Labor

Do Volunteer Programs Need Reinventing for the Reopened Museum?

By American Alliance of Museums

Last year, AAM released a popular toolkit on structuring, developing, and supporting volunteer programs—whether starting from scratch or reimagining an existing program. Since the release of Designing a Museum Volunteer Program, many …
Restarting Teams to Restart Museums

By Jennifer Martin

As we develop strategies and protocols that will allow us to safely reopen our museums, we’re faced with a glut of new challenges to consider: How can we welcome members and visitors back? Will we have to limit our visitor capacity? Will …
COVID-19 and Museum Volunteers

By Elizabeth Merritt

Support Free COVID-19 Resources for the Field The current crisis is taking a distressing financial toll on cultural organizations, and AAM is no different. The Alliance Blog is supported by membership dues and donations. In these …
5 Ways to Keep Your Exhibit Project Moving…Remotely

By Joey Scott and Emily Saich

Face-to-face collaboration has always been key to developing exhibitions at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. So, when COVID-19 led to a statewide shelter-in-place mandate halfway through a conceptual development and design sprint, we had to …
Prioritizing Image Descriptions and Digital Equity at Cooper Hewitt

By Ruth Starr

During this time of crisis, it has never been more important to center access, equity, and inclusion in our response to the unknown. As we adapt quickly and shift our focus online, it is essential that we prioritize and commit to …
Now What?: Project Ideas for Museum Staff Working Remotely

By Cecelia Walls

By now, most of us are well into our stints of working from home. But weeks or months in, you might be finding it hard to think of new tasks you can do without access to your physical site. Some tasks are better suited to working on from …
Seeking Self-Care Solutions, for COVID-19 and Beyond

By Reggie Lynch and Meriel Stokoe

Support Free COVID-19 Resources for the Field The current crisis is taking a distressing financial toll on cultural organizations, and AAM is no different. The Alliance Blog is supported by membership dues and donations. In these …
One Museum’s Plan to Keep Its Full Staff During COVID-19

By Joseph O'Neill

Like most sectors of the economy, the museum field is facing sharp losses in revenue and uncertainty about when they will be reversed. Many institutions have decided to lay off, furlough, or otherwise reduce the employment or pay of staff …
13 Tips for Working Remotely

By The Independent Museum Professionals Network

With the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation in the US and elsewhere, museums may begin allowing employees to work from home. For those new to this type of work life, the Independent Museum Professionals Network compiled this list of tips …
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 …