Posts
Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion
Taking a Stand: A Q&A with Micah Parzen, CEO of the Museum of Us
While for some museums the pandemic was a wake-up call to reimagine how they engaged and served their communities, for others it was an opportunity to go deeper. One of those museums, the …
#AAM2023 Keynote: Gregg Deal
Gregg Deal (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe) took the stage as the 2023 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo keynote speaker. Deal is a multi-disciplinary artist, activist, and “disruptor.” His …
Empathy Interviews: A Tool for Museums to Understand the Feelings and Experiences of Others
Imagine sitting down with local community members and hearing stories about the places they feel they can show up as their most authentic selves, or where and how they have learned …
A Human-Centered Approach to Guest Services
Compared to other areas of museum work, guest services (or visitor services, as it’s sometimes known) often gets overlooked for the impact it has on community-building. This may be because, …
Advancing DEAI in a Polarized World
Recently, we hosted a webinar with museum leaders on values-based communications for diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI). While all attendees were eager to commit fully …
Mission Made: How Museum Stores Are Embracing Sustainability and Inclusivity
When most people think of museum stores, they likely envision shelves filled with postcards, magnets, and keychains featuring famous artworks or other exhibits. In recent years, however, …
3 Trauma-Informed Practices for Museums to Follow
Earlier this year, I presented at MuseumNext’s Museums, Health, and Wellbeing Summit about what we risk by not integrating trauma-informed practices and values into our work. In my talk, I …
Delivering on the Promise at the Speed Art Museum
This article originally appeared in Museum magazine’s May/June 2023 issue, a benefit of AAM membership. The Speed Art Museum and outside experts developed a multidisciplinary program to …
4 Ideas to Create Linguistic Accessibility at Museums
Though the word “accessibility” has often been equated with giving access to those with disabilities, it can also mean something broader. Accessibility means looking at everything we create …
The Messy and Vulnerable Truth about Trust and Museums
You could almost hear the cheers across the museum field early in March when Colleen Dilenschneider’s email hit inboxes announcing that “More People Trust Museums Now Than Before the …
In Good Relation: Reimagining the Grant Process for Community-Based Projects
In recent years, there have been renewed calls for museums to adopt more inclusive and equitable practices, with significant changes to the ways we work and collaborate at all levels of our …
An Afrofuturist School Program Empowers Children to Envision the Future
Futurism is a powerful tool to share with kids—equipping them to think about the world they want to live in when they grow up, challenging them to make it better. Today on the blog, …