Building Audiences

How a Rapid-Response Pop-Up Inspired New Notions of Audience and Community

By Jeni O’Malley & Maggie Schmidt

The events of 2020 and 2021 forced museums to innovate in ways and at a speed that would have been unthinkable prior. Our hope is that 2022 brings about a time of reflection, where we take the time to process what we created under …
Join the Conversation: Creative Aging and the Future of Museums

By American Alliance of Museums

This is a recorded session from the 2020 AAM Virtual Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo. How can museums embrace the ‘Aging Revolution’ with purpose and intentionality? Learn from four museums that are developing programs for older adults with …
After MAP, KidsPlay Children’s Museum Is Ready to Build Community Bridges

By Mary Guilfoile, KidsPlay Board of Directors

Through the Museum Assessment Program, museums gain perspective on how to improve core areas of their operations, with a combination of guided self-reflection and close consultation with an expert Peer Reviewer. One of the many museums …
Changing Expectations, Changing Experiences: Cultural Audiences in the Post‐pandemic World

By American Alliance of Museums

This is a recorded session from the 2020 AAM Virtual Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo. Audience attitudes towards culture—including basic assumptions about what constitutes a cultural experience; the evolution in cultural spaces, programs, …
Engagement Strategies During Times of Low (or no) Attendance

By American Alliance of Museums

This is a recorded session from the 2020 AAM Virtual Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo. This session looks at how museums can engage with their audience during times of low, no, or altered (e.g. outdoor only) attendance. We will focus on three …
60 Ideas in 60 Minutes: Sizzling Ideas in Audience Engagement and Inclusion

By American Alliance of Museums

This is a recorded session from the 2020 AAM Virtual Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo. Watch this recording from the Public Relations and Marketing (PRAM) Professional Network, Visitor Experience Group (VEX), and International Audience …
From Preservation to Participation: The Journey of Sandy Spring Museum

By Allison Weiss

Many museums think that serving the needs of more ethnically diverse constituents will lose them “traditional” audience and supporters, but at Sandy Spring Museum (SSM), we’ve found just the opposite. Nearly ten years ago, when a financial …
How the Museum of Science and History in Memphis Used the Pandemic to Springboard Its Strategic Plan

By Kevin Thompson

By the time the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis had already started a radical reshaping of its image, structure, and programming. When I began as Executive Director in January 2020, we were armed with an …
Museums Can Renew America Through the Semiquincentennial

By John Garrison Marks

Though it may still feel like a long way off, the United States’ 250th anniversary is rapidly approaching. Right now, the US Semiquincentennial Commission, federal agencies, state history organizations, and individual museums throughout …
Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums

By American Alliance of Museums

The Latino Network of the American Alliance of Museums has released Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums, a new in-depth resource which provides background information and strategies for engaging and representing …