Demographic Change

Peering into Percentages: A Q&A with Susie Wilkening

By Adam Rozan

Spend enough time reading or talking about museums, and you will inevitably come across statistics that convey the vibrancy or challenges of our field. For every percentage point, there is a person behind that figure, working hard to …
After MAP, KidsPlay Children’s Museum Is Ready to Build Community Bridges

By Mary Guilfoile, KidsPlay Board of Directors

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 expert Peer Reviewer. One of the many museums …
With the Help of MAP, the Manassas Museum Met Its Changing Community’s Needs

By Mary Helen Dellinger & Rachel Goldberg

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 expert Peer Reviewer. One of the many museums …
Digital Migrants and Digital Nomads: Reshaping Museum Communities

By Elizabeth Merritt

Hello, this is Elizabeth. I’m trying to recover from my pandemic writing rut by drafting a short post each week, commenting on the news. (Kind of like the old CFM series “Monday Musing,” but who can tell which day is Monday anymore?) You …
From Preservation to Participation: The Journey of Sandy Spring Museum

By Allison Weiss

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 the opposite. Nearly ten years ago, when a financial …
What I Learned in a Year of Writing “Museums and Creative Aging: A Healthful Partnership”

By Marjorie Schwarzer

The creative aging movement is coming of age, and just in the nick of time. As of last year, 80 percent of state arts agencies across the United States reported a high or very high demand for creative aging programs in their state, which …
Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums

By American Alliance of Museums

The Latino Network of the American Alliance of Museums has released Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums, a new in-depth resource which provides background information and strategies for engaging and representing …
Gen Z is leaning in. Are museums ready to make room?

By Caroline Klibanoff

Change is multifaceted, and demographic change is no exception. For example, the population of the US is steadily becoming more diverse with regard to race, culture, and gender. Children under the age of 15 are already “majority minority” …
Museums and the Census: How can you help?

By American Alliance of Museums

The 2020 United States Census is right around the corner, with National Census Day taking place on April 1, and it’s time for museums to start thinking about how they’ll be involved. This once-a-decade process of counting the country’s …
A Welcoming Week Celebration on the US-Mexico Border

By Ann Fortescue and Claudia Martinez

This fall, AAM partnered with Welcoming America to encourage museums to participate in its annual Welcoming Week, in which organizations around the country welcome new immigrants and refugees into their new communities. For one AAM member, …