Alliance Blog

The Alliance blog provides the museum community with a place to share stories and insights, in their own voice, reaching thousands of people across the global museum field.

Explore all Publications from the Alliance.

Explore the AAM Resource Library by topic, and further filter by subtopic or resource types to find what matters most to you!

Strategies for Building Community: Lessons from the “Gallery Guide Guide”

By Sydney Skelton Simon & Molleen Theodore

Hi! We are Sydney Skelton Simon, the Bradley Associate Curator of Academic Affairs, and Molleen Theodore, the Jane and Gerald Katcher Curator of Programs, at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, CT. We are colleagues in the …
The Path to Director: A Q&A with Jay Xu of Asian Art Museum

By Adam Rozan

I lived in San Francisco for almost six years while working at the Oakland Museum of California, and during that time, I came to know and love the city’s Asian Art Museum. When I heard the recent news that its longtime director, Jay …
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 …
Breaking Down Visitation by Museum Type: A 2024 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

By Susie Wilkening

This visual Data Story is based on findings from the 2024 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 …
Saying No: A Practical Guide

By Hilary Branch

Most of us in the museum field feel we have too much work and too little time. No matter how much we get done, our to-do lists never seem to get any shorter—only longer by leaps and bounds. Despite our heavy workloads, it’s hard to say no …
Innovations in Relevance: A Q&A with Stephen Reily of Remuseum

By Adam Rozan

I first learned about Stephen Reily when he was the director of Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, which at the time was making headlines for its Breonna Taylor-themed exhibition Promise, Witness, Remembrance. His name popped up …
Hope for the Future and Museums: Community and Family—A 2024 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

By Susie Wilkening

This visual Data Story is based on findings from the 2024 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 …
Hope for the Future and Museums: Enthusiasm and Resistance—A 2024 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

By Susie Wilkening

For many of us who work in the museum field, the idea of "hope" feels like a positive outcome of a museum visit, and thus worthy of cultivation. Fortunately, most museum-goers agree! As we saw in our introductory Data Story on hope, …
Scrappy Ways to Get Your Museum in the News

By Sarah Maiellano

For many museums—especially small- or medium-sized institutions where everyone wears multiple hats—a marketing department is a luxury, let alone dedicated media relations staff. For those without experience dealing with the press, the …
Hope for the Future and Museums: A 2024 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

By Susie Wilkening

In the 2024 survey, we specifically considered the importance of hope in motivating museum-goers to take a more positive and proactive approach to the future. To find out what the public thinks about museums and hope, we asked a series of …