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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 …
Confronting a Painful History: How a museum partnered with its Native community to educate the public about an offensive place name

By Michele Graves

The Black Rock Historical Society (BRHS) is a volunteer organization on the west side of Buffalo, NY, formed in 2013 around the two-hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812 and chartered with the New York State Education Department in …
Welcoming the Next Generation of Board Leadership

By Christina Carr

AAM’s Facing Change initiative has put the spotlight on museum board diversity, but not everyone thinks of bringing younger people onto the board when the topic comes up. Age diversity, though, can contribute to financial sustainability …
We, the Aged, Are an Integral Part of the Community

By Ken Gorbey

In April, while on a visit to New Zealand, I convened seven highly-respected Kiwi colleagues in Wellington to discuss creative aging. I asked two questions of the participants: How might our museums be more sensitive and responsive to the …
Taking a Museum Education Study from Research to Practice

By Emily Holtrop and Stephanie Downey

People often talk about going “from research to practice,” but in reality, this is fraught with challenges, not just among museums but in any field. One primary challenge is that research institutions operate in a realm of theories, …
2019 Award Winner for Innovation in Museum Education: Wa kuk wa jimor (“Canoe of One Community”)

By Allyn Lord

The EdCom Award for Innovation in Museum Education recognizes, encourages, and celebrates new, creative ways of engaging with audiences. The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History’s approach to collaborating with the local Marshallese …
Toward a National Convening on Museums and Creative Aging

By Bill Tramposch

Here are a few facts, to put you in the frame of mind to think (hard) on the power of aging creatively and the rich opportunities we have in museums to redouble our efforts to engage older adults and grow from their contributions: Fact: …
The Memory Café: Creating a museum program for people with dementia

By Norman Burns

At Conner Prairie—a Smithsonian Affiliate living history museum in Fishers, Indiana—we recently debuted a program for people with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. In partnership with the Central Indiana Council on Aging (CICOA) and Dementia …
Seeing Paris—and the World—through Small Museums

By Josette Souza

A few months ago, a museum exhibition sparked a thought in my mind that I haven’t stopped thinking about ever since. I was walking aimlessly around Paris and had just wandered into Le Musée des Arts et Métiers. There I found rows and rows …