· Strategies and resources to deepen your knowledge about the Exhibitions on view, and the artifacts and artworks on display
· Comfort and safety elements such as restrooms, drinking fountains, first aid kit, Lactation Room, wheelchair provision, and that most prized of modern museum amenities….comfortable bench seating in several of the museum galleries and of course our Lobby.
· Transiting yourself, whether vehicular or pedestrian, to nearby points of interest such as Oxford’s Courthouse Square, the Ford Center for Performing Arts, the Grove, Vaughn-Hemingway Stadium, Swayze Field…or of course our satellite museum location William Faulkner’s Rowan Oak.
· Resources targeted for children, youth, and families – – whether Museum programs, events, activities on-site, or online learning opportunities. Serving children has been a hallmark and a point of pride of this Museum since the creation of our Traveling Trunks program in the 1970s.
· Referrals to other arts, cultural, and heritage sites of our city and nearby communities. We can help you learn of their existence and locations, their highlights, and often by directly connecting you to key staff and the resource-rich websites of these peer institutions.
· Food-service and beverage options within a four-block radius of the Museum, whether on campus or in the very nearby Square. It is easy to forget that our University Museum is the eastern-most building of the entire Ole Miss campus, making it also thereby the closest campus building to Courthouse Square.
All of this information, and all of these resources, are available to you from any staff member. In aggregate they speak to a very high value of this Museum and our Faulkner literary heritage site: the quality of visitor experience.
Seemingly by sheer coincidence but much to my great fortune, I’ve served under multiple Directors in the earlier phases of my career who had one great quality all in common – – a prioritized deep interest in their museums being visitor-friendly and audience-centered. What might seem like a no-brainer – – of course a museum cares about its visitors – – is actually an art and a science of studying visitor needs and then developing infrastructure, systems and trainings such that the staff and the Director remain ever-watchful for each possible opportunity to make a visit a memorable experience.
With that thought in mind, you can help us achieve the goal of being a legible, convenient, friendly, and enlightening cultural venue : if you see or experience areas of deficit or need for adjustment in our visitor experience, or simply something small that needs a tweak, I genuinely want to hear about it. Phone extension 662-915-7202 reaches my desk directly, and rsaarnio@olemiss.edu also accordingly.
I sincerely welcome your reaching out, at any time on any subject. Helping me – and our great team – help you, will make my day I assure you. And it will honor the legacies of those career mentors of mine who followed one of the greatest of north stars in the museum profession: assuring that our visitors who entrust their valuable leisure time to our institutions, are served as well, warmly, and professionally as possible.
With sincere regards always,
Robert Saarnio
Director
