Center for the Future of Museums Blog

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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 …
When Cultural Institutions Are Targeted: Global Lessons for Resilience

By Yelena V Litvinov and Tatyana Margolin

While we can’t predict the future, we can explore ways it may unfold by looking at the world around us. As author William Gibson observed, “the future is already here, it is just not evenly distributed,” and I’ve …
Sharing Gratitude

By Elizabeth Merritt

This week I’m buoying my spirits by making a list of content providers for whom I am grateful. (And following up on that gratitude with donations because, not surprisingly, their good work depends on public support.) Today on the blog I’m …
Teaching with Museum Collections in the Age of AI

By Sarah Anne Carter

I started writing about artificial intelligence and the implications for museums back in 2017. In the ensuing years, the technology has gone from “on the horizon” to a major disruptor of work, jobs, parenting, dating, and, …
Mining the 2025 Annual National Snapshot of US Museums

By Elizabeth Merritt

How do doctors assess your health? Asking how you feel is important, but objective, measurable data—pulse, blood pressure, cholesterol—is critical to flagging potential problems and identifying possible remedies. And collectively, health …