Posts
Center for the Future of Museums Blog
The Center for the Future of Museums Blog shares musings on the future of museums and society.
What Does it Mean to Trust a Museum?
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 …
The Future of Museum Labor: Exploring the Latest COVID Impact Data
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 …
STEAMing into Solvency: Integrating a Museum into the Public School System
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 …
Hiring Into Pathways for Advancement
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 …
In the Pandemic a New Museum Charter School is Born
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 …
Forecasting 2022, Part 3: Build Your Own Adventure
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 …
The Long-awaited Tail
“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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …