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Want to Teach Diversity and Inclusion? Go Outside!

By Dan Kriesberg & Camille S. Edwards

“The fresh air, sounds, and sunshine [are] peaceful.” “I can sit differently, and that helps me focus.” “We can see what we are learning about.” “[It’s] easier to reset with nature sounds.” Since we began teaching our Diversity Education …
Why Museums Need Internal Audit

By Humza Elahi, Christienne Johnson, Roman Lindauer, and Laurie Scofield

How do you feel when you hear the words “internal audit”? For many people, the answer is a sense of anxiety and perhaps even a muttered “uh oh.” As a group of museum internal auditors, we’re used to confronting this reaction from our …
Sealed with a Kiss: A Q&A on Gallery Belvedere’s Multimillion-Dollar NFT

By Adam Rozan

I’ve long been interested in the ways that today’s cultural organizations go about raising the necessary funds to support their work—especially non-traditional approaches. The most recent example that caught my eye was from the Gallery …
Seizing the Moment: How Museum Outreach and Programming Can Champion Overlooked Communities

By Deborah Ziska

Sometimes, instead of waiting for an invitation, overlooked communities will come knocking at your door. If so, is your museum ready to be fearless, seize the moment, collaborate, share narratives, and maybe even have some fun? One such …
Out of Sight: How Museums Can Harness the Blind Perspective to Enrich Visitor Experiences

By Violet Rose Arma

Do blind people enjoy visiting museums? Yes and no. Cheryl Fogle-Hatch and Don Winiecki captured this complicated reality in 2020, when they conducted a survey of blind adults discussing their feelings about museums. Here were a few of the …
Climate Action Heroes: How National Children’s Museum Is Empowering the Next Generation of Climate Innovators

By Meredith Hamme & Paige Childs

African American students walking out of school to march for equal rights in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. Eight-year-old activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins climbing out of her wheelchair and up the steps of the US Capitol to support the …
Finding New Audiences in Small Markets

By Mary Zell Galen

While most major museums are based in urban centers or tourist hubs, those located in more rural areas face a unique challenge to expand their reach. Without a large local population or a steady flow of out-of-towners, how can isolated …
The Top Ten Alliance Blog Posts of 2023

By Joseph O'Neill

2023 was a year of deep reflection for museums, both inward and outward. Facing continued disruptions from the long tail of the pandemic—especially to staffing, attendance, and finances—the field examined its inherited structures and …
The Top Ten Museum Junction Threads of 2023

By Joseph O'Neill

If you aren’t already a regular visitor to Museum Junction, AAM’s online discussion forum for museum people, now’s a great time to join! This long-running community, frequented by knowledgeable and generous museum colleagues, gained a host …
External Pressures on Museum-Going: A 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

By Susie Wilkening

This visual Data Story is based on findings from the 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers, a national survey of American museum visitors from AAM and Wilkening Consulting. Every year, the survey partners with individual museums to research …