Peering into Percentages: A Q&A with Susie Wilkening
Spend enough time reading or talking about museums, and you will inevitably come across statistics that convey the vibrancy or challenges of our field. For every percentage point, there is a person behind that figure, working hard to …
8 Steps for Growing Investable Assets
At Northern Trust, we understand the value of partnership and shared history. Like the American Alliance of Museums, we believe that a community of like-minded individuals and organizations can meaningfully change lives. That is why we …
External Pressures on Museum-Going: A 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story
This visual Data Story is based on findings from the 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers, a national survey of American museum visitors from AAM and Wilkening Consulting. Every year, the survey partners with individual museums to research …
Museum Visitation—Frequency vs. Incidence Gaps: A 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story
When we plot out certain demographic characteristics, we find that who visits museums frequently (and the gaps we discover) can be very different than who visits museums at all (the incidence). Understanding these gaps (and where gaps …
2022 National Census of History Organizations: A Report on the History Community in the United States
The American Association for State and Local History released the 2022 National Census of History Organizations at the beginni…
Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey “How to” Webinar
Cycle 3 of the Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey – funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation – opened to art museums across North America on Monday, February 7. To support the data collection process, Ithaka S+R staff used part of this …
A Time of Transformation
A special edition of the Culture Track research initiative provides an update on how audiences are…
Why Well-Being Is at the Heart of Museum Experiences
For nearly half a century, I have been thinking and theorizing about museum experiences—why people use museums, what they do during those experiences, and what they take away, including the value they perceive they derive. Today, though, …
Curiosity About History is Growing Across Generations, a New Survey Finds
Conner Prairie, an AAM-accredited and Smithsonian Affiliate living history museum in Fishers, Indiana, is a unique historic place that inspires curiosity and fosters learning by providing engaging and individualized experiences for …
Zoos and Aquariums: Inspiring visitors, inspiring museums
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. …
