How Philadelphia Cultural Institutions Embraced Collaboration to Address Opportunity Gaps
If there is a positive outcome of the pandemic’s impact on cultural institutions, it may be the willingness to ideate and take different approaches to our work to ensure that no one is excluded—particularly low-income communities, where …
Museum Store Sunday—Five Years and Going Strong!
Is your institution ready for Museum Store Sunday, taking place this year on November 28 (the Sunday after Thanksgiving)? 2021 marks the fifth anniversary of this worldwide museum retail advocacy event—five years of supporting cultural …
A Q&A with Dirk Hiscock, Designer of This Year’s Winner for Excellence in Publication Design
After reviewing hundreds of entries every year, the jury for AAM’s annual Museum Publications Design Competition awards only one publication with the Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Excellence in Publication Design, recognizing it as the …
“Activating Smithsonian Open Access” Proposes New Models for Interacting with Museum Collections
In February 2021, Cooper Hewitt’s Interaction Lab launched an open call for proposals for inspiring digital interactions with Smithsonian Open Access collections for people all over the globe. Made possible by Verizon 5G Labs, Activating …
With the Help of MAP, the Manassas Museum Met Its Changing Community’s Needs
Through the Museum Assessment Program, museums gain perspective on how to improve core areas of their operations, with a combination of guided self-reflection and close consultation with an expert Peer Reviewer. One of the many museums …
Picture of Health: How MFA, St. Petersburg, Reimagined the Museum Program as a Source of Wellness and Healing
As the Curator of Public Programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, my professional focus has always been the MFA’s public spaces, performing arts venue, and gardens—not the collection galleries. Most of the museum programs I’ve …
Creating Connections: Merging Lifelong Learning and Music Therapy
The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix, Arizona, celebrates music and world cultures through a multisensory experience—where guests can “travel” the globe through the sights and sounds of MIM’s geographically organized exhibits. As …
How a Disturbing Historical Discovery Inspired a New Mission at Old North Foundation
The enduring fame of the Old North Church in Boston began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when church sexton Robert Newman and vestryman Capt. John Pulling Jr. climbed the steeple and raised two lanterns as a signal that the British were …
Ethical Contracting: Is Your Museum Doing It?
The way we work is changing. The growth of the “gig” economy is accelerating in a post-COVID world, as the desirability of freelance work increases for employees seeking flexible schedules and greater autonomy, or who were forced into a …
All Hands on Deck: How Museum Staff Boosted Wisconsin’s Pandemic Response
Prior to the onset of the global pandemic, it would have been hard to imagine a scenario in which history and museum professionals played a direct role in matters of public health and workforce development. Yet this is the challenge some …
