Is That Hung White? Revisiting Issues of Race and Inclusion in Exhibitions
This is a recorded session from the 2020 AAM Virtual Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo. In 2019, we got real and vulnerable about the consequences stemming from the lack of diversity and representation within the museum exhibition field. We …
How Can Education Programs Help Bridge the Digital Divide?
In this series of posts, EdCom’s Trends Committee is taking a deeper look at emerging phenomena identified in the 2021 edition of TrendsWatch from the Center for the Future of Museums. In this post, they explore how museums sought to …
Lessons in Equity from Culturally‐specific Museums
This is a recorded session from the 2020 AAM Virtual Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo. Many culturally‐specific museums are committed to providing space, a consistent platform, and an authentic voice for people of color. However, as …
How Philadelphia Cultural Institutions Embraced Collaboration to Address Opportunity Gaps
If there is a positive outcome of the pandemic’s impact on cultural institutions, it may be the willingness to ideate and take different approaches to our work to ensure that no one is excluded—particularly low-income communities, where …
An Investment in Our Collective Future: Building for Staff Advancement from the Inside Out
With the worst of pandemic disruptions behind us (we hope) some museums are using this as an opportunity to rethink their operations, rather than simply rebounding to the previous norm. COVID amplified the inequities between stable and …
Pushing the Boundaries
The Whitney Plantation Museum confronts the truth of its history in all facets of its …
Beyond the Museum Walls
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2021 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. The Queens Museum serves as a community anchor by embracing porosity, situatedness, and uncertainty. When the first wave …
With the Help of MAP, the Manassas Museum Met Its Changing Community’s Needs
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 …
How a Disturbing Historical Discovery Inspired a New Mission at Old North Foundation
The enduring fame of the Old North Church in Boston began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when church sexton Robert Newman and vestryman Capt. John Pulling Jr. climbed the steeple and raised two lanterns as a signal that the British were …
#AAM2021 Elevate Stage Session: More Than Words—Solidarity Statements in Action
When it comes to structural racism, museums must be honest about their past mistakes, including how they will address them and what they believe in now. Sites of Conscience members will discuss their museums’ statements in response to the …
