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How the MAP Program Helped the expERIEnce Children’s Museum Move Full Steam Ahead

By Ainslie Brosig

When I became the executive director of the expERIEnce Children’s Museum in 2013, the museum was seeing tremendous growth in attendance and reinventing itself in the community. With these changes afoot, it was important to me and the rest …
Sofa So Good: A word on behalf of older folks

By Bill Tramposch

I don’t know about you, but a career in museums has made it very difficult for me to be a satisfied museum visitor. I find that I am always peering into “how the sausage is made,” as it were, noticing how the front-of-house staff interact …
What Can a “Manifesto Against Ageism” Teach Museums?

By Bill Tramposch

Prior to the publication of Ashton Applewhite’s “manifesto against ageism,” This Chair Rocks, one reviewer proclaimed that the book would do for our society’s view of aging what Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring did for the environment. Before …
What to Expect from the Core Documents Verification Process

By Luanne Kanzawa

In 2018, the Japanese Friendship Garden Society of San Diego (JFG) decided to embark on museum accreditation, taking the key step of participating in the Core Documents Verification program. The Japanese Friendship Garden is an institution …
2019 Award Winner for Innovation in Museum Education: Vizcaya’s Urban Farming School Program

By Diana Peña

The EdCom Award for Innovation in Museum Education recognizes, encourages, and celebrates new, creative ways of engaging with audiences. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens‘ Urban Farming School Program was lauded by the judges for engaging …
Creative Aging Reading List, Part Two: But wait, there’s more!

By Bill Tramposch

As the Aroha Fellowship for Museums and Creative Aging progresses, one of the delights is receiving notes from blog readers. A number of colleagues have sent further reading ideas for my list, and I am particularly grateful for the …
Every Museum Has a Story to Tell: Invite Congress to Visit Your Museum

By Ember Farber

Who: Museums and elected officials around the country! What: Annual Invite Congress to Visit Your Museum week. When: August 12-16, or whenever your elected officials and staff can make it. Where: Your museum! Why: So elected officials can …
Get about It: Change and Resistance

By Linda Norris

I’d never visited New Orleans before, and my brief but fascinating experience served as a metaphor for this year’s AAM Annual Meeting experience. New Orleans is a city of layers, with old finishes poking through, new ideas still pushing …
Unlocking the Neuroscience of Visitor Experience

By Tedi Asher, PhD

The act of understanding is fundamental to the museum experience. In visiting a museum, we come to understand the objects placed before us, along with the stories of their human pasts. So too is understanding a key to creating these …
Creating Vibrant Programs for Older Adults

By Delano Wood

It is a particular pleasure to hear from kindred spirits in creative aging who have been keeping up with our Ad Summa blogs. One such person is the indefatigable Delano Wood from DOROT in New York City. When he contacted me about his …