Creating Trust through Exceptional Visitor Engagement & Employee Experience
This is a recorded session from the 2025 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo. Learn how two museums built trust within their communities by refining visitor engagement standards and examining the employee experience. Gain insights into how …
Three Core Values That Will Boost Your Museum Writing
Writing well is essential for communicating information in any field, especially in educational institutions like museums. However, with the wide range of roles museum professionals fill, it can be difficult to define what writing well …
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 …
Content Warnings in Museums and Galleries: Taking a Proactive Approach
I began writing and speaking about the need for trauma-informed practices in museums several years ago, and while I haven’t seen any big changes in the time since, I have seen small shifts happening that make me hopeful. I’m noticing more …
What Works for Building Audiences? Let’s Review the Data.
One of the biggest issues museums face right now is diminished attendance. Years after most pandemic-induced closures have lifted, the majority of institutions have still seen only a partial return of their visitors—an average of 71 …
The Pains and Pleasures of Being a First-Generation Museum Person
Every few months or so, there’s a family gathering. From a birthday celebration to a family cookout, my family never seems to have a shortage of reasons to gather. At the time of this writing, I am twenty-six years old, making me the right …
Guiding Light: How Values Exercises Can Help You Present Challenging Content
When a visitor enters a museum, they arrive with more than just their belongings. They bring their entire cognitive framework to interpret and store knowledge, including their complex understanding of how significant events throughout …
Designing a Watershed Experience at the Ontario Museum of History and Art
With its exhibition on water, the Ontario Museum of History and Art aims to educate and empower its community and address its wellbeing. This article originally appeared in Museum magazine’s May/June 2024 issue, a benefit of …
Faces of Baltimore Museums: Rachel Leeds
Have you heard about AAM 2024 in Baltimore this month? (We hope so—we’re doing our best!) If so, you might have seen one of our ads for this year’s edition, featuring a lovely cast of smiling faces. But just whose faces are …
Extending the Invitation: Strategies for Welcoming Visitors and Reducing Barriers to Access
In the aftermath of the pandemic and amidst ongoing calls for museums to become more inclusive and attuned to community needs, many institutions are still seeking ways to recover from faltering attendance and expand the reach of their …
