Opportunities – American Alliance of Museums

ISO Your Proposals for AAM 2026

By Elizabeth Merritt

Signal boosting the current call for proposals for AAM 2026. I almost typed 2206 there, which would be apt, as next year’s theme—The Museum Odyssey—is shaped around museums and time. I’m in love with the four theme-related tracks, which …
Upvote Museum Sessions for SxSW 2026!

By Elizabeth Merritt

The SxSW Innovation conference describes itself as “an opportunity for the global community of creatives to encounter cutting-edge ideas, discover new interests, and network with other professionals who share a similar appetite for …
How to Face the Future, Cultivate Optimism, and Defy Dystopia

By Elizabeth Merritt

Over the past month I’ve been immersed in conversations with directors, staff, independent professionals, funders, and association staff, all trying to find a way forward in the face of the massive uncertainty created by the new …
Closing 2024 and Opportunities to Engage with CFM in 2025

By Elizabeth Merritt

“Hope is a muscle, a practice, a choice that actually propels new realities into being. And it’s a muscle we can strengthen.” –Krista Tippett (journalist, author, creator and host of On Being) I’m going to close out the year by penning a …
Join Me for a New Series to Chat About the Future

By Elizabeth Merritt

Starting in August, AAM is piloting Future Chats, a series of short dives into some of the latest news. These one hour, online sessions will be dedicated to informal, interactive conversations about trends and events that are changing our …
Help Pioneer Better Measures of Museum Performance

By Elizabeth Merritt

What’s the best way to measure a museum’s success? And by “best,” I mean meaningful and sustainable. “Meaningful” in the form of metrics that will make a community feel it has been well served by the museum and demonstrate to funders and …
Join Me to Create a Future of Reparative Practice at AAM 2024

By Elizabeth Merritt

It’s 2044, and around the nation, and throughout the world, US museums are seen as valued stewards and honored partners in the critical work of supporting communities and preserving cultural heritage. In that future, we’ve worked through …
Uncovering Future Artifacts: Come Play

By Katherine Prince

Museums sit at the balance point of past and future. Most often they apply their scholarship and curiosity to exploring things that have actually happened, but museums can flip that lens to peer forward in time to explore possibilities as …
ISO Stories about the Future of Voluntary Repatriation, Restitution, and Reparations

By Elizabeth Merritt

From the digital desk of Elizabeth Merritt, Vice President, Strategic Foresight and Founding Director, Center for the Future of Museums: Museum people are natural storytellers, attuned to making sense of the world through words, images, …
Call for Content! Repatriation, Restitution, and Reparative Practice

By Elizabeth Merritt

This year’s TrendsWatch report included a short piece about recent shifts in museum practice with regard to voluntary repatriation, restitution, and reparations. AAM’s Museum will delve into the topic more deeply in the November/December …