Center for the Future of Museums Blog

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What Does it Mean to Trust a Museum?

By John Voiklis and John Fraser

Last September, AAM released Museums and Trust 2021, a survey that measured how museums were performing during a time of record public distrust in a wide range of institutions, from news outlets to the government. As with any good …
The Future of Museum Labor: Exploring the Latest COVID Impact Data

By Elizabeth Merritt

Last week the Alliance released the results of our most recent snapshot of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on US museums. We launched this series of surveys in June 2020, a little over 3 months after the World Health Organization …
STEAMing into Solvency: Integrating a Museum into the Public School System

By Karen Ackerman Witter and Leah Wilson

The pandemic was an economic tsunami for museums, particularly those already experiencing financial stress. Relatively new museums, still getting their feet under themselves, were at particular risk. Today on the blog, Karen Ackerman …
Hiring into Pathways for Advancement

By Elizabeth Merritt

What if every entry level museum job was designed to be the first rung in a career ladder for anyone who desires to climb? How could that change who wants to work in a museum, and whether they are willing to commit to the long-term? How …
In the Pandemic a New Museum Charter School is Born

By Amber Shive

Over the past two years, the pandemic has prompted museums to experiment with new products and services to meet the needs of their communities. Some of these experiments have turned out to be, in effect, pilot projects for financially …
Forecasting 2022, Part 3: Build Your Own Adventure

By Elizabeth Merritt

When I sat down to write the third entry in CFM’s scenario set for 2022, I struggled over what kind of story would most usefully round out the collection. Scenario one (A Third Year of Waves) explores a depressing but entirely possible …
The Long-awaited Tail

By Elizabeth Merritt

“With our imagination, the future is a place where anything, or one hundred things, or everything, can be different—even things that seem impossible to change today.” –Dr. Jane McGonigal, futurist and games designer I want to start …
Forecasting 2022, Part 1: Waves Ahead

By Elizabeth Merritt

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

By Elizabeth Merritt

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

By ZeeAnn Mason, Museum of the American Revolution

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 …