Posts
Curatorial Practice
Design Shows Take On the Future. And It’s Not Pretty.
Museum curators and mindful millennials seek visions of a "clean," sustainable future. In Philadelphia, designers offer ideas to provoke. PHILADELPHIA - Design isn't what it used to be in …
Forging Deeper Connections
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2020 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. A look at two museums that are successfully engaging their audiences …
A Modest Proposal for Museum Collections: Apply the principle of direct costs for deaccessioning
Some years ago, shortly before I assumed the directorship of the Ringling Museum of Art—the state art museum of Florida—the leader of the Florida Legislature declared, “I love Rubens.” The …
Curators Take Flight: Four curators cast a wide eye on the shifting landscape for curatorial practice
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2020 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. It’s an exciting time to be a curator. The role is evolving and the …
The Museum Inside Out: The Chicago History Museum’s three decades of transformation offers a window into the changing role of curators and community engagement.
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2020 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. Founded in 1856, the Chicago Historical Society was imagined at a time …
Knowing Better, Doing Better: The San Diego Museum of Man takes a holistic approach to decolonization
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2020 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. As museum professionals, we typically think of the word “curate” as a …
Speechless: A sensory exhibition charts a new path to accessibility in learning
Museums are constantly experimenting with how we can present content in ways that engage and inform a wide audience. Part of the challenge is to consider issues of accessibility and …
Making a Museum in the Age of 3D Digital Models
In 2005, not long after the advent of tabletop 3D printing technology, the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology (UMMP; a research institution) used this approach to generate …
Zoos and Aquariums: Inspiring visitors, inspiring museums
I’ve been researching curatorial work for social justice for more than fifteen years and curating for more than ten. One of the biggest surprises I’ve had in this work came while I was …
Sharing the Wealth: Museums as Equity Engines
Recently, I’ve been speaking of museums as banks—repositories of enormous wealth of reputation, knowledge, and influence, in addition to the sheer value of their endowments. I’ve advanced …
Collection Ranking: Making deaccessions work for you
For all the objects in a museum’s collection that meet the standard criteria for accessioning—they fit the museum’s mission, are in good condition, and have thorough provenance—a …
Lessons in Cross-Cultural Partnerships for Mid-Sized Museums
On paper, the relationship between Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) and the Dordrecht Museum in the Netherlands looks like a typical museum partnership. For our recent exhibition Life in the …