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Why Museum Store Sunday Matters and What’s New for This Year
Enter through the museum store! Much more than a gift shop, the museum store has become a major earned revenue stream for parent institutions as they continue to recover post-pandemic. And …
Lessons in Co-Locating: A Q&A with the Denver Public Library and Denver Zine Library
While attending this year’s AAM Annual Meeting in Denver, I stopped by Denver Public Library’s Bob Ragland Branch to visit another, smaller library located within this branch: the Denver …
Earth Works: Establishing a Green Team at Your Museum
“People don’t have to do heroic things. Very few of us can do heroic things. But we can do little things. And at certain points in history, millions of those little things accumulate and …
Using an Annual DEAI Report as a Tool for Transparency, Accountability, and Change
At science museums, we spend considerable time and effort instilling the notion in our visitors that mistakes are not something to shy away from, but opportunities for learning and growth. …
Disrupting Museum Behavior: An Exploration of the Art Institute of Chicago’s “Cripping the Galleries”
On a hot Sunday afternoon, Sydney Erlikh, seated in a wheelchair, leaned against Maypril Krukowski, a woman with glasses seated on a bench. Sounds of church bells, shuffling footsteps, and …
Asset-Based Community Development: Shifting Museums’ Center of Gravity
Twenty-two years ago, I was leading the strategic planning process for a museum education department when I noticed something interesting. Even though we called ourselves the “education” …
From SME to C-Suite: Complementing Your Specialization with a Business School Education
In June, reporter Robin Pogrebin published “What Does It Take to Run a Museum? The Job Description is Changing.” in The New York Times. Drawing on interviews with veteran art museum …
A Toolkit to Measure Your Museum’s Social Impact
While social and community impact is increasingly viewed as central to museums’ missions as acknowledged in the Alliance’s most recent strategic framework, the issue of measuring that …
Museums as Disaster Responders: A Q&A with Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate
Have you ever wondered what it takes to create a strong, lively community? Recently, this question led me to revisit the work and writings of Ray Oldenburg, who first developed the concept …
Can You Help Us Build the Ultimate Museum Resource Library?
Looking for something to help you at work? Tips for acing a job interview, a guide to writing a strategic plan, best practices for accessibility at a virtual event? AAM’s Resource …
New On-Demand Programs from #AAM2023
The AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo is one of the most critical opportunities for our field to come together and learn from one another. While it remains the largest annual in-person …
A History of Museum Resilience: Q&A with Author Samuel Redman
When the pandemic arrived and made its far-reaching impact on our people and institutions, many wondered if we would ever recover. Few could recall such an existential crisis during their …