Note: The Levine Museum of the New South is an underwriter of WFAE.
The Levine Museum of the New South has been a major cultural institution in Charlotte since its founding just over three decades ago.
The museum recently appointed a new president and CEO — just the third in its history. Richard Cooper previously held leadership positions at the Conner Prairie Museum in Indianapolis and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.
He takes over the Levine Museum as it searches for a new permanent building while also continuing to grapple with the effects of the pandemic. Cooper joins me now.
Marshall Terry: Now, I do want to point quickly before we get started that the Levine Museum of the New South is an underwriter of WFAE. I also want to say welcome to Charlotte. How is it going for you so far?
Richard Cooper: It's going great. I've really enjoyed getting to know the community over the last couple of weeks.
Terry: Well, what made you want to come to Levine?
Cooper: Well, I've heard about the bold programming in the Levine Museum throughout my career. I had chances to visit the museum in the past and work with some of the staff. So, I jumped at the opportunity to come and help rebuild the museum and help it continue to grow to be a cultural resource here in the region, and, really, around the nation.
Terry: So as I mentioned, the museum is in the midst of moving, after it sold its longtime building on 7th Street. Exhibits are temporarily housed in a space at Three Wells Fargo Center on South Tryon. Can you give us an update on where the museum might end up permanently, and also how you're handling exhibitions in the current, smaller space?
Cooper: Absolutely. So, the museum made the decision to move out of our old building, which we loved, and know the community loved, and are looking at that next opportunity of where we're going to go next. We've hired a firm to help us go through that process, but we also are utilizing the spaces we have now.
So, as you mentioned, the space that we have in the Wells Fargo building, you know, the exciting thing is when we moved out of our [old] building, we engaged with about 47,000 visitors. This last year, through the space and Wells Fargo doing community events, you know, we engaged with 70,000 people.
This last weekend, we had a program in partnership with the Latin American Coalition for the Day of the Dead, and we had 10,000 people show up to that program. So, we're actually touching more people by having both a smaller location, right now, but also doing programs out in the community and online. So we're very excited about our future.
Terry: Well, I was going to get to attendance next, because I know, like many places, the museum saw a decline in attendance during the pandemic, when it was closed for months. Is it still a challenge to get people to come back? I mean, it sounds like maybe it's not.
Cooper: Like other museums, we're definitely seeing people come back. There's definitely challenges that museums across the nation are still experiencing, but people are definitely starting to come back.
Terry: Well, what are some of the challenges in getting people to come back?
Cooper: Some of it is just getting people reengaged with our missions. There's so much competition out there, you know, organizations change, both in the nonprofit and the business world of how they're engaging with the public. So I think just re-engaging people and talking about the importance of our work, and the importance of having conversations and coming together. Places that adapted, kind of like we did at the Levine Museum, to create spaces where there are spaces inside and outside, and making people comfortable coming into those spaces. I think museums have seen larger numbers than they did prior to the pandemic.
Terry: Now, I know during the pandemic, the museum increased its online offerings as a way to engage with the community. Is that still something that the museum is doing, now that pre-pandemic life has largely returned?
Cooper: Yes, absolutely. We're still engaging online and in new ways. We actually have an exciting experience coming up called "50 Places," which will be coming out here later this month. We have a podcast that we're working on, that we'll be sharing more information about. We've just launched history case studies online. So, definitely still engaging with people online, as we did during the pandemic.
Terry: In what other ways did the pandemic affect the museum that it's still dealing with?
Cooper: I think we've learned that you have to meet visitors where they're at. We have to create ways for people to feel safe coming into spaces. We're starting to see the move past the pandemic. So, I don't know if we're necessarily still seeing effects of that. We've just learned a lot from the pandemic, and are probably more prepared to meet visitors where they're at, whether that's in their communities or online or in actual spaces.
Terry: Given your background and previous work with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, what do you think is the role for an institution like the Levine in a city like Charlotte that's still grappling with so many issues around race, economic inequality and more?
Cooper: Well, for me, I think we have an important mission. We're going to continue to be a beacon of education, empathy and engagement. We're going to connect people to the place, the stories, through dialogue and civic engagement. I think that that is something that places like the Levine, the National Underground [Railroad] Freedom Center can do.
There's recent studies out there, through the American Alliance of Museums, that says museums are more trusted sites of information than other schools, libraries, professors, things like that. Museums have to take that to heart, and think about what that means for us to help create civic engagement and conversations around the challenges we face, to build a strong more equitable community here in the Charlotte area.
Terry: So, what would you say is your number one priority, as you get settled in in the new position?
Cooper: I think my number one priority is getting everybody to, you know, get excited about the Levine Museum and the work we're doing. I think the museum has done incredible work over the last 30 years. You know, we're still here, we're still doing that work.
We're looking forward to creating opportunities for the community to come together, getting people to understand that the museum is here. We're doing important work, and we're looking forward to helping solve some of the difficult pieces and opportunities in the community.
