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Advancing DEAI in a Polarized World

Recently, we hosted a webinar with museum leaders on values-based communications for diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI). While all attendees were eager to commit fully …

Remarks from Benin Bronzes Repatriation Ceremony

On October 11, 2022, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art hosted a repatriation ceremony in which officials of the museum transferred ownership of twenty-nine Benin bronzes and …

Germany first to hand back Benin bronzes looted by British

Germany is to become the first country to hand back the Benin bronzes looted by British soldiers in the late nineteenth century. A decision on the restitution was facilitated by the fact …

Baltimore Museum to Sell 3 Blue-Chip Paintings to Advance Equity

The Baltimore Museum of Art is deaccessioning three paintings, by Brice Marden, Clyfford Still and Andy Warhol, and expects to receive approximately $65 million from a combination of an …

Essential Evaluators: The Silver Lining

Essential Evaluators seeks to gather evaluators in a common space to dialogue, reflect, and support each other in a world upended by COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protest movement. …

Fear Factor: In a contentious cultural climate, museums are wise to recognize the pressures to self-censor

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2020 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. In January 2020, it came to light that the National Archives had altered a …

Diving Deeper into Truth, Trust, and Fake News

In this series of posts, EdCom’s Trends Committee is taking a deeper look at emerging phenomena identified in the 2019 edition of TrendsWatch from the Center for the Future of Museums. …

As Nazi objects and fakes enter collectors’ market, should museums show them?

A recent rash of sales of Nazi memorabilia raise questions about dealing in such objects at a time when fascist philosophy is being embraced by populist radicals and demand is fuelling the …

Museopunks Episode 41: Digitization is not neutral

Over the past decade, museums have increasingly shared high-resolution open access images of their collections. Yet there are significant legal and ethical complexities related to digital …

The Top Ten Alliance Blog Posts of 2019

It was a whirlwind year of museums making themselves over for our changing world. Evolving ethics, social and technological transformation, and the looming presence of the bottom line are …

Toxic Philanthropy

We live in a time in which the public is hyper sensitive to the ethics of where money comes from, and where it goes. As I observed in TrendsWatch 2015, nonprofits don’t get a free pass in …
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Latest Stories from AAM

Interview Tips for Landing Your Dream Museum Job

Category: Career Management
The American Alliance of Museums offers the following guidance from former director of human resources, Katherine McNamee, and AAM hiring managers, Rachel Lee, Cecelia Walls, and Joseph …

Join Me to Create a Future of Reparative Practice at AAM 2024

Category: Center for the Future Of Museums Blog
It’s 2044, and around the nation, and throughout the world, US museums are seen as valued stewards and honored partners in the critical work of supporting communities and preserving …

Planning for Sustainable Success: Building a Development Plan for Museums

Category: Financial Sustainability
A strategic annual development plan is the document every nonprofit organization should have to identify how much money it needs to raise and how it will successfully secure those …

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