Community Engagement & Impact

Serving Incarcerated Youth

By Elizabeth Merritt

Next up in our #AAM2017 guest posts, Megan Bednarz previews the case study she will present on Sunday, May 7, from 1:45 – 2:15 pm. If you haven’t registered for the conference yet—this series of sneak peeks might just convince you to join …
Museum Work as Socially Engaged Art

By Elizabeth Merritt

Hi, Nicole here! During January’s inaugural leg of the Future of Education Road Trip, my fellow fellow Sage Morgan-Hubbard and I were wowed (and not a little moved) by our meeting with Socially Engaged Artist daniel johnson at …
Confronting the Trauma of War

By Elizabeth Merritt

I’m often challenged by people outside our field to convince them that museums aren’t just nice, but necessary–that museums can and do serve essential human needs. Providing healing, catharsis, reconciliation—I can’t think of …
Activism, homelessness and a new kind of museum

By Elizabeth Merritt

Museum people are deeply engaged with the issue of whether, when, and how our organizations should take a stand on mission-related issues. When should museums be neutral and “just present the facts?” When should museums stake out a …
Welcoming New Citizens: A Natural Role for Museums

By Elizabeth Merritt

When Nicole Ivy and I were working on the 2016 edition of TrendsWatch, CFM’s annual forecasting report, we identified mass migration as a global trend having a huge impact on museums and their communities. The topic was so complex we spent …
We must decolonize our museums!

By Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko

“Museums can be very painful sites for Native peoples, as they are intimately tied to the colonization process,” writes Ho-Chunk scholar Amy Lonetree. Reading this passage for the first time in 2012 stopped me in my tracks and forced me …
Breaking the Cycle of Youth Incarceration: museums and alternative sentencing

By Elizabeth Merritt

Back in August, I shared a blog post describing how the Eastern State Penitentiary is moving “beyond neutrality” to tackle the injustice of mass incarceration. The massive interest in that post (it is, to date, the most highly read post …
Painting in Blue

By Elizabeth Merritt

I became interested in Amy Herman’s work for several reasons. She harnesses the power of art to teach empathy, helping people in positions of power—be it medicine or law enforcement—relate more compassionately to the people they serve. Her …
The CFM Future of Education Tour starts in 2017 in the Southeast!

By Elizabeth Merritt

This week we are pleased to share our own bit of good news: CFM Fellows Sage Morgan-Hubbard and Nicole Ivy announce they are taking their work on the road with The Future of Education Tour. In January 2017, they will set out on the first …
Crafting courageous truths: The creation and philosophy of MASS Action: Museum As Site for Social Action

By Elizabeth Merritt

Today, Porchia Moore, Aletheia Wittman, Elisabeth Callihan, nikhil trivedi, Janeen Bryant, and Sage Morgan-Hubbard share thoughts on the recent MASS Action convening. Here they outline the vision for the three-year project and describe the …