This week on the CFM blog, Soleil Hawley and Kayla Kane introduce the National Survey of Museum Collecting Practices and invite institutions to participate.

Why singles are choosing bars over bios
from Axios, 5-13-26 [Trends]

Anyone who’s been on a dating app knows the weary disclaimer: “Not looking for a pen pal.” Since the pandemic, and as Gen Z has come of age, people looking for love have soured entirely on swiping. The push for in-person connection shows up in research data, product launches, extensive coverage of the loneliness epidemic, and Gen Z’s app aversion. But approaching and connecting with strangers in real life is a different skill — and for many daters, a rusty one. Singles events on Eventbrite doubled from 2022 to 2025. The momentum peaked in 2024, with a 30% rise in events and an 85% jump in attendance year over year. People are looking for love at running clubs, private dinners — even wrestling speed dating. They’re playing beer pong tournaments and giving PowerPoint presentations to pitch their single friends.

Museums might: Lean into being places of connection, host social events, and promote volunteering as a way to “meet cute.” Emulate the Auckland Museum’s five-year legacy of live dating events.  

Florida Creates a More Conservative U.S. History Course to Rival A.P.
from The New York Times, 5-7-26 [Trends]

Florida has created a new American history course that advances a more conservative interpretation of the nation’s story. It focuses on the Protestant faith of the founders, argues that the U.S. Constitution is an antislavery document and recommends a textbook written explicitly to build patriotism. The class, which will roll out as a pilot program this fall, is meant to serve as an alternative to Advanced Placement U.S. History. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has argued A.P. courses lean too far to the left in how they discuss race and gender, in particular. Both programs offer teachers significant autonomy in how to present individual lessons. Florida created the class as part of a new suite of accelerated courses known as FACT — Florida Advanced Courses and Tests. Florida has often set the pace for Republican education policy, so the curriculum could serve as a model that other states follow, or [other states could] choose to administer FACT courses and exams, establishing a sort of red-state competitor to the College Board.

Museums might: Consider what role they can play in building a shared, national understanding of U.S. history in the face of curricular fragmentation.

The 2026 AI Adoption Report
from Virtuous, May 2026 [Research]

Overall, the nonprofit sector adopted AI quickly in 2025. 92% of organizations now use AI tools in some capacity [but] only 7% report major improvements in their ability to achieve their mission. Most organizations function at the efficiency stage: faster drafts, quicker responses, and time saved on routine tasks. 65% describe their use as reactive and individual. Only 7% have embedded AI into goals, budgets, and strategy. 79% report small to moderate improvements. Only 7% report major improvements that change what the team can get done, like doubling prospect research capacity, personalizing donor communication at scale, or reallocating staff time from execution to relationship strategy. Most organizations are getting faster at existing tasks, but not meaningfully expanding what they can accomplish. 47% have no AI governance policy. 81% use AI on an ad hoc basis without documented workflows.

This week on the CFM blog, Claire Bown is interviewed about her podcast, The Art Engager, which helps listeners create engaging museum experiences, deepen connections, spark dialogue, and transform how museum professionals engage with their audiences.

Hoax calls prompt evacuations and closures at several US zoos
from The Associated Press, 5-3-26 [Trends]

Hoax calls involving alleged bomb threats and even claims of active shooters have prompted evacuations and closures at several zoos around the U.S. in recent days, disrupting family plans and taxing public safety resources in some cities. No explosives or real dangers have been found in the latest string of what authorities are describing as swatting incidents. The FBI considers swatting an increasing national problem. Aside from diverting resources, such calls can cost thousands of dollars per incident, endanger first responders and the public and can lead to federal charges. In the latest case, police on Sunday swept the Akron Zoo in northeast Ohio; hours later, police were seen stationed outside the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo as visitors were evacuated due to a threat there; The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in central Ohio was evacuated on Saturday. The FBI has logged thousands of swatting incidents since creating a national database in 2023. Targets have included schools, public institutions and celebrities.

Museums might: Review and update their emergency preparedness and communications plans to include swatting incidents.

Can the Costume Institute Survive Without the Met Gala?
from The New York Times, 5-1-26 [Museum Innovations]

Could the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art survive without the Met Gala? Since 2016, [the museum has] been putting some money raised for the gala aside into a quasi endowment. By 2030 — possibly as soon as 2028 — the Costume Institute will have saved enough to potentially support its own basic operations for the foreseeable future, no matter what happens in the greater museum economy or with the gala itself. Because the gala traditionally inaugurates a blockbuster exhibition, it requires that the Costume Institute put on a major show every year, rather than adhere to the more traditional schedule of smaller shows with one mega-show every other year or every three years. And the party has increasingly become a lightning rod for uncomfortable discussions about social and financial inequality. Allowing the gala’s profile and profit to be downsized would take some of the pressure and attention off the museum and the brands that have supported it.

Food for thought: While the scale of the Met Gala is unmatched, the tensions addressed in this analysis are not uncommon in the museum world. When do the negatives impacts of a fundraising event outweigh the income it brings in? How can museums avoid relying too heavily on any one activity?

The Weirdest Wearables From 100 Years Ago
from Gizmodo, 5-6-26 [Tools for the Future]

When we think of wearables, the first things that come to mind are smartwatches and smart rings. But wearables weren’t invented in the 21st century. Humans have long attached weird little gadgets to their bodies. And, believe it or not, some of the strangest were developed 100 years ago. Granted, these inventions may not seem so outlandish to us here in the year 2026. But if you put yourself in the shoes of someone living in the 1920s, you can imagine how odd many of these gadgets would appear. [The gadgets illustrated in this article include the motivator helmet, the shockwatch, and the wearable hat radio.]

Food for thought: This article demonstrates that while tech may change, the underlying human needs endure. The “motivator helmet” was designed to help people concentrate by blocking outside distractions. Today we deploy time limits on apps, dumbphones and e-readers that won’t connect to browsers. What te

This week on the CFM blog, Jenny McBurney is interviewed about Save Our Signs, a crowdsourced effort to combat censorship at National Parks.

Could agentic AI topple grant-funding systems?
from Nature, 4-27-26 [Projections]

A new wave of AI tools, known as agents, can now generate a research grant application, review it and submit it. AI agents are large language models (LLMs) equipped with tools that let them search the web, read documents, write and execute code, and call external services, for example. Evidence is mounting of a surge in the use of generative AI across science. A 2025 survey of 3,234 researchers across 113 countries found 41% were using it to help draft grant proposals. A survey by the publishing company Frontiers suggests that more than half of researchers already use AI to assist with peer review. When both proposals and reviews are mediated by agents that are trained on the same body of previously funded work, the system will no longer be evaluating the quality of ideas. It will be evaluating how well agents have learnt to simulate the ideas that funders have previously rewarded.

How a Museum Doubled Its Attendance in Just One Year
from The New York Times, 4-24-26 [Museum Innovations]

The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens is a success story at a moment when many cultural institutions are struggling to attract audiences and retain funding. A jewel box of a space — at less than 100,000 square feet, it’s one-seventh the size of the Museum of Modern Art — MoMI has more than doubled its visitors in the last two years, to over 300,000, and increased membership by nearly 50 percent since 2024. Across most of its life, the museum did not have much of an endowment, and pandemic-era cuts had meant little money for improvements. Aziz Isham, a former film producer who became the museum’s director in 2023, [prioritized] fixing the museum’s air-conditioning — which allowed for more school groups — and upgrading the sound system and seating in its movie theater. The institution, Isham said, is “very, very focused on the in-person experience, the analog experience, on the connections that people make with each other and through the material”

The Impact of State and Federal Policies on Academic Researchers
from Ithaka S+R, 4-20-26 [Research]

As of late 2025, 21 states had enacted legislation limiting postsecondary instruction on a range of topics, while imposing new requirements and restrictions in areas such as curriculum and shared governance. These laws focus on what supporters have referred to as “divisive concepts,” “woke ideologies,” “DEI,” or “critical race theory.” They limit how topics such as racial or gender identity, and in some cases policy issues such as immigration, foreign relations, and climate change, can be taught. [This report] groups these state laws under the umbrella of “divisive concepts and similar laws” or “laws restricting academic speech”. Twenty percent of all respondents, and 29 percent of researchers working in states with divisive concepts or similar laws, reported having avoided certain research topics because of state laws and policies. Forty-eight percent who lived or worked in states with divisive concepts or similar legislation or policies in effect during our survey period described those laws as limiting their academic freedom over their research.

Editor’s note: While this research studied the impact of state and federal legislation on academic researchers, the results foreshadow potential impacts of similar legislation on the content and activities of museums that receive government funding.

This week on the CFM blog, Michael Holloman, Bailey Placzek, and Nicole Cromartie of the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver explore their partnership with the Colville Confederated Tribes, including the development of an exhibition with Tribal youth.

Climate Change Concern Near Its High Point in U.S.
from Gallup, 4-14-26 [Trends]

Americans’ concern about global warming or climate change remains elevated compared with what it had been prior to 2017. At least four in 10 U.S. adults have expressed “a great deal” of concern about the matter throughout the past decade (except for a 39% reading in 2023). Between 2009 and 2016, worry was typically in the low-to-mid 30% range but dropped to as low as 25% in 2011. Currently, 44% of U.S. adults worry a great deal about global warming or climate change, among the highest in the full trend since 1989, along with 46% measured in 2020 and 45% in 2017. In addition to the 44% now worrying a great deal about global warming or climate change, another 22% worry “a fair amount,” while 12% say they worry “only a little” and 23% do not worry at all. While a solid majority of U.S. adults believe the effects of global warming have already begun, less than half, 45%, believe those effects will pose a threat to them or their way of life during their lifetime.

Museums might: The Annual Survey of Museum-Goers and the associated General Population Survey has found that an overwhelming majority of the American public want museums to address the topic of climate change. As trusted sources of information, museums can help the public understand the impact climate change will have on their communities, foster climate resilience, and help people cope with climate anxiety.

Finish Line: The quiet rise of “prescribing connection”
from Axios, 4-16-26 [Trends]

With the rise of “social prescribing,” physicians are sending patients to choirs, art studios, walking clubs and lakesides. Overstretched health systems and a worsening loneliness epidemic are forcing a hard look at how social interventions can improve mental and physical health. The term can encompass anything from programs that connect people with access to affordable produce to prescriptions to paint or volunteer. The U.K. has been leading the charge globally. The National Health Service (NHS) has offered social prescribing since 2019, as part of a $6 billion primary care expansion. That push has produced more than 5.5 million referrals in England over five years — far exceeding the original 900,000 target. U.S. pilot programs are running in some states, including California, Florida and Massachusetts. Social Prescribing USA, a nonprofit, is aiming for nationwide access to services like art or music therapy, dance classes and outdoor activities for every American by 2035.

Go deeper: Use AAM’s Museums and Healthcare: A Practical Guide to Partnership to equip your museum with the strategies and tools it needs to design and manage health partnerships such as those described in the Axios article.

At a Difficult Time, a Minnesota Museum Offers Respite to Somalis
from The New York Times, 4-14-26 [Museum Innovations]

Amina Shire is affectionately known as one of the “grandmas,” a group of Somali elder master weavers who teach at the Somali Museum of Minnesota in Minneapolis. One of the few Somali museums in the world, [it was] founded it in 2011 to preserve and promote Somali culture and to teach this heritage to the Somali American youth in Minnesota, which is home to one of the largest Somali populations outside East Africa. It has become a place of respite for the Somali community of Minnesota, especially as Somalis have been the target of enforcement efforts by federal immigration agents. The current political climate has had an impact on visitorship — many in the Minnesota Somali community, and other immigrant communities, have been fearful of leaving home. The museum’s social media posts have also been bombarded. In spite of the negative attention, the museum has become a healing center where

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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