Posts
Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion
Building Salary Equity at the Bakken Museum
Some of the most interesting conversations I had at #AAM2022 were about workplace issues, notably pay equity, and I was heartened to find many people in leadership positions are looking for …
The Uses of Discomfort LGBTQ Collections Their Repositories and Their Legacies
People left out of traditional cultural narratives are forced to become the custodians of their own histories. For queer institutions, this means collecting stigmatized materials that other …
Museum Accessibility Helping Patrons Who Are Blind to See Your Exhibitions
Audio description (AD), a relatively inexpensive and readily available technology, broadens the museum experience for all people and particularly for patrons who cannot see or have low …
Community and collaboration at the High Museum of Art
Randall Suffolk has been the director of the High Museum of Art since 2015. Previously, he served as director of Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and as director of The Hyde …
Reopening America’s Black Holocaust Museum
On 25 February 2022, America's Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, opened its doors to the public for the first time since 2008. The museum, which is both a historical …
How a Rapid-Response Pop-Up Inspired New Notions of Audience and Community
The events of 2020 and 2021 forced museums to innovate in ways and at a speed that would have been unthinkable prior. Our hope is that 2022 brings about a time of reflection, where we take …
How the Greenwood Art Project United a Community in Reflection and a Vision for the Future
By 1921, the thriving Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had generated one billion dollars of collective wealth in today’s economic terms. Nicknamed “Black Wall Street” by W.E.B. …
Looking Back to Move Forward: Examining Institutional Racism in Reprising “Afro-American Images 1971”
In February 1971, a newly formed Delaware organization, Aesthetic Dynamics Inc., presented its first major undertaking: an exhibition of over 130 works of art—drawings, prints, photographs, …
Anti-Racist by Design: How the Oakland Museum of California Is Building Equity into Its Practices
At the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA), diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and anti-racism are commitments that have long been a part of our DNA, both internally and in our work with …
From the President and CEO: Equity and Excellence
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2022 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. Like society at large, the museum field is at a pivotal moment of …
Meeting the Moment
With its forthcoming report, Excellence in DEAI, AAM seeks to help museums achieve excellence in diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion. This article originally appeared in the …
On the Ground: How Visitor Experience Teams Are Teaching Front-Line Staff to Be DEAI Advocates
In the museum experience world, making visitors feel welcome is serious business. Our goal is to exceed guests’ standards for positive experiences, and nothing undermines that goal like a …