2025 – American Alliance of Museums

The Most Active Museum Junction Threads of 2025

By Joseph O'Neill

Whether you want to pose a question to the general museum community, start a discussion with members of your specialty, or reach people who share the same identity or affinity, AAM’s virtual Museum Junction network is your go-to …
Twelve Museum Innovations in 2025

By Joseph O'Neill

Throughout the year, AAM’s Center for the Future of Museums keeps careful track of how the future is looking, for our world and for our field. In its regular Dispatches series, the CFM shares both broad signals of social, …
The Top Ten Alliance Blog Posts of 2025

By Joseph O'Neill

Some years, it takes a bit of reflection to find the throughline in museum discourse. 2025 has not been one of them. The main story has been clear: as a new presidential administration came into power, its actions and policies shook the …
AAM Statement Regarding the December 18 White House Letter to the Smithsonian Institution

By American Alliance of Museums

The American Alliance of Museums is aware of the White House’s December 18, 2025 letter to the Smithsonian Institution. We support the Smithsonian Institution’s continued thoughtful engagement with this request, guided by the governance …
December Advocacy Alert: Museums Advocacy Day Registration Open, IMLS Grants Restored, and more

By American Alliance of Museums

Advocacy Alert – December 12, 2025 In this Alliance Advocacy Alert: Museums Advocacy Day 2026 – Feb. 23-24: Registration is Open! Registration is open for Museums Advocacy Day 2026! Museums Advocacy Day brings the museum …
The Next Incarnation of Dispatches from the Future of Museums

By Elizabeth Merritt

On September 2, 2009, the Center for the Future of Museums sent the first edition of Dispatches from the Future of Museums out into the world. It was, as we described it at the time, “a vehicle to bring you timely, useful information about …
Info Sheet: New York County District Attorney Targeting Museums Outside of its Jurisdiction

By American Alliance of Museums

Background: The Art Institute of Chicago is involved in civil litigation in Illinois over the ownership of a drawing allegedly taken during the Nazi era. The case is being heard in Illinois, and both the museum and the object are located …
How Closing Perception Gaps Can Depolarize Issues and Motivate Action

By Sray Martin

When designing exhibitions, museums try to create experiences that expand visitors’ awareness of their social context, providing new information to broaden or shift their perspective. To do so, we have to understand where they’re coming …
Unlocking Teen Genius: A New Toolkit for Museums Designing the Future

By Tess Benoit

When the Center for the Future of Museums imagines the cultural institution of tomorrow, we often point to a world where museums are not just repositories of history, but engines for human possibility, civic imagination, and the skills …
When Cultural Institutions Are Targeted: Global Lessons for Resilience

By Yelena V Litvinov and Tatyana Margolin

While we can’t predict the future, we can explore ways it may unfold by looking at the world around us. As author William Gibson observed, “the future is already here, it is just not evenly distributed,” and I’ve …