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A Small Museum’s Rapid Response Collecting Project for COVID-19

By Anne Raymond

For historians, there is history in the making at any given moment. The life events, triumphs, and tragedies we experience and record help us define our ever-changing world for generations to come. So, when the coronavirus began affecting …
How Complexity Theory Can Help Decision-Making in Chaotic Times

By Jennifer Martin

You wouldn’t be wrong to call these times chaotic. But chaos, though not always life-threatening in the way of COVID-19, is not uncommon in our work. In November of 2011, I was a CEO leading the opening of a brand-new science center—new …
A Local Chairmaking Tradition Inspires Older Adults at John Michael Kohler Arts Center

By Claire Carlson

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 …
One Museum’s Plan to Keep Its Full Staff During COVID-19

By Joseph O'Neill

Like most sectors of the economy, the museum field is facing sharp losses in revenue and uncertainty about when they will be reversed. Many institutions have decided to lay off, furlough, or otherwise reduce the employment or pay of staff …
In Times Like These: Managing Museums Through Crises

By Christy S. Coleman

On March 23, I sent out a tweet thread to encourage museum peers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little did I know those simple tweets would resonate with so many. I wrote: Having led museums during significant national crises (9/11, Great …
Older Adults Find Creative Expression through Movement and Dance at the Anchorage Museum

By Molissa Udevitz

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 …
Museums and Equity in Times of Crisis

By Andrew Plumley

Just weeks ago, many of us in the museum field were in our offices, in the halls of our institutions, outside on our grounds, or observing nature at our zoos or aquariums. Now we are in a new place. We are in an unprecedented time in our …
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s #MuseumFromHome Strategy: Funny TikToks

By Joseph O'Neill

Ever since the rash of closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, museums have been working behind the scenes to set strategies for engaging the public through remote alternatives. Within days, two hashtags emerged on social media …
International Museum Day 2020 Goes Digital and Spotlights “Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion”

By Deborah Ziska

From celebrating tribal traditions in Kenya to reconnecting with immigrant roots in Taiwan, tens of thousands of museums all over the world held International Museum Day activities in 2019. This year, however, the fortieth anniversary of …
The Louisiana State Museum’s Community-Building Creative Aging Program

By Sara Lowenburg

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 …