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In Good Relation: Reimagining the Grant Process for Community-Based Projects

In recent years, there have been renewed calls for museums to adopt more inclusive and equitable practices, with significant changes to the ways we work and collaborate at all levels of our …

An Afrofuturist School Program Empowers Children to Envision the Future

Futurism is a powerful tool to share with kids—equipping them to think about the world they want to live in when they grow up, challenging them to make it better. Today on the blog, …

Remarks from Benin Bronzes Repatriation Ceremony

On October 11, 2022, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art hosted a repatriation ceremony in which officials of the museum transferred ownership of twenty-nine Benin bronzes and …

‘Relationships Don’t Have an End Goal’: A Q&A with the Burke Museum’s Decolonization & DEAI Team

Some of the newest, and most defining, jobs in the current era of museums are those focusing on decolonization and diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion. In recent years, as more …

A Long Way Home for ‘Looted’ Art Is Getting Shorter

Curators at major museums are increasingly grappling with a thorny topic: restitution. This article is part of our latest special section on Museums, which focuses on new artists, new …

Recasting the Civic Imperative of the Museum

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2021 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. Liberating collections from their imperialist pasts can occur through a …

Carnegie Museum asks for visitor feedback on cultural sensitivity, exhibits with complicated pasts

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History is taking steps to help reckon with its colonial…

Rethinking Our Human Resources Practices to Build a More Equitable Museum

Less than three weeks after COVID forced museums around the globe to close their doors last year, an article by Arundhati Roy in The Financial Times titled “The Pandemic is a Portal” …

Germany first to hand back Benin bronzes looted by British

Germany is to become the first country to hand back the Benin bronzes looted by British soldiers in the late nineteenth century. A decision on the restitution was facilitated by the fact …

How Two Artists’ Transformation of a Portland Museum May Provide a Blueprint for Larger Institutions

Washington County Museum in Portland, Oregon brought itself back from the brink of failure through decolonizing its practices and reinventing itself as the Five …

“Decolonizing is Literally Unsettling”: Repatriation of Nonprofit Land and Assets

On July 16, 2020, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) and the Yale Union (YU) announced that YU would transfer its land and building in Portland, Oregon, to NACF. The historic …

The Call of the Moment: Marjorie Schwarzer on the New Edition of Riches, Rivals, and Radicals

Riches, Rivals, and Radicals: A History of Museums in America has been read by students, professionals, and museum lovers alike since its first publication in 2006; its public television …
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Contact Senators to Speak Up for Museums

Category: Advocacy Alert
Advocacy Alert – March 31, 2023 In this Alliance Advocacy Alert: Contact Congress: Urge Your Senators to Support OMS Funding Now! Ask Your Legislators: Co-sponsor Charitable Giving …

Diversifying Museum Boards

Category: Facing Change
Introduction (This video runs 1:58) Navigation Content Description Learning Objectives How to use this guide Discussion Guide & Facilitator Notes Videos Key Terms Presenter Bios Content …

Retaining Racially & Ethnically Diverse Museum Board Members

Category: On-Demand Programs: Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion
 (This video runs 56:05) Return to Diversifying Museum Boards main page Supporting Documents Facing Change: Building Board Diversity—Retention (Slide Deck) Intent vs. Impact Museum Board …

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