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Community Engagement & Impact
Applying Art History to Workplace Safety: Saving Lives and Growing Revenue at the Toledo Museum of Art
Over the course of its distinguished 120-year history of art education, the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) has offered classes that extend beyond simple drawing and painting into topics ranging …
How Philadelphia Cultural Institutions Embraced Collaboration to Address Opportunity Gaps
If there is a positive outcome of the pandemic’s impact on cultural institutions, it may be the willingness to ideate and take different approaches to our work to ensure that no one is …
With the Help of MAP, the Manassas Museum Met Its Changing Community’s Needs
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 …
Picture of Health: How MFA, St. Petersburg, Reimagined the Museum Program as a Source of Wellness and Healing
As the Curator of Public Programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, my professional focus has always been the MFA’s public spaces, performing arts venue, and gardens—not the …
From Preservation to Participation: The Journey of Sandy Spring Museum
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 …
These Museums Helped Welcome Immigrants and Refugees to their Community, and Yours Can Too!
Welcoming America’s annual Welcoming Week enlists organizations around the country to welcome new immigrants and refugees into their new communities. This year, AAM is a national partner of …
Designing for Engagement: Five Steps for Co-Creating Exhibits and Programs with Your Communities
Museums are changing how they interact with the communities they serve, adopting practices that are more inclusive and engaging for all. One of the practices they are increasingly turning …
A Deeper Model of Community Co-Creation
Museums often talk about reaching out to communities, or co-creating with community members, for an exhibition or project. But often in these cases, the formula is lopsided in favor the …
PIVOT: When the Exhibit Title Sets the Tone
The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College had just installed its latest exhibit, PIVOT: Skateboard Deck Art, when the pandemic hit in March 2020. Over the next year, the …
How the Museum of Science and History in Memphis Used the Pandemic to Springboard Its Strategic Plan
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 …
Museums Can Renew America Through the Semiquincentennial
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 …