Forecasting 2022, Part 1: Waves Ahead
I’d hoped to be forecasting the post-COVID future by this point, but that apparently wasn’t in the cards. (Forgive me a little futurist Tarot humor.) Instead, it’s entirely possible that 2022 will become Year Three of the COVID-19 …
Museums and Equity: Volunteers
Note: this post is adapted from a post originally published on the CFM blog in 2019. 42% male 22% African American, Asian, or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity 66% under the age of 55 49% with less than a college degree That’s the demographic …
FIRE! Providing Comfort in a Moment of Crisis
Museums make their communities better, stronger, and more resilient in myriad ways. Some of these are directly related to their missions: enriching local education, improving health and well-being via arts engagement, providing context …
An Investment in Our Collective Future: Building for Staff Advancement from the Inside Out
With the worst of pandemic disruptions behind us (we hope) some museums are using this as an opportunity to rethink their operations, rather than simply rebounding to the previous norm. COVID amplified the inequities between stable and …
What Does It Mean to be Trustworthy?
On September 30, the Alliance released Museums and Trust 2021, the latest research to measure public trust in US museums. It was reassuring, though not surprising, that the results confirm museums continue to be highly trusted. However, …
The Mind Behind the Myth: Navigating visitor reactions at Kew Palace
During the pandemic, museums supported the mental health of their communities in creative and generous ways. Some created outdoor art installations to boost the spirits of people in nursing homes and hospitals. Others provided online art …
Museum Staff as Disaster Service Workers
Last month I put out a call on Museum Junction for examples of museums helping their communities plan for and respond to disasters. Among the many exceptional stories submitted by respondents, one stood out by virtue of framing the issue …
Exploring Museums and Trust 2021
The 2019 edition of TrendsWatch took a deep dive into the topic of trust, summarizing the global “trust deficit” and its effect on society. The subject was of particular importance to museums because, as a sector, museums had bucked that …
Digital Migrants and Digital Nomads: Reshaping Museum Communities
Hello, this is Elizabeth. I’m trying to recover from my pandemic writing rut by drafting a short post each week, commenting on the news. (Kind of like the old CFM series “Monday Musing,” but who can tell which day is Monday anymore?) You …
A Self-care Practice: Spend Some Time in Utopia
“Utopia is born of the hunger for something better, but it relies on hope as the engine for imagining such a future.” –Marge Piercy The news has been pretty bleak for the past 18 months, and I struggle to find a few optimistic …
