Museum of the City
MUSEUM OF THE CITY
FOUNDER’S VISION
We will create an interesting and always-accessible museum-without-walls that explores and explains the universal story of the city, civilization’s greatest living legacy. Our work is to provide citizens worldwide with the history, experience, and cumulative knowledge—the cornerstones of vision—needed to sustain great cities. If we succeed in our work, we will encourage citizens to engage in preserving, building, and restoring the kinds of places we can confidently leave for future generations.
Chet Orloff, Portland State University
WHAT
The Museum of the City is a web-based “museum-without-walls” that creates and presents exhibits about cities worldwide – their past, present, and future; their design and development; and the lives of the people—more than half the world’s population—who call cities home.
The Museum of the City is working with Portland State University students, faculty, and staff to create the Museum’s website and its exhibits program.
The Museum of the City is administered by the Museum of the City, Inc., a registered 501©(3) tax-deductible charitable organization, incorporated in 2003, whose office is in Portland, Oregon, USA.
The Museum of the City collaborates with museums and individuals worldwide to create and present—via its website (www.museumofthecity.org/)—electronic exhibits about cities. The purpose of this broad mission is to:
~ deepen people’s knowledge of cities—their design, history, governance, economies, and social life—and of the range of opportunities and solutions being explored and implemented to make cities more sustainable, creative, secure, and interesting places in which to live;
~ provide city museums, informed citizens, urban scholars, students, architects, planners, and urban designers with the means and methods of sharing their insights and imaginations or cities through creatively designed and intellectually rich electronic exhibits;
~ connect individual cities’ own visions and plans with the combined experiences of cities internationally.
VISION, MISSION, and VALUES
The Museum of the City shares with its institutional partner and host, Portland State University, the goal of combining education with service to cities. "Let Knowledge Serve the City" inspires the international work of students and colleagues who are creating exhibits about and for cities worldwide.
Vision
The Museum of the City envisions being a recognized virtual museum that engages students, professionals, and anyone interested in cities in the creation of excellent exhibits that inform citizens of innovative practices and experiences contributing to the economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and quality of life of cities worldwide.
Mission
The mission of the Museum of the City is to enhance the intellectual, social, cultural and economic qualities of urban life by providing access to digital exhibits about the world’s cities. The museum engages students as well as professionals and citizens-at-large in creating its exhibits – a collaborative educational effort to promote understanding of cities and the appreciation of how to make them more livable and sustainable.
Values
The Museum’s vision and mission rest on the following values:
Learning and Discovery
As a museum focusing on cities past, present, and future, the Museum of the City presents exhibits that inform, educate, and entertain our visitors about the demands and opportunities facing the world’s cities.
Access to Learning
The Museum provides access and opportunities to learners from international communities in their pursuit of knowledge about cities, where more than one-half the world’s people now live.
Community and Civic Engagement
The Museum’s principles of contributory exhibit-building and virtual accessibility promote a reciprocal relationship between communities and the Museum. The Museum values partnerships with other institutions and organizations, professional groups and individuals, and the business community.
2011 GOALS
A. To launch and maintain a robust, accessible, and attractive website that will encourage visitors to learn from the experiences and history of exemplary cities
B. To recruit exhibits and exhibitable materials from city museums, universities, and individuals worldwide
C. To raise funds for operations and staff
WHO
The Museum of the City operates with volunteer support and contributions of content from city museums, PSU students and faculty, and individuals with professional knowledge of, or a personal interest in, cities. The Museum is administered by Chet Orloff (Director Emeritus/Oregon Historical Society, Adj. Professor of Urban Studies and Planning/PSU/UoO) and Tari Donahue (Graphic and Web Designer). The staff of the PSU Academic & Research Computing Department and the staff, faculty, and students in departments and schools across the PSU campus are building and maintaining the Museum’s website.
Contact: Chet Orloff at chetorloff@msn.com
