Center for the Future of Museums Blog

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Learning from History: Museum Heroes in the Archives

By Marjorie Schwarzer

Powerful stories about the past can inspire positive action in the future. In the wake of ongoing political threats like Executive Order 14253, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” and the White House’s letter to the …
How a Chatbot is helping museums wish about the future

By Cory Garfin and Devon VanHouten-Maldonado

As a futurist, there is nothing I love more than encouraging people to think both forward AND back. America’s 250th anniversary is a great opportunity to reflect on our country’s past and to “remember the future” we …
Speculating on the Futures of Here

By Anand Pandian and Jordan Tierney

“I don’t exist in an after climate crisis—we know now that there is no after, only varying degrees of loss, varying degrees of change. My mother was a climate writer who found that her words had run dry one day, that she had run out …
Becoming a Museum Leader: Perspectives from Gen Z and Millennials

By Ariel Waldman

One of the chapters in this year’s TrendsWatch is on the Looming Leadership Crisis. If you haven’t read it yet (which I highly encourage you do!), Founding Director of the Center for the Future of Museums and Vice President of Strategic …
When a Hurricane Hits: Lessons from a Natural Disaster

By Ross Pristera

One of the critical issues addressed in this year’s TrendsWatch is the profound impact climate-related disasters are having on museum insurance. As the frequency of severe weather events and wild fires rises, insurance is becoming …
Beyond the Ask: Securing the Future with Community-Centric Fundraising

By Jessica Proctor

This year’s TrendsWatch examines changes reshaping philanthropy. While charitable giving overall remains strong, that total masks a troubling trend: a shrinking number of US households engage in giving while wealthy individuals play …
Introducing the 2026 Edition of TrendsWatch

By Elizabeth Merritt

It’s the start of a new year, and that means a new edition of AAM’s annual forecasting report. While it is the culmination of months of work (shout out to the commenters and guest essayists who enriched the content) it is also the …
Projections for 2026: Heaps of Uncertainty

By Elizabeth Merritt

I often start the year on this blog by sharing some thoughts about what may be in store in the coming year. Usually that’s a low pressure assignment because, after all, the purpose of foresight is to uncover probabilities and …
The Next Incarnation of Dispatches from the Future of Museums

By Elizabeth Merritt

On September 2, 2009, the Center for the Future of Museums sent the first edition of Dispatches from the Future of Museums out into the world. It was, as we described it at the time, “a vehicle to bring you timely, useful information about …
Unlocking Teen Genius: A New Toolkit for Museums Designing the Future

By Tess Benoit

When the Center for the Future of Museums imagines the cultural institution of tomorrow, we often point to a world where museums are not just repositories of history, but engines for human possibility, civic imagination, and the skills …