March 2025 – Page 2 – American Alliance of Museums

Special Screening of Repatriation Documentary at AAM 2025

By Elizabeth Merritt

I’m excited to announce that AAM has arranged a special showing of the 2024 documentary Dahomey at the upcoming AAM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. Dahomey, directed by French Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop, explores the repatriation of 26 …
Questions for Museum Leaders to ask Federal Grant & Program Managers

By American Alliance of Museums

1. Understanding How Recent Executive Orders Affect Funding 2. Compliance & Eligibility Adjustments 3. Future Funding & Long-Term Planning What steps should we be taking now to position the museum for future funding opportunities? …
AAM Statement on the Executive Order, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy

By American Alliance of Museums

For Immediate Release On March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, directing further cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an agency that is already …
Urgent: Act Now to Save IMLS

By American Alliance of Museums

NOW is the time to speak up for museums! On March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO), Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, directing further cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), …
Ask Your Museum’s Supporters to Save IMLS

By American Alliance of Museums

Engaging your museum’s supporters and the public in museum advocacy can be a critical way to share the impacts recent Executive Orders have had on the museum field and garner support for your museum’s role in your community. Now is the …
Against Efficiency

By Elizabeth Merritt

On occasion, I use this space to comment on norms and practices that I feel do active harm to our sector and our peers. (See, for example, my short rant on “quiet quitting” and the pernicious effects of workplace heroism.) Today I’m going …
Demystifying Accreditation: Perspective from Peer Reviewers

By American Alliance of Museums

AAM accreditation comes with significant benefits, including national credibility, enhanced relationships with peers and supporters, and institutional sustainability. But what does the process of obtaining these benefits entail, and how do …
Future Chat: Managing Digital Risk

By American Alliance of Museums

Your museum has embraced the digital world. Digitized collections, an asset management system, ticketing, customer relations system, volunteer and event management, and other solutions to the myriad of business requirements needed to run a …
Living in a Wild Future

By Elizabeth Merritt

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic upended the world for Americans and American museums, my job shifted from focusing on the far future to the immediate present. As museum leaders struggled with urgent decisions about keeping people …