This week on the CFM blog, Ariel Waldman, Learning Project Manager at AAM shares lessons learned from her interviews with Gen Z and Millennial museum workers and gives recommendations to help build the next generation of museum leaders.

Grant Guidelines for Libraries and Museums Take “Chilling” Political Turn Under Trump
from ProPublica 2-6-26 [Trends]

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for its 2026 grant cycle. But this time, it has unusually specific criteria. In cover letters accompanying the applications, the institute said it “particularly welcomes” projects that align with President Donald Trump’s vision for America. These would include those that foster an appreciation for the country “through uplifting and positive narratives,” the agency writes. The solicitation marks a stark departure for the agency, whose guidelines were previously apolitical and focused on merit. Former agency leaders from both political parties, as well as those of library, historical and museum associations, expressed concern that funded projects could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American history. Some also feared that by accepting grants, institutions would open themselves up to scrutiny and control, like the administration’s wide-ranging audit of Smithsonian exhibits “to assess tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.”

Editor’s note: Download AAM’s The Future of Museum Funding to explore the impact executive orders, policies, and actions are having on museum income streams and business models.

Spotting deepfakes: MIT Museum says ‘look again, look closely’
from GBH 1-21-26 [Museum Innovations]

A game featured in the MIT Museum’s AI: Mind the Gap exhibit called “True or False” shows a series of short video clips. Visitors choose whether they think the clip is real or fake, and the screen reveals whether they guessed correctly and why. As videos become more and more popular, deepfakes [photos and videos created by advanced machine learning] are proliferating on social media feeds. The MIT exhibit provides tips visitors can use outside the walls of the museum to improve media literacy in real life.

Editor’s note: One pernicious use of AI generated videos is spreading misinformation about political candidates and voting. Recent research shows that “inoculating” people through text-based information and interactive games improves people’s ability to spot AI-generated video and audio that falsely depict politicians. As the MIT Museum demonstrates, museums of all kinds can help protect the public against democracy destabilizing deepfakes.

British Museum’s A.I.-Generated Post Sparks Online Backlash
from Artnet 2-2-26 [Trends]

Several archaeologists have taken to social media to call out the British Museum for posting images containing A.I.-generated content on its Instagram and Facebook. After receiving a wave of backlash, the museum removed the posts. The British Museum’s actions “set a precedent for the rest of the field,” said Steph Black, an archaeologist and PhD student at Durham University who has been one of the most vocal critics of the British Museum post. Beck estimated that the offensive post was online for around six hours before it was removed, shortly after 3:30 p.m. GMT. While public, the post received a barrage of “really negative” comments, many of which expressed disappointment or asked the museum to apologize. “A.I. usage in heritage settings directly affects the jobs of historians, educators, and curators,” said Mya Steele, another vocal critic who is studying archaeology at the University of York. It also risks “delivering incorrect information,” she said, as well as perpetuating the biases of “datasets that are overwhelmingly Western and colonial.”

Editor’s note: As another of this week’s Dispatches stories dramatizes, AI-generated deepfakes threaten to erode trust in key civic functions. Museums might consider how their approach towards AI will affect the trust the public places in their content.

This week on the CFM blog, Ross Pristera, Historic Preservationist at UWF Historic Trust, discusses what happened when his organization was hit by a hurricane and gives recommendations to help museums prepare for natural disasters.

Young, Employed — and Unhappy?
from KQED via The Hechinger Report 1-26-26 [Trends]

For decades, economists could rely on a comforting graph about happiness over a lifetime: It followed a U-shape, like a smile. Young people were carefree and happy. Middle age was rough but joy returned again in old age. [More recent research showed that the] young weren’t so happy anymore. David Blanchflower, a prominent British-American labor economist at Dartmouth College, has been studying this decline in youth well-being and trying to understand it. Based on large surveys of mental health, he dates the start of the deterioration in the U.S. and the U.K. to around 2013, seven years before the Covid pandemic and the isolation of lockdowns. What’s particularly new is the sharp increase in despair and misery among young workers. [Theories regarding the cause of this trend include] young people increasingly have “bullshit jobs” — work that feels pointless, insecure and disconnected from any sense of purpose; that they have declining bargaining power and vanishing career ladders, and that they suffer from the lingering effects of mental health declines that began in high school.

Museum leaders might: Be aware there are generational differences in how staff experience the workplace, and the kinds of support they need to feel supported and fulfilled. The Informal Learning Network wrote about creating healthy intergenerational work culture with learnings from AAM Annual Meeting sessions.

Nearly 1,000 may have been exposed to measles at S.C. museum
from WRDW 1-13-26 [Trends]

The South Carolina State Museum said nearly 1,000 people visited on the same day as a person infected with measles was there. If many of them were infected, that could drastically raise the number of cases in the state’s measles outbreak. And that comes after a week when the outbreak skyrocketed by more than 200 cases after expanding at a relatively slow rate. So far, the outbreak has been concentrated in the Upstate region, but bringing the museum into the equation could spread the outbreak across the state and the rest of the region. State Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell [said,] “People who were exposed at the museum, especially those without immunity through vaccination or previous disease, should monitor for symptoms through Jan. 23.”

Museums might: Revisit AAM’s resource on building vaccine confidence. Vaccine denialism has led to the nation experiencing over 50 outbreaks in the past year. In light of this trend, museums might monitor cases in their area, assist local health officials with public education, and review their own policies for safeguarding staff and visitors.

Majorities of Americans say it’s important to talk about the country’s historical successes and failures
from Pew Research Center 1-26-26 [Research]

Most Americans say it is important to have public discussions about the country’s historical successes – as well as its failures, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey: 66% of U.S. adults say it is extremely or very important to publicly discuss the country’s historical successes and strengths; 66% say the same about discussing the country’s historical failures and flaws. Wide majorities of Republicans and Democrats alike view both the positive and negative aspects of the nation’s history as important to focus on. But Republicans are less likely than Democrats to say discussions of historical failures and flaws are important. Adults ages 50 and older (69%) are slightly more likely than those under 50 (63%) to say it’s important to discuss historical successes and strengths. In addition, adults with a college degree are more likely than those without a degree to view discussing both America’s successes and its failures as important. This pattern largely holds in both partisan coalitions.

Museums might: Be wary of the “false consensus effect.” As researcher Susie Wilkening explains, this effect occurs when a small group of people projects the idea that their values and attitudes are shared by the majority. A false perception can lead museums to preemptively self-censor content, and in turn, erode public trust.

This week on the CFM blog, Jessica Proctor, Director of Development & Membership at the Utah Historical Society discusses the benefits of shifting from a donor-centric to a community-centric mindset as changes in philanthropy impact US museums.

Retreating from Race
from The Chronicle of Philanthropy 1-13-26 [Trends]

According to a report jointly produced by Candid, and ABFE, more than half of the 246 Black-led nonprofits surveyed [have] been pressured to tone down their language related to race to make nervous funders feel at ease. With nonprofits of all kinds facing financial turmoil, the loss of foundation support is leading to layoffs among racial justice groups that have traditionally struggled to find funding. Many grant makers have tweaked their websites so they don’t refer to race and have asked grantees to excise terms like “Black,” “diversity,” or “underrepresented” from their program descriptions, lest they serve as flags for federal investigators or conservative law firms looking to file a discrimination lawsuit. [However,] many grant makers, including the Robert Wood Johnson, MacArthur, and Nathan Cummings foundations, remain steadfast in their commitment to racial equity. Others have redoubled efforts, such as the Packard Foundation, which in July created a program dedicated to racial justice after concluding a five-year initiative on the subject.

Go deeper: Download the member resource The Future of Museum Funding—exploring the impact of executive orders, actions, and policies on museum income streams and business models.

Volunteerism Has Recovered From Pandemic Low
from Gallup 1-21-26 [Research]

Majorities of Americans continue to support charitable causes, with 76% reporting that they gave money to a religious or other nonprofit organization in the past year and 63% saying they volunteered their time to such an organization. Americans’ current levels of charitable activities are somewhat different from what they were in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial contributions have eased slightly, registering five percentage points lower than in 2021, but volunteering is seven points higher now. The 69% of U.S. adults saying they have contributed to a nonreligious organization is down 10 points from 2001, including five points since 2021. Financial donations to charitable organizations in 2025 are more common among higher-income adults, those with higher educational attainment and those who are older. Volunteer activities are also more common among wealthier adults and those who have education beyond high school, but middle-aged adults are more likely than their younger and older counterparts to report volunteering.

Go deeper: Explore this 2025 TrendsWatch article on The Next Era of Volunteerism.

Hundreds of creatives warn against an AI slop future
from The Verge 1-22-26 [Projections]

Around 800 artists, writers, actors, and musicians signed on to a new campaign against what they call “theft at a grand scale” by AI companies. The signatories of the campaign — called “Stealing Isn’t Innovation” — include authors George Saunders and Jodi Picoult, actors Cate Blanchett and Scarlett Johansson, and musicians like the band R.E.M., Billy Corgan, and The Roots. Specifically, the campaign calls for licensing agreements and “a healthy enforcement environment,” along with the right for artists to opt out of their work being used to train generative AI. “Profit-hungry technology companies, including those among the richest in the world as well as private equity-backed ventures, have copied a massive amount of creative content online without authorization or payment to those who created it,” a press release reads. “This illegal intellectual property grab fosters an information ecosystem dominated by misinformation, deepfakes, and a vapid artificial avalanche of [‘AI slop’].”

Go deeper: The campaign also warns that current practices by tech companies risk triggering “model collapse,” a concept defined in the latest edition of TrendsWatch.

This week on the CFM blog, director Elizabeth Merritt introduces the 2026 edition of TrendsWatch, exploring shifts in philanthropy, the looming leadership crisis, threats to the nonprofit sector, and more.

Prado museum does not need “a single visitor more”, says director
from Blooloop 1-19-26 [Museum Innovations, Trends]

The Prado welcomed 3,513,402 guests in 2025, an increase of more than 56,000 from the previous year. Visitor numbers have risen by more than 816,000 over the past 10 years. Rather than celebrating the museum’s growing attendance, the Prado’s director Miguel Falomir told a press conference last week: “The Prado doesn’t need a single visitor more. Falomir said the museum had started a new project, called Plan Host, to prioritise quality over quantity, ensuring the institution does struggle under the weight of its own success like Paris’ Louvre museum. Plans include improving the museum’s entrances and reconsidering the size of visiting groups. “You can’t judge a museum on visitor numbers.” [said Falomir.] “The quantity isn’t as important as the quality; there should be a diverse and inclusive range of visitors.”

Museums might: implement healthy, sustainable measures of performance, such as those promulgated in the AAM Social Impact Toolkit.

The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits, report says
from National Public Radio, 1-14-25 [Research]

The risks of using generative artificial intelligence to educate children and teens currently overshadow the benefits, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education.The sweeping study includes focus groups and interviews with K-12 students, parents, educators and tech experts in 50 countries, as well as a literature review of hundreds of research articles. It found that using AI in education can “undermine children’s foundational development” and that “the damages it has already caused are daunting,” though “fixable.” The report’s authors dubbed their review a “premortem” intended to study AI’s potential in the classroom without a postmortem’s benefits of time, long-term data or hindsight. [While the report found that AI can help students to learn to read and write, and make teachers’ jobs a little easier, it warns that AI poses a grave threat to students’ cognitive, social, and emotional development.

Museums might: the speculation, analysis, and evolving recommendations around the use of AI can be overwhelming. Museums, as trusted sources of information, can play a role in educating teachers, parents, and youth about AI literacy.

We are living in a time of polycrisis. If you feel trapped – you’re not alone
from The Guardian, 1-14-26 [Research]

People are feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated, bombarded with bad news each day – global economic and political instability, the rising cost of living, job insecurity, severe weather events. This not only heightens anxiety but also makes it more difficult to keep going. Human brains weren’t originally built for thinking about the future – and we’re still bad at it. It may be harder to plan when we feel insecure about what’s coming. In a series of recent small studies, when people were reminded that the future is radically uncertain, it lowered their self-certainty as well as their feelings that life itself is meaningful.  It may be hard to envision distant, positive outcomes amid a crisis, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist—we’d be foolish to stop planning. But it’s also important to be more flexible about those plans and have compassion for ourselves. As a new year begins, it’s good to remember that we are more resilient than we think.

Go deeper: one of the most widely read posts on the CFM blog last year was an essay on three first steps you can take to regain control in a time of rapid change. It may be of enduring use in the coming year.

The Center for the Future of Museums Blog shares musings on the future of museums and society, where you’ll read posts authored by CFM director Elizabeth Merritt and guest author posts. If you have a story to share, email us at futureofmuseums [at] aam-us [dot] org.

Explore more resources from the Center for the Future of Museums in the AAM Resource Library.

The new annual TrendsWatch report has been released as the January/February 2026 issue of Museum magazine for AAM members and subscribers. Get a free preview here. It will be available as a free PDF report later this spring.

Dispatches shares summaries of recent news stories illuminating trends and events shaping society, technology, economics, the environment, and policy today. Fuel your museum’s strategic foresight by thinking about the implications of these “signals,” and the kinds of future they might create.

The most frequent categories that you’ll see articles filed under include: Tools for the Future, Museum Innovations, Projects, Trends, and Research.

The Dispatches roundup published as a webpage began in January 2026 and will contain the most recent 5 weeks of news roundups.

In February, we made available an archive of contents older than 5 weeks (from January 2026 onward).

From October 2009 through December 2025, Dispatches was sent as a weekly newsletter from our Center for the Future of Museums. In that time, it grew to be an invaluable resource for over 40,000 subscribers!

In recent years, AAM has also sent other in-depth weekly newsletters: Aviso with news and opportunities to AAM members, and Field Notes, a newsletter we began several years ago with stories and insights for museum people which was free to subscribe.

Readers told us they wanted to receive fewer weekly newsletters from AAM. By consolidating content and moving Dispatches stories to the web, we can ensure that just one weekly newsletter hits your inbox.

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