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 museum; even though they may be eliciting feedback, …

How the Delaware Art Museum is Centering Community Voices in Interpretive Planning

In 2018, the Delaware Art Museum (DelArt) began a radically inclusive approach to reinstallation planning, integrating community voices at every stage through focus groups, iterative prototyping, and community-created content. But before …

It Is Time to Include AANHPIs In Museum Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion Efforts

Over the past year, we have all witnessed the increasing acts of hate and violence against Asian Americans, particularly against women and the elderly. Some have tried to cast these incidents as a new trend. Yet, for those of us who …

Virtual Internships Are Here to Stay—and That’s a Good Thing

Amid the challenges of 2020, one of the most successful learning experiences for me was pivoting to a 100 percent remote internship program at the National Gallery of Art. When I began planning to make the transition last March, I saw …

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, …

Hosting Remote Internships: Successes, Challenges, and Thoughts for the Future

When I posted our call for internship applications last December, I had a very different idea of what the summer would look like. A typical internship at the Chrysler Museum of Art involves current students or recent graduates gaining …

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 …

The Hiring Practice That Stymies Equity in the Museum Workforce

The authenticity of an organization’s actions to advance diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) is judged by two key factors: their consistency and comprehensiveness. Companies that have been commended on their approach to …

How the Cincinnati Museum Center Reinvented Itself after Racial Justice Protests in 2001

Watching people of all ages, races, religions, and nationalities stand up for equality in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, my thoughts have drifted back to my time at the Cincinnati Museum Center. In 2001, just after I joined the CMC as …

Black History in Our Own Backyard: Building Community in a COVID World

Lately, at the Neill-Cochran House Museum we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what community means, and the best way we can define it for our institution. This question has become even more critical since the COVID-19 pandemic …

Latest Stories from AAM

From the Trenches: Advice from an Emerging Museum Professional

Category: Alliance Blog
I didn’t always see myself working in museums. For most of my life, I was immersed in …

Civics on View: Using Museum Collections to Foster Greater Civic Knowledge and Understanding

At a time when much of the nation is thinking about what citizenship means, museums, …

The Formula for Relevance

Category: Center for the Future of Museums Blog
I love finding examples of museums that use their resources to boost the fortunes of …

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