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Transforming Data into Stories with the Annual Survey of Museum-Goers

By Lindy Hoyer

Who visits our museums? What are their motivations, and what do they expect from the experience? Alternatively, who is not visiting, and why not? These are critical questions for the future of individual museums, and for the entire field. …
So You Want to Serve on a Museum Board?

By Christina Carr

In my last article for AAM on welcoming the next generation of board leadership, I encouraged young people who were interested in board service to develop their leadership skills and create opportunities at the museums they love. This is …
Somewhere Near the End

By Dr. Virginia Tandy

Creative aging is a global movement, and the demographic phenomena behind it are happening in many countries beyond the United States. Today’s guest post on the Ad Summa blog comes from a leader in the UK’s creative aging movement, Dr. …
A Modest Proposal for Museum Collections: Apply the principle of direct costs for deaccessioning

By John Wetenhall

Some years ago, shortly before I assumed the directorship of the Ringling Museum of Art—the state art museum of Florida—the leader of the Florida Legislature declared, “I love Rubens.” The Ringling was widely known for its rare and …
Conferencing While Introverted

By Hannah Hethmon

Something that I hear a lot of first-time museum conference attendees say is that they’re worried about being an introvert in such a demanding, extroverted environment. So I thought, for my official blog post as a 2019 Social Media …
Funding for Creative Aging Programs

By Bill Tramposch

Without exception, the idea of initiating creative aging projects and programs at our museums is a very attractive one, but finding support to launch such efforts is another matter altogether. But let’s look on the bright(ening) side. More …
Speechless: A sensory exhibition charts a new path to accessibility in learning

By Sarah Schleuning

Museums are constantly experimenting with how we can present content in ways that engage and inform a wide audience. Part of the challenge is to consider issues of accessibility and disability, to develop different ways of communicating …
Four Ways Modern Audiovisual Technologies are Helping Museums Improve Exhibits and Operations

By Dan Goldstein

The museum field is using modern audiovisual (AV) technologies to reinvent how people experience art, cultural antiquities, and historical events. Some of these methods include developing immersive digital exhibits, deploying virtual and …
Philanthropy and Creative Aging

By Bill Tramposch

Philanthropy is often thought of as the giving of money to some cause, in our case to our museums. But in essence philanthropy is a human resource, and as such it should be viewed from three perspectives: not just treasure but also …
The Best Museum #GivingTuesday Campaigns of 2019

By American Alliance of Museums

GivingTuesday is a “global generosity movement” originally founded in 2012 by New York’s 92nd Street Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. Every year, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is designated as a day of …