Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion

Using an Annual DEAI Report as a Tool for Transparency, Accountability, and Change

By Joe Imholte

At science museums, we spend considerable time and effort instilling the notion in our visitors that mistakes are not something to shy away from, but opportunities for learning and growth. But we don’t always seem to embrace that idea for …
Disrupting Museum Behavior: An Exploration of the Art Institute of Chicago’s “Cripping the Galleries”

By Emma Cieslik

On a hot Sunday afternoon, Sydney Erlikh, seated in a wheelchair, leaned against Maypril Krukowski, a woman with glasses seated on a bench. Sounds of church bells, shuffling footsteps, and walking filled the gallery of landscape paintings …
Evidence of Things Not Seen

By Jessica O'Connor

The current edition of TrendsWatch includes a “Short Take” on how our country and our sector are beginning to grapple with how to compensate descendant communities for historic harms. Reparative practice may take the form of actions that …
The Earnest Work of Dreaming: Chicanafuturism in Visual Art

By Jadira Gurulé

Visions of the future created by and centering the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) are essential to our collective potential to transform the world as we know it. For decades, BIPOC artists working in …
Welcoming Guidelines

By American Alliance of Museums

The “LGBTQ Welcoming Guidelines for Museums” outline preferred practices for museums to use when working with LGBTQ professionals, audiences, and communities. The guidelines reflect our belief that museums are community anchors where …
Transgender Inclusion Guides

By American Alliance of Museums

Created by the Task Force for Transgender Inclusion, the Toolkit is intended to prepare institutions, coworkers, and transgender museum professionals for gender transitions and to better implement transgender inclusion in policies and …
Interpreting Transgender Stories

By American Alliance of Museums

Transgender and gender-nonconforming people deserve dignified and respectful representation of their lives and communities in museums and cultural institutions. The Task Force for Transgender Inclusion developed this guide on Interpreting …
Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums

By American Alliance of Museums

Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums provides background information and strategies for engaging and representing Latinos in authentic and meaningful ways. It includes questions for museums to self-assess their work …
Taking a Stand: A Q&A with Micah Parzen, CEO of the Museum of Us

By Adam Rozan

While for some museums the pandemic was a wake-up call to reimagine how they engaged and served their communities, for others it was an opportunity to go deeper. One of those museums, the Museum of Us, had been on a trajectory for several …
#AAM2023 Keynote: Gregg Deal

By American Alliance of Museums

Gregg Deal (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe) took the stage as the 2023 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo keynote speaker. Deal is a multi-disciplinary artist, activist, and “disruptor.” His work is informed by his Native identity and includes …