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Demographics of US Museum-Goers: A 2024 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story Update
This visual Data Story is based on findings from the 2024 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers, a national survey of American museum visitors from AAM and Wilkening Consulting. Every year, the …
Navigating Partisan Tensions: Your Questions Answered
Last year’s inaugural Future of Museums Summit featured a stellar panel discussion on the topic of “Navigating Partisan Tensions in Museums.” In the session, a formidable group of museum …
Video Production 101 for Museum Education
Creating video content is a great way to extend your educational impact beyond the museum walls, but it’s easy to feel out of your depth when first experimenting with the medium. What …
8 Steps for Growing Investable Assets
At Northern Trust, we understand the value of partnership and shared history. Like the American Alliance of Museums, we believe that a community of like-minded individuals and organizations …
Catching the Data Bug: A Q&A with Colleen Dilenschneider
I’m not sure how I first came across Colleen Dilenschneider—whether it was hearing her speak at a conference or reading one of her articles on the Know Your Own Bone blog, where she shares …
Content Warnings in Museums and Galleries: Taking a Proactive Approach
I began writing and speaking about the need for trauma-informed practices in museums several years ago, and while I haven’t seen any big changes in the time since, I have seen small shifts …
Creating Inclusive Tours: Five Strategies for Engaging English Learning Visitors in Museums
If working at a big art museum taught me one thing, it is how unexpectedly diverse visitor groups can be, both culturally and linguistically. As a museum educator with a thick accent …
Every Museum Needs a Civic Strategy. Here’s How to Find Yours.
In a recent New York Times article, landscape architect and MacArthur Grant winner Walter Hood described museums as “the new civic spaces, where honest conversations can be had.” While this …
Robust Research, Healthy Communities
Attending this year’s AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, one of my priorities was to take in some of the rich variety of research-related sessions on offer. I was particularly interested …
The Greater Good: A Q&A with Author Sandy Skees on Purpose
If you know me and follow this series, you probably know about my obsession with purpose and its power to make good organizations great. When I come across a book or article on purpose, I …
What Can Museums Learn from the Connected Learning Framework?
How would you try to convince a naysayer of the value of arts education? Maybe you would plead for the value of these subjects in their own right, citing the mind-expanding powers of …
Museum as Living Room: A Q&A with Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts’ Victoria Ramirez
I believe museums matter because they serve as vital community spaces, where we can meet, mingle, work, learn, study, daydream, and everything in between. I came to this realization, in …