Asked if they would like to see more exhibits about Petaluma history, 76 percent said yes. Some 78.8 percent said they have visited the museum in the last year.
Here are some of the comments by those who responded to the survey:
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“As a second-generation Petaluman who remembers when the museum was the Petaluma Library, I am pleased with the direction Joe Noriel has taken in improving the museum. He has brought more tourism to Petaluma with his new exhibits.”
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“Irrelevant exhibits are one thing, squandering the funds is another. The museum has always been a hub of community events and hopefully will continue. Just leave the artifacts and funds alone for the next caretakers who actually care about Petaluma!”
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“I think that the museum needs some new exhibits, etc. But I am not sure that the ones that have been chosen meet the needs of our town.”
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“It is time for the old guard to move over and make the museum an exciting, relevant place to visit like the new administration is trying to do. I have lived in Petaluma since the mid-’70s when the museum had seen its better days and finally it has been revamped to meet the interest of the public. Thanks for bringing the traveling shows; they are fantastic!”
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“Joe Noriel is the best thing that has happened to the museum in a long time. He brings fresh new ideas and enthusiasm to all the volunteers and works harder than anyone spending many hours preparing for the exhibits.”
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“Most important is that the museum develop interesting, imaginative, new exhibits about Petaluma history. To the extent that ‘traveling exhibits’ don’t interfere with, and maybe even help, that goal, I am in favor of them.”
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“Petaluma history should be everything up to yesterday, not just ‘butter and eggs’. My kids and I love the new exhibits, keep it up!”
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“The Holocaust exhibit was excellent. We especially appreciated having speakers come to the museum that lived through the Holocaust and relate to all of us their experiences. This is what museums should do.”
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“The Petaluma Museum used to feel more welcoming. Now you have to pay a fee to enter such as during the Vietnam exhibit. The museum now feels much more commercial!”
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“I believe the new direction is fine in some ways, but the emphasis still needs to be on Petaluma’s rich history.”
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“I do like the new direction, but I agree that some linkage to Petaluma history and people should be present. Also, I don’t agree with large expenditures on exhibits that don’t pay for themselves.”
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“I had not been in the museum for many, many years until these new exhibits came to the museum. This change is good — plus it brings people from out of town to our museum and our city.”
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“Change is always difficult to accept, but I applaud the museum director’s efforts to keep the museum interesting and relevant. Petaluma is about more than chickens and eggs, and our changing demographics want more. Look at the lists of new members; it’s clear there is interest. This ‘witch hunt’ seems unnecessary and rather childish. Getting rid of non-Petaluma-related artifacts to help the museum’s coffers seems like a reasonable idea to me. But based on some of the caustic letters to the editor, one would think they were trying to sell the town clock to China. Come on, Petaluma, it’s 2011. Joe Noriel and his board should be commended, not condemned.”
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“As a newcomer to Petaluma (I’ve lived here for the last five years) my one trip so far to the museum was a little confusing. I really enjoyed the exhibits that highlighted the history of Petaluma. I found the exhibits that had nothing to do with Petaluma a little out of place. Not that they weren’t enjoyable as well, but it seemed a bit odd. I would definitely love to see more focus on the town’s history — that is what’s fascinating to me and the kind of thing that helps to make a newbie like me feel connected to a town I didn’t grow up in.”
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“Everyone wishes the museum a stable financial future — our permanent exhibits are first in line for funds. Then comes local subject exhibits, culled from the collection. Why send the museum’s money out of town to large museums who mount these exhibits as income sources for them? Spending $38,000 on outside exhibits, and sending a fund-raising request after you spent the money, is backwards financial management. Like buying a trip to Paris on credit, and figuring out how to pay for it later — it is financially irresponsible. Yes we’d all like a trip to Paris, but can you afford it without going into your retirement accounts? So some people like outside exhibits, but can they pay the $38,000 bill? A museum nonprofit run with sloppy financial planning, casual budgets, if any, and an appeal to residents who don’t understand the eventual outcome of all this spending, is a museum heading toward going broke. If the current board is willing to deplete the endowment to gain members, how many of these new members will continue to come when you can no longer afford these flashy exhibits?”
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“As they say, all news is local. I very much enjoyed the aviation exhibit and how they connected it to the first airmail flight between Petaluma and Santa Rosa. Any war exhibit can contain a section about local veterans and the effect on local businesses and civilians. The themed exhibits raise awareness of the beautiful museum building. It is easier to get children and teens to see something about pirates, and once they’re inside they can look at the permanent Petaluma exhibits. I suggest future exhibits about Prohibition in Petaluma, the Gold Rush Era and Union and Confederate opinions in Sonoma County during the Civil War. Admission prices are a bit high, but I’d pay to see some early automobiles.”
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“In the article that ran in the Argus-Courier, the director was very defensive about selling items in storage, among other things. He does not comport as a seasoned professional in his field. You don’t get defensive, you give information. He changed the course of the museum too quickly to avoid getting hit with criticism, versus praise for enhancement. Another mark of an unseasoned professional. He needs to read some books on leadership, management and working in a group for consensus.”
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“It’s great to see the museum offer exhibits beyond local history as well as local material. These have informed the community and brought interest from outside as well. These exhibits are also appealing to a broader part of the community.”
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“I think a mix is a good way to attract repeat visitors.”
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“I think having the exhibits for so many different subjects is wonderful! Sadly, if it were all about just Petaluma, I doubt it would be able to keep open. This town is full of history, around every corner. You don’t need a museum to tell you about it. Every building in this town tells its own story, as do the owners when you visit them. The museum is a place for learning and admiration of all types. I say keep up the great work! Who are these people criticizing? Not-in-my-backyard types who poo-poo anything that has to do with imagination, experience, thought provoking subjects? Too many of them in Petaluma. Need to get out. Eclectic and ‘eggcentric’ is what this town is, and it needs to remain that way.”
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“Just wondering out loud: Is it possible that the same people criticizing the exhibits are the same folks that advocate for diversity? Get a grip! It can’t be all Petaluma all the time!”
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“Anytime somebody new comes in and wants to make a change, it’s going to rustle some feathers. Unfortunately, this is getting blown way out of proportion. After looking at who wrote letters to the editor complaining about the new direction, I now know why it was blown way out of proportion. Same people blowing the same smoke.”
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“Making the Petaluma Museum relevant and viable is what will ensure sustainability. Your article gave me the impression that the current board is moving in a good direction. I have been more aware of the museum and their events in the last two years than in the 20 years I have lived here. The naysayers’ gripes sound like personal ‘sour grapes’ to me.”
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“The museum board needs to hire an experienced curator and director, who know how to use the resources of our museum and history library. They need to bring it up to date in exhibition standards, quality of exhibits, marketing and fund-raising. They are running by the seat of their pants now, without professional leadership. This isn’t PT Barnum’s museum. This is a recipe for failure and bankruptcy, which makes me very sad.”
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“The museum needs to be put on an even keel with exhibits featuring a mix of local history and non-local history. Renting traveling trunk shows is expensive and have been loss-leaders in the past.”
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“The Petaluma Museum is ahead of the rest of us bringing shows of strong interest to people who live here — and who come to visit. They have to attract people to stay open — and they’re doing it.”
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“The problem does not sit with the introduction of new exhibits, but with the lack of careful management and direction. Petaluma is lucky to have such a beautiful building filled with rich local history, exhibits relating to Petaluma, Sonoma County and the entire state should be the focus.”
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“This was meant to be Petaluma’s museum. Let’s keep it that way. I’m sure there’s more history here than is included in the museum, how about the stills that were in operation here many years ago? That is part of the history here. It wasn’t always eggs and cows. Maybe the word should be put out for any of the remaining real locals to add to the real history of this town. — A Petaluma ‘lifer.’”
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“Until the change to more diverse content, I hadn’t set foot in the place for 20 years. No need. Seemed to always be the same old stuff. Sure, some of it’s edgy and there are costs to establishing the new direction, but well worthwhile, especially as the museum’s board is now settling in to a much more cost-effective direction, now the place is on the map. A museum without people is pointless; prior boards might have been managing a storage unit, to be blunt. Kudos to them, I say.”
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“We would like to visit, but we live too far away. As long as it represents Petaluma’s history.”
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“When we first moved to Petaluma in 1998, we visited the museum the first month and then another time when houseguests were visiting. Every one of us at the same reaction: ‘Like watching paint dry, isn’t it?’ All I remember was the stodgy, dusty, cobwebby feel of the place. What a difference when the new director took over! It stopped being a musty moribund morgue and it became an Institution of higher learning. All it took was imagination, sophistication, forward thinking and guts! Just because the museum no longer is locked into the stagnant chicken and egg history of Petaluma doesn’t mean we’ve abandoned it. Now the museum is a place where we are proud to take visitors to, not avoid out of embarrassment.”
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“Why can’t we have both? Petaluma only has so much history and there is a whole world of history out there. Why not take advantage of learning it?”
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“Why should the museum be limited to exhibits only about Petaluma? That makes no sense. Should the DeYoung museum only have exhibits about San Francisco?”
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“With only one part-time employee who is paid by the city of Petaluma, but managed by an enthusiastic volunteer board of directors with an exaggerated sense of what they see the museum’s role in the community as, it is no wonder things have run amuck. Rather than spending money on costly out-of-the-box, Anywhere USA exhibits that may or may incorporate elements of Petaluma’s own history, the Petaluma Museum Association would be wise to deal with immediate staffing issues that will assure that this valuable resource and its fantastic collection of artifacts is here even after current board has moved on to other endeavors.”
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“Wonderful exhibits that bring visitors new or returning are always great for the museum, but there has to be a budget and financial gain not loss. Thank you to the volunteers who put in numerous hours to maintain and develop these exhibits. Never lose sight of the reason the Petaluma Museum was established after the new library was built in 1976. It must be a ‘free’ (donations welcome) experience and maintain our past history. Future generations need the history lessons to move forward as our community grows and changes.”
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“The museum was in much better shape and financially stable before this gentlemen took over. It appears his operating methods are not transparent and that he has little or no accountability. I would think that taking care of the paper work to maintain a tax-free entity would be simple enough and a priority to a good manager. One final note! Why is the museum renting a piano while the director uses the museum piano in his home? I am sure if the museum’s piano was in need of repair that it would cost less to repair than renting. Then again, it is must be in fairly good shape to be used for personal use.”
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