2020 – Page 25 – American Alliance of Museums

The Life and Legacy of Harriet Tubman

By Andrea DeKoter and Kimberly Szewczyk

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote, we pay tribute to a luminous spirit that enlightens our quest for human rights and dignity. This article originally appeared …
Practicing What We Preach

By Paula Birnbaum

Museum studies graduate students co-curate a feminist art exhibition to test assumptions on ideal approaches to inclusion. This article originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. …
Abstract Art, Concrete Goals

By Kara Fedje and Jared Ledesma

The Des Moines Art Center diversified its audience—and educated its staff—with an exhibition on queer abstraction that transformed the frame of reference for its cause. This article originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue …
House and Senate Appropriations Letters Now Circulating – Ask Your Legislators to Sign On Today!

By American Alliance of Museums

Advocacy Alert – February 28, 2020 Ask Your Legislators to Sign On Today! Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY), Andy Barr (R-KY), Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and David McKinley (R-WV) and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Susan Collins …
Nature Inspires Lessons in Self-Confidence for Creative Agers at a Florida Botanical Garden

By Jennifer Reed

In 2018, twenty organizations enrolled in a special museum cohort of Aroha Philanthropies’ Seeding Vitality Arts program. With funding from Aroha, and training provided by Lifetime Arts, these museums are developing high-quality, intensive …
Beyond Binary

By Melissa Alexander and Dina Herring

Developing an exhibition on the many faces of identity unmasks the slippery nature of truths and beliefs about gender. This article originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. At the …
What Can Museums Learn from the “American Dirt” Controversy?

By Eric Carpio

As an avid reader of Chicanx/Latinx literature, I’ve been closely following the national conversation about the recently released novel American Dirt by author Jeanine Cummins. The conversation—which highlights issues of race, ethnicity, …
Soundtrack for an Equitable Conference

By Janeen Bryant

Cradled in soulful New Orleans, the 2019 American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting offered a variety of new sights and sounds in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the United States. Inspired by the well-crafted NOLA playlist …
Sharing the Webinar Recording: Creating Sustainable Financial Models for Research Collections

By Elizabeth Merritt

Last month, Jill Parsons at the Ecological Society of America and Judy Gradwohl of the San Diego Natural History Museum joined me online to explore how museums can build income streams around their collections and win hearts and minds in …
Revisiting the Summit on Creativity and Aging in America

By Bill Tramposch

The 2015 Summit on Creativity and Aging in America represented a key turning point in our country’s conversation about creative aging. Co-presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Center for Creative Aging, the …