Exhibitions

Invitation to Introspection

By Heike Winterheld and Josh Gutwill

The Exploratorium’s free, outdoor exhibition helped people understand the factors that contribute to both compassion and po…
Excite, Build, Consider: A Structure for Open and Honest Feedback in Project Development

By Joey Scott and Bonnie Benham

One challenge we’ve all probably faced in collaborative program and exhibit development/design is creating a space for open and honest feedback. We know candid feedback is crucial for aligning the outcome of a project with its stated goals …
How the Delaware Art Museum is Centering Community Voices in Interpretive Planning

By Amelia Wiggins

In 2018, the Delaware Art Museum (DelArt) began a radically inclusive approach to reinstallation planning, integrating community voices at every stage through focus groups, iterative prototyping, and community-created content. But before …
Empathy Interventions: Mia Experiments with Cultivating Empathy in Museum Visitors

By Alice Anderson & Karleen Gardner

Can the visual arts foster empathy and understanding? From our experiences as art museum educators, we believe they can, but there is little empirical research to support this theory. So, in 2017, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), …
Do-it-Yourself Exhibits: How the National Museum of Natural History Created a New Model for Reaching People in Their Communities

By Kerri Dean

The Challenge Years before the world was thrown into the coronavirus pandemic, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) sought to increase awareness about the concept of One Health—the interconnectedness of human, animal, …
Re-Engaging the Past to Re-Envision the Future

By Redell R. Hearn

The Mississippi Museum of Art and Tougaloo College joined creative forces to spotlight civil rights issues, past and present. This article originally appeared in the January/February, 2021 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of …
With Rapid Response Collecting, Who Are We Responding To?

By Carol Ghiorsi Hart

After the start of protests over the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent looting of businesses, hundreds of plywood boards went up in Greensboro, North Carolina’s downtown. But these boards, which could have been an angry reminder …
Postcard Power! How Museums Can Support the Community through a Social Connecting Campaign

By Erica Harmon

Earlier this year, as quarantine fell upon the US, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and its satellite contemporary art space the Momentary—both located in Bentonville, Arkansas—wanted to determine how best to help our region’s …
How the Cincinnati Museum Center Reinvented Itself after Racial Justice Protests in 2001

By John E. Fleming, Ph.D.

Watching people of all ages, races, religions, and nationalities stand up for equality in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, my thoughts have drifted back to my time at the Cincinnati Museum Center. In 2001, just after I joined the CMC as …
How to Use Storytelling to Build and Engage Audiences

By Josette Souza

As far as museums go, the National Geographic Museum is unlike any other. With access to over 130 years’ worth of photos, footage, data, and archival materials—plus a built-in audience already hooked on the National Geographic …