Research and Reports

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A Toolkit to Measure Your Museum’s Social Impact

By Michelle Mileham & Emily Johnson

While social and community impact is increasingly viewed as central to museums’ missions as acknowledged in the Alliance’s most recent strategic framework, the issue of measuring that impact with a reliable and valid tool has been a …
Say Cheese! A Candid Snapshot of the Museum Sector

By Elizabeth Merritt

Last month AAM released the results of our fifth “snapshot” survey of the field. These snapshots, which started as a means of checking in on museums and museum workers during COVID shutdown, now help us track recovery and continued …
2023 Annual National Snapshot of United States Museums

By American Alliance of Museums

The 2023 Annual National Snapshot of United States Museums survey, conducted by AAM and Wilkening Consulting, was fielded March-April, 2023. Over 300 museum directors responded to this AAM survey on their organizations’ behalf, …
Responsibility

By American Alliance of Museums

As the pandemic struck, like Alice in Wonderland or Dorothy in Oz, museum workers found themselves cast into a completely new reality. Lengthy closures and stay-at-home orders unmoored us from the buildings and collections that normally …
Reopenings: What Museums Learned Leading Through Crisis

By American Alliance of Museums

Over the past several years, museums have faced widespread and systemic challenges that have fundamentally changed the way our institutions serve their communities. We’re pleased to share the release of Reopenings: What Museums …
Reflection

By American Alliance of Museums

Do museums have the power to change the world? Many people who work in the field believe so—that their institutions improve people’s wellbeing and strengthen, or at the very least contribute to, the social fabric of their …
Reboot

By American Alliance of Museums

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 threw museums into uncharted territory, simultaneously rendering their physical spaces inaccessible and triggering a mass shift to the digital sphere. As museums jumped into …
The BTA 2022 Art Museum Trustee Survey

By Ithaka S+R and the Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums

The Characteristics, Roles, and Experiences of Black Trustees Foreword The Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums (BTA) was established in 2021 to transform art museums into more equitable spaces of cultural engagement by harnessing the …
Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey 2022

By Ithaka S+R and American Alliance of Museums

Foreword Art museums aspire to play a singular social role for the public—they commit to both preserving and stewarding collections of art for current and future generations, while also serving as a space for learning, interacting, and …
Art Museum Director Survey 2022 Documenting Change in Museum Strategy and Operations

By Ithaka S+R and American Alliance of Museums

Download the report Forward Art museum directors play a critical role in the cultural ecosystem, often serving as a bridge between trustees, staff, and the public. Directors have a pronounced influence on collections and acquisitions …