Posts
Visitor Experience
Belonging: Co-creating welcoming and equitable museums
“Can you describe a time you felt unwelcome or like you didn’t belong in a museum?” This question was posed during a recent conference call for the Facing Change Senior Diversity Fellows. …
It’s Time to Take Down the Mona Lisa
Leonardo's painting is a security hazard, an educational obstacle and not even a satisfying bucket-list item. It's time the Louvre moved it out of the way. PARIS - Even in a city saturated …
Growing Audiences with the Annual Survey of Museum-Goers
Who visits our museums? What are their motivations, and what do they expect from the experience? Alternatively, who is not visiting, and why not? These are critical questions for the future …
Is This the World’s Most Accessible Museum?
Those without disabilities might not notice the innovations, but a museum in London is winning plaudits for its design and content. LONDON - On a recent afternoon, Clare Barlow, a curator …
Welcoming Service Dogs to Your Museum
Service dogs are becoming more common as the years go on, and as museum professionals it can be a challenge to welcome them in among our collections. We worry about hair and dander, …
Sofa So Good: A word on behalf of older folks
I don’t know about you, but a career in museums has made it very difficult for me to be a satisfied museum visitor. I find that I am always peering into “how the sausage is made,” as it …
Unlocking the Neuroscience of Visitor Experience
The act of understanding is fundamental to the museum experience. In visiting a museum, we come to understand the objects placed before us, along with the stories of their human pasts. So …
Is Instagram culture a positive influence for museums?
I would expect many of us who work in the industry remember the first time we visited a museum we have since grown to love, the first time we saw an exhibition that would change our …
A Museum ‘Dating’ App Helps Visitors Fall in Love with Art
As the High Museum of Art prepared to completely reinstall its collection in the fall of 2018, we began talking about how we could use mobile technologies in new and innovative ways to …
The Fixer Upper Effect: Waco museums enjoy the ride (and try to learn the deeper meaning)
It’s Monday, November 5, at 1:01 pm. I’m headed to a meeting in downtown Waco, Texas. As I drive by The Silos, a retail space developed by Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna Gaines, I am …
Ageism is All Around Us
Greetings! This is my second blog as Aroha Fellow for Museums and Creative Aging, and I begin by reiterating my invitation to meet colleagues who share an interest in creative aging during …
Magical Machinery? What AI can do for museums
When people hear I work with artificial intelligence, they often imagine that I create software that does magical things. Their minds go to humanistic androids or programs that predict …