Save the Historic House, Save the World
This article originally appeared in the September/October 2011 edition of Museum magazine. A Conversation with Michael Babin and Laurie Ossman At Northern Virginia’s Woodlawn—a historic site that was once part of George …
Starting a Museum: Advice from the Trenches
Today’s guest post is by Liz Williams, president of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans (SoFAB). SoFAB “celebrates, interprets, investigates, entertains and preserves”—and in this museum, preservation means jam as well as …
When Trends Collide: The New Gilded Age Meets the Rise of the Amateur Expert
Museums have long struggled to resist pressure from wealthy donors or sponsors who want to call the shots. How might this play out in a future in which museums loosen their grip on curatorial authority and actively encourage participation …
Museum Ethics in a Gilded Age
This week’s guest post by Erik Ledbetter, principal of Heritage Management Solutions and special adviser to the Forecasting the Future of Museum Ethics project currently underway in partnership with Seton Hall University’s Institute of …
Creating your own Arcadia: Where do you start?
I’m often asked, “What will be the financial model be for museums in the future?” That model may well combine the idealism and mission-driven focus of nonprofits with strategies adapted from the for-profit realm. This week’s guest post is …
More on Reinventing the Historic House (while Saving the World)
Over a thousand readers perused the post on director Laurie Ossman’s strategies to improve Woodlawn’s future through partnering with restaurateur Michael Babin to create the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. Arcadia is …
The Future of Development: Crowdsourced Funding
When AAM conducted its 2009 Museum Financial Information survey, a quarter of respondents had a capital campaign in progress. We don’t even have stats on how many museums regularly run annual giving campaigns, but it sometimes it …
Can Museums Help Make Cities More Intelligent?
“Smart cities” is a big topic now. How big? Smart Planet recently reported that investment in smart city infrastructure will hit $108 billion by 2020. Yah, that’s big. What makes a city “smart?” Smart Planet defines it as “the …
Trends and Futures in the Economic Condition of Museums
Today AAM released its second annual report on the economic state of America’s museums, U.S. Museums Continue to Serve Despite Stress. The report is based on a survey of AAM institutional members. Some of the news is bad: More than half …
Trends in Tax Exempt Status
I’ve written about the trend for cities to establish PILOTs (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) for nonprofit organizations. These payments (nominally voluntary) can be seen as a civilized way for museums to be good neighbors, supporting …
