community engagement – American Alliance of Museums

Contested Figures in Museum Praxis

By Julia Peristerakis and Isabelle Masson

This article first appeared in the journal Exhibition (Spring 2026) Vol. 45 No. 1 and is reproduced with permission. If you don’t read the journal, become a member to receive your digital copy of the full upcoming issues. As a museum …
Designing Low-Carbon-Footprint Exhibitions

By Douglas Flandro

Working as an exhibition designer, I hear from many museum employees that their least favorite part of the process is watching an exhibition come down knowing most of the exhibition materials are headed for the landfill. This level of …
Toward Equity in Metadata: How Sandy Spring Museum Is Going beyond Reparative Cataloging

By Allison Weiss

Equity: freedom from bias or favoritism Metadata: data that describes and provides context for digital items, which in turn helps users find and discover these resources. Though Black and white residents numbered almost equally throughout …
In Praise of Mission Creep

By Elizabeth Merritt

My focus this year is on exploring the ways museums serve as essential infrastructure for their communities: improving education for our children, creating livable communities for our elders, fostering mental health, helping prepare for …
We, the Aged, Are an Integral Part of the Community

By Ken Gorbey

In April, while on a visit to New Zealand, I convened seven highly-respected Kiwi colleagues in Wellington to discuss creative aging. I asked two questions of the participants: How might our museums be more sensitive and responsive to the …
An After-School Program Gives Refugee Children a Creative Boost

By Aimee Hunt

One of the many things that make Charlottesville, Virginia special is that it serves as a destination city for the International Rescue Committee, which helps refugees settle into their new countries. Since 1998, more than three thousand …
Students Solve a History Mystery and Teach a Lesson in Collaboration

By April Hattori and Jean-Paul Maitinsky

Fourth and fifth graders at Silverton Elementary School reversed roles with teachers and set an example of how museums and schools can work together to broaden the telling of a community’s history. The students uncovered the forgotten …
Digital Storytelling coming to a museum near you: 3 reasons to use Lume

By Gretchen Halverson

Gretchen Halverson is the Media and Technology Assistant at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The reinstallation of the African galleries at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) in 2013 involved the drastic reduction in the number of …
Membership Isn’t the Top of the Mountain

By Eric Bruce

Eric Bruce is the Head of Visitor Experience at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia). This is the third article in a series we are presenting on how Mia has expanded its audience. In this series of posts about the Minneapolis Institute …
Gabriela’s Bridge: Connecting Connecticut and Amazonian Brazil

By William E. Jeffries

William E. Jeffries, III is the director of strategic initiatives at Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk, Connecticut. The media has been permeated recently with stories that suggest an increase in physical and social barriers …