Farmington Museum system's strategic plan update due out soon, city says

Farmington leaders are in the process of putting together the finishing touches on a long-awaited update to the long-term strategic plan for the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park, an exercise that is unfolding as the city prepares to begin the search for a new museum director.

Christa Chapman, the city’s assistant director of cultural affairs and marketing, said officials are nearing completion of the strategic plan update, a process that began more than four years ago before being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of a comprehensive plan update for the city of Farmington.

“We’re in the final stages of that,” she said, adding that she was meeting with the city staff to complete the final edits on the document, which includes solidifying the mission of the city’s museum system. They system is made up of the Farmington Museum, the Museum of Navajo Art and Culture, and the E3 Children’s Museum and Science Center.

The city hired Lord Cultural Resources — a global consulting practice that offers specialized planning services in the museum, cultural and heritage sector — to help put together the new strategic plan, which is designed to guide the museums’ future over the next two decades. The firm sent two representatives to Farmington in December 2019 to help kick off that process with a public meeting to gather input on what local residents wanted to see from the museums in the future.

But work on the new museums plan came to a halt months later with the onset of the pandemic and a decision by city officials to delay creation of the new document until the city’s comprehensive plan update was complete. Chapman said the city is ready to finish what it started in 2019, explaining that the new document could be ready by late winter.

City officials wanted to have the museum system’s future mapped out before they initiated a search process for a new director after Bart Wilsey retired in November 2023, she said. Wilsey had served in that capacity for 17 years, and Chapman is serving as acting director until a new director is hired.

“We’re taking this opportunity to re-examine the job description and reassess what we want the job to entail in the future,” she said, adding that that process is wrapping up quickly.

Chapman expects the opening to be posted within the next month or so, at which point a nationwide search for Wilsey’s replacement will begin.

The Farmington Museum has been the subject of a handful of expansion proposals in recent years, while plans are proceeding to develop the city-owned property surrounding the museum into a multi-million-dollar park. City officials have described the planned park, which they are referring to as Gateway Park, as potentially the crown jewel of the city’s burgeoning parks system, an attraction on the banks of the Animas River they hope will serve as a regional draw.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com.Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Farmington Museum system's strategic plan update due out soon