Influence of Museums

The Top Ten Alliance Blog Posts of 2019

By Joseph O'Neill

It was a whirlwind year of museums making themselves over for our changing world. Evolving ethics, social and technological transformation, and the looming presence of the bottom line are turning our institutions inward, searching for …
Take a Look Around: A customer journey analysis of the museum store

By Michael Latta, Mark Mitchell, and Robin Gabriel

Today’s successful museum operators are finding new ways to provide visitors with an active, interactive learning experience that recognizes personalized learning, social experiences, evolving technologies, and customer service. This …
Zoos and Aquariums: Inspiring visitors, inspiring museums

By Elena Gonzales, PhD

I’ve been researching curatorial work for social justice for more than fifteen years and curating for more than ten. One of the biggest surprises I’ve had in this work came while I was writing my new book, Exhibitions for Social Justice. …
2019 Award Winner for Excellence in Resources: Sea Curious Video Series

By Miranda Kerr

Museums are a great source of information and resources for their audiences. This year’s winner of EdCom’s Excellence in Resources award, the Shedd Aquarium’s aquatic animal video series Sea Curious, proves that. Judges were particularly …
How Museum Stores Support Their Institutions and the Public

By Stuart Hata

Throughout my thirty years as a museum retail professional, I have often had to explain to others—whether colleagues, friends and family, or complete strangers—how museum stores support their institutions and the public at large. From my …
Sites of Healing: The Michigan State University Museum turned to community co-curation to tell survivors’ stories of sexual violence.

By Mark Auslander and Amanda Thomashow

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. Michigan State University (MSU) has been ground zero of the largest crisis of sexual abuse in the history of North …
Fitness Never Looked so Fun

By Alli Stitle and Kimberly Harms

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has worked with the local children’s hospital to create an engaging health and …
Museum Therapy

By Marilyn Lajeunesse and Stephen Legari

For two decades, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has nurtured resilience and renewal through its programs and practices. This article originally appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. …
Museopunks Episode 39: A new definition of “museum”?

By Suse Anderson and Ed Rodley

The season for existential crises continued this past month when the International Council of Museums (ICOM) announced that a working group had proposed a new definition for museums and that said definition would be voted on at the ICOM …
How Museums Can Help Increase Voter Registration

By Caitlin Donnelly

Every election year, millions of Americans find themselves unable to vote because they miss a registration deadline, do not update their registration, or are unsure how to register. Our democracy suffers because of this, when participation …