An Unconventional Museum Education: Prioritizing Community Need
Ever since I was a student of museum studies at Georgetown University, I’ve been interested in how to embed museums into their communities in more useful and necessary ways. Now, at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library …
The Benefits and Challenges of Producing Creative Aging Programs for the LGBTQIA+ Community
Since 2018, AAM has partnered with Aroha Philanthropies to highlight and support museums that are developing programs for older adults, and to encourage others to do the same. The aim has been to address the epidemic of ageism, both within …
Rebuilding Pathways: How DEAI and Creative Aging Intersect at the Speed Art Museum
As museums work to become more diverse, equitable, accessible, and inclusive, one community is often left out of the discourse: people over the age of fifty-five. This may be because they already appear to be well-represented. After all, …
The State of the Museum Field in 2020, as Viewed by Students
On a day in April 2020, Richard E. Jones—a recent St. John’s University graduate who grew up with a view of New York City’s famous “Museum Mile” from his Harlem neighborhood—looked down the street toward the Metropolitan Museum of Art. …
Why I Abandoned the Traditional Museum Education Model
Personal stories are how we, at Nemours Estate, connect our visitors with the duPont family who once lived in this grand place. So I’d like to share my personal story of building a museum education program from the ground up, to illustrate …
onePULSE, Many Perspectives: Collaborating with Diverse Stakeholders to Develop the National Pulse Memorial & Museum
In the aftermath of a tragedy, there is no one way for communities to grieve and heal. This is especially true when the event impacts people on a national or even international scale. The response, as well as any attempt at permanent …
With Rapid Response Collecting, Who Are We Responding To?
After the start of protests over the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent looting of businesses, hundreds of plywood boards went up in Greensboro, North Carolina’s downtown. But these boards, which could have been an angry reminder …
Running with Scissors: Creating a Sustainable History Experience (2017-2020)
You may know that Old Salem Museums & Gardens (OSMG) and The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, have been making considerable changes over the past four years. What you may not know is …
My Primary School is in a Museum—US Pandemic Edition
Can you imagine being a school-age kid during this pandemic? Whether they are glued to a screen trying to learn via Zoom, attending class masked and distanced, or being home-schooled, this experience will shape our youngest generation for …
Essential Evaluators: Separation of Powers
Essential Evaluators seeks to gather evaluators in a common space to dialogue, reflect, and support each other in a world upended by COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protest movement. This is a time of uncertain and unknown expectations …
