Texas Help Program

In the spring of 2002, ExhibitsUSA, Mid-America Arts Alliance's national museum service division, in association with the Texas Association of Museums selected the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum to participate in a multi-year statewide training initiative. The program, Texas HELP, is specifically designed to meet the needs of small and midsize museums within the state of Texas. The multi-year project serves 18 museums in three regions of the state (Panhandle, East Texas and Gulf Coast). Each museum receives a minimum of four traveling exhibitions from ExhibitsUSA, each fully supported with technical assistance and staff and volunteer learning opportunities.

Through supporting workshops and on-site professional consultations, the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum is furthering museum skills in focus areas such as:

• Marketing / Public Relations
• Educational Programming
• Volunteerism
• Exhibit Design
• Fundraising

Texas HELP is designed to be as local as possible. Using an “on-the-job” training model, each museum sets its own targets and goals in a specific focus area. In association with a regional consultant, the museum uses the exhibition experience as a means to test their abilities, try new methods, and reach their individualized goals. The consultant returns to the museum to conduct follow-up evaluations and analysis, and to urge the staff, board, and volunteers to implement lessons learned.

Across the state, museums in the Panhandle and Gulf Coast regions utilized some of the same exhibitions to improve their overall operations in exhibition design and educational programming.

As a result, Texas HELP:

• Provides practical, “on-the-job” training to museum personnel in specific areas of acute need
• Provides participant museums affordable temporary exhibitions that feature strong arts and humanities content, universal appeal, and local interest
• Utilizes affordable and professional museum training resources that reinforce "best practices" in museum management
• Establishes formal and informal museum networks among participating museums so as to facilitate routine resource sharing

HELP for small and midsize museums in Texas is made possible through the combined vision and generosity of the Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston; The Don and Sybil Harrington Foundation; Houston Endowment, Inc.; The Meadows Foundation; the Texas Commission on the Arts; and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that fosters innovation, leadership, and a lifetime of learning.

In March 2005, the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum will host “El Caballo, The Horse in Mexican Folk Art” - its third traveling exhibit since entering the Texas HELP program. Please visit http://www.maaa.org/help/exhibitions/caballo/caballo.html to learn more about this exhibit.