Five Questions With: Eleanor Langham

"Programming and membership go hand in hand, because through programming we attract new or non-traditional audiences and build affinity among members of the community."

Eleanor Langham, who took on the role of director of events and programs in January 2015, has been working for the Old Slater Mill Association, where she started as associate director of membership and development in January of 2014. She also had spent 12 years as a Civil War re-enactor before beginning a career in the museum field. Here she discusses the importance of the nonprofit’s busy programming calendar.

PBN: How has your work in membership and development at the nonprofit informed your approach to your current role in event and program planning?
LANGHAM:
Programming and membership go hand in hand, because through programming we attract new or non-traditional audiences and build affinity among members of the community. This in turn leads to membership, donations, and even in-kind support. So, I guess you could say that development and programming are very much connected.
When someone joins Slater Mill as a member, they receive discounts on events and programs and invitations to members-only events. In both my former and current roles, I always consider what Slater Mill can do to serve our current members, and what we can offer to bring more members in.
From a fundraising standpoint, many of our events generate revenue for the Old Slater Mill Association. Sponsorships, ticket sales, and vendor fees all contribute to the preservation of the mill, and are crucial to keeping Slater Mill operating. For example, the proceeds from A Grande Fete by the River, our annual fundraising event coming up in May, support our educational scholarship program, which provides free or reduced cost school tours to underprivileged youth. This not only benefits the youth in our community with enrichment programming, but also our capacity to serve them.

PBN: Your active 2015 calendar of events builds up to larger events like the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts/Traditional Arts Annual Textile Mill Artists’ Convening in June. How do these buttress funding support?
LANGHAM:
Community support and sponsorship are the backbone of any successful non-profit event. Without it, it would be difficult for us to present so many activities for the benefit of the community. And Slater Mill, being one of only a handful of venues for cultural tourism in the downtown area, must be dynamic in this area.
We approach our relationship with sponsors as a give and take. Not only do we seek their financial support, we also want the relationship to be beneficial to them, and to position them as supporting worthwhile causes in the community – which we understand is a large part of why they want to partner with us.
Attendance for our events varies. The RISCA/Traditional Arts Textile Convening is a targeted event, bringing in about 65 to 70 people from the fiber artist community. Knitting Weekend, our annual mini-conference for fiber artists, attracted nearly 1,000 people to our site. Major festival events are held in Hodgson Park, including Sam’s Birthday Car Cruise in June, and S.A.M. Fest in August, and can draw up to several thousand people over a weekend.

PBN: Woven Textile Arts is a staple of your programming. How do that and the Knitting Weekend keep the focus on the historic Slater Mill?
LANGHAM:
Slater Mill was the first successful cotton spinning mill in America, and is considered the birthplace of the American industrial revolution. Because of its 200-year history associated with fiber and textile production, it makes sense that our site provides place-based inspiration to those who desire to be involved in practicing fiber and textile production and art.
Fiber related events and programs fall under our arts initiative, Trad Arts Studio, which places emphasis on traditional/contemporary fiber/textile arts and historic arts. We hold classes and designer salons on site in the spring and fall, and we also host guild meetings year-round. The artists and students who meet here focus on turning traditional art into contemporary art, in a historic setting. Our instructors are true masters of their craft, and Trad Arts Studio is a way to give the community access to their knowledge.

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PBN: Slater Mill hosts the Blackstone River Block Party as part of the city of Pawtucket’s Arts Festival. How does this association benefit your nonprofit?
LANGHAM:
It is not by accident that the opening weekend of the Pawtucket Arts Festival takes place on our grounds. Slater Mill tells a major part of the story of Pawtucket, and Hodgson Park, adjacent to the Blackstone River, is a gem in the heart of the city.
That Friday night, Pawtucket kicks off their month long celebration of the city’s flourishing arts culture with a food festival and the Blackstone River Block Party. During this event, hundreds of people enjoy our site, and they often come back for a tour.
Our partnership with the city also enables us to produce S.A.M. Fest, Slater’s Art and Manufacture Festival, over the following weekend. In return for use of our grounds, the city provides the infrastructure for our largest event of the year.

PBN: You mix regular museum tours, walking tours, and guild meetings, with offerings that attract different crowds, like the Stone Soup Coffeehouse and the Mills & Mysteries Paranormal Investigation series. How much organizing does this take?
LANGHAM:
One of my professors once said to me, “You cannot create one thing for everyone, but you should have something for everyone.” We strive to have something everyone will enjoy, and while on the surface our variety of programs may not seem to be connected, each program we offer ties into the history of the site.
Behind the scenes, almost every staff member assists in planning and implementing our programs, from scheduling to developing the tours themselves. We have a dedicated and unique staff, and each person brings their own set of skills and perspectives to the museum.
Slater Mill interpreters created some of the more popular programs, including the paranormal investigations and the Labor History tour. Mills & Mysteries was developed by Keith and Carl Johnson, twin brothers who have spent most of their lives investigating paranormal phenomenon. The Labor History tour was developed by Joe DeFrancesco, who has a deep interest in labor rights and the history of the labor movement.
Even though our programs require a significant amount of work behind the scenes, they tell different stories about Slater Mill and bring visitors to the site who may not have been aware of all we have to offer.

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