Ask an Expert: How Can Traveling Exhibitions Go the Distance?
In addition to creating their own exhibitions, many museums also host ones that originate from other organizations, including companies that specialize in creating them. These traveling exhibitions have long been a significant segment of …
Effective Museums and Exhibits Should Build Community: La Rodadora
This article first appeared in the journal Exhibition (Fall 2022) Vol. 41 No. 2 and is reproduced with permission. www.name-aam.org. If you don’t read the journal, learn how you can subscribe to Exhibition to receive your copy of the full …
A Counterpoint to “Witch Kitsch”: Peabody Essex Museum’s New Salem Witch Trials Walking Tour
At 11:58 am, my finger hovered above the record button. I had set out on a hot August day to capture the noon bell chimes of the Immaculate Conception Church in downtown Salem, Massachusetts. My goal was to weave these ambient sounds into …
Transforming Museums with Immersive Sound
Sound is a potent force. When harnessed with intention and care, its impact can be substantial. As a trained ethnomusicologist with experience working in museums like the Louis Armstrong House Museum, I have long been fascinated with the …
Immersive Experiences in Museums: A Look at Art Windsor-Essex’s “Against the Current”
To say that a lot has changed for cultural institutions and museums in the past few years is an understatement. This is a time when visitors, who have spent the last two years enduring a global pandemic, are consuming professional and …
Museum as Lightning Rod: Innovation and Invitation—An #AAM2022 Keynote by Jake Barton
Jake Barton, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Local Projects, opened the Innovation focus area of the 2022 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo with his keynote, “Museum as Lightning Rod: Innovation and Invitation,” …
The Library of the Great Silence: A Space for Beings Throughout the Universe to Explore Shared Challenges
I have a special place in my heart for exhibits and installations that explore potential futures in creative, immersive ways. As I compiled a collection of such work, at some point I noticed that an awful lot of them originated with one …
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 the time to process what we created under …
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, paintings, and sculpture—by sixty-six African …
The Mind Behind the Myth: Navigating visitor reactions at Kew Palace
During the pandemic, museums supported the mental health of their communities in creative and generous ways. Some created outdoor art installations to boost the spirits of people in nursing homes and hospitals. Others provided online art …
