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Center for the Future of Museums Blog
The Center for the Future of Museums Blog shares musings on the future of museums and society.
Your Guide to the Future at #AAM2021
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I began publishing a “guide to the future” for each AAM annual meeting nearly a decade ago. This was, in part, a response to feedback from attendees (especially first-timers) that the …
Combatting Burnout in the Museum Sector
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Last month the Alliance released the results of “Measuring the Impact of COVID-19 on People in the Museum Field.” Respondents (the majority of who identified themselves as full-time or …
Serving the Needs of the Community During a Pandemic
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, museums have proven themselves to be part of the essential infrastructure of our country, supporting their communities in myriad ways. Sometimes this support …
How museums can ethically invest their money
The top 45 museums in the US hold endowments of more than $40bn in aggregate. Unfortunately, [most] museums are invested in the very same types of companies—tobacco, weapons …
Investing for Values and Mission
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Editor’s Note: This year AAM’s TrendsWatch leads with a call for museums to help close the racial gaps in wealth and power that divide the United States. As the report points out, one way …
Invite Your Visitors and Participants To Be Seen in a National Research Portrait — Especially if Your Museum Serves BIPOC or Rural Communities
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Sometimes “anyone can participate” isn’t as inclusive as it seems. There can be all sorts of invisible barriers, including who even hears the invitation to begin with. …
Gen Z is leaning in. Are museums ready to make room?
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Change is multifaceted, and demographic change is no exception. For example, the population of the US is steadily becoming more diverse with regard to race, culture, and gender. Children …
Texas Museum Opens Doors During Historic Winter Storm
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This year has exposed the vulnerabilities of so many critical systems in the US, including health care, education, and the social safety net. In the latest edition of TrendsWatch I profiled …
Opportunity! Dedicated funding for museums taking climate action
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As I note in this year’s TrendsWatch, this is truly a “syndemic” year. We face multiple crises that, left unchecked, will interact to make each other worse. For example, the …
Building Equity: Reparative Practice at the Valentine Museum
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Last week the Alliance released TrendsWatch: Navigating a Disrupted Future. The opening chapter of this year’s forecasting report addresses the need for museums to join with all sectors of …
New TrendsWatch! Navigating a Disrupted Future
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In a normal year, TrendsWatch explores the impact emerging forces of change may have on museums in the next decade or longer. Some, such as demographic shifts, affect all museums in the …
Tales from Campus: Radical Collaboration at the Nasher Museum
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In today’s guest post, Wendy Hower, Director of Engagement & Marketing at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, describes how an outdoor art exhibition became a wide-reaching way …