Skip to content

Posts

The Center for the Future of Museums Blog shares musings on the future of museums and society.

Techno-skepticism: Rethinking the Costs and Benefits of Digital Technology

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 …

At the Barnes Foundation, Internal Internships Support Frontline Staff

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 …

Supporting the Mental Health of Museum Staff

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 …

Releasing TrendsWatch into the Wild

Heads up! The 2023 edition of CFM’s annual forecasting report is now available as a free PDF download. TrendsWatch: Building the Post-pandemic World explores how museums can emerge from the …

Finding the Future at #AAM2023

I’m taking a short break from prepping my materials for #AAM2023 to share a preview of what The Future will be up to in Denver. For me the conference starts on Thursday, May 18, with the …

Virgil Ortiz Revolt 1680/2180: Runners + Gliders

Today on the blog, Pueblo artist Virgil Ortiz tells us about his use of futures-inflected storytelling to illuminate the past, as embodied in his latest project, Revolt 1680/2180: Runners + …

Emerging Issues in Legislation

Forgive me for being biased, but I think Museums Advocacy Day is one of The Best Museum Events in the US every year. What’s not to like about hundreds of people descending on the …

A Short Rant About Quiet Quitting (or, Why Heroism Can Be Toxic)

One of the things that fell to the cutting room floor as I edited this year’s TrendsWatch was a short rant about the phrase “quiet quitting.” In the published version of the essay on …

Designing a Collaborative, Distributed National Museum of Mental Health

While I’m compiling my fantasy guest blog list to build out the themes of CFM’s newest report, TrendsWatch: Building the Post-pandemic World, generous people from inside and …

Chatting About Museums with ChatGPT

Two months ago, the research and development lab OpenAI released ChatGPT, an interactive “chatbot” powered by artificial intelligence. Chatbots aren’t new (I’ve been writing about …

Forecasting 2023

In 2023, we, as individuals and organizations, are faced with choices that will determine what the post-pandemic future will look like. Will we try to rebuild a version of 2019, in so far …
Show more stories in this category

Subscribe to Field Notes!

Packed with stories and insights for museum people, Field Notes is delivered to your inbox every Monday. Once you've completed the form below, confirm your subscription in the email sent to you.

If you are a current AAM member, please sign-up using the email address associated with your account.

Are you a museum professional?

Are you a current AAM member?

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription, and please add communications@aam-us.org to your safe sender list.