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Take a Deep Dive into the Future of Museums this November

By Elizabeth Merritt

Have you registered for the Future of Museums Summit? Taking place from 1-5 pm ET November 1 and 2, this virtual conference will explore four themes from the current edition of TrendsWatch: the evolution of digital practice, workplace …
Empowering Provenance Research in the Age of Big Data and (Re)Generative Artificial Intelligence

By Daniel Fonner

Six years ago, I started a project called ReMasterpieces that used some of the leading AI techniques of that time to recreate works of art that were stolen and subsequently lost or destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. My original …
Investing for Impact in Every Way

By Adam Levine

I’ve been tracking the rise of impact investing for a decade. On this blog, guest posts such as those by Laura Callanan introduced the practice, documented how museums are adopting impact investing, and explored how investing for good can …
Say Cheese! A Candid Snapshot of the Museum Sector

By Elizabeth Merritt

Last month AAM released the results of our fifth “snapshot” survey of the field. These snapshots, which started as a means of checking in on museums and museum workers during COVID shutdown, now help us track recovery and continued …
The Earnest Work of Dreaming: Chicanafuturism in Visual Art

By Jadira Gurulé

Visions of the future created by and centering the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) are essential to our collective potential to transform the world as we know it. For decades, BIPOC artists working in …
How Museums Are Helping Americans Bridge Divides

By Kate Doak-Keszler

This year’s TrendsWatch shared a few stories of museums working to bridge the partisan divide, but my research for the report left me wanting more. In today’s guest post, Kate Doak-Keszler, Partnerships and Communications Director for the …
Call for Content! Repatriation, Restitution, and Reparative Practice

By Elizabeth Merritt

This year’s TrendsWatch report included a short piece about recent shifts in museum practice with regard to voluntary repatriation, restitution, and reparations. AAM’s Museum will delve into the topic more deeply in the November/December …
Techno-skepticism: Rethinking the Costs and Benefits of Digital Technology

By Elizabeth Merritt

The night before my flight to Denver for #AAM2023, I went over my slides for the annual presentation on TrendsWatch. The talk was formatted around the chapters of the latest report (access your free download here), but rather than simply …
At the Barnes Foundation, Internal Internships Support Frontline Staff

By Scarlett McCahill & Erica Simonitis

What can be even better than a museum making a successful hire? Keeping the experienced, well-trained staff it already has. The Alliance’s soon-to-be-released latest snapshot survey of our sector documents that half of museums are …
Supporting the Mental Health of Museum Staff

By Ann Fortescue

I’ve been in close communication with some of the museum directors using CFM resources—including TrendsWatch reports and the AAM Strategic Foresight Toolkit—to inform their planning and management. Today, Ann Fortescue, Executive Director …