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Public Programming
Get Your Geek On! How Museums Can Host Mission-Driven Community Conventions
Did you know that a freight elevator can just barely fit a life-size Tyrannosaurus rex puppet? We happened to learn this while getting ready for the Geek Con, an annual event held by the …
Blues on the Block: Connecting Communities through Live Music, Rhythm, and Public Health
The National Blues Museum was one of ninety-one museums, libraries, and cultural or tribal organizations that leveraged their position as trusted community partners to help bolster …
How Are Museums Celebrating Juneteenth This Year?
As of 2021, the United States has a new federal holiday: Juneteenth. In the years since June 19, 1865—when Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation …
What University Museum Educators Have Learned from the Pandemic
In this series of posts, EdCom’s Trends Committee is taking a deeper look at emerging phenomena identified in the 2021 edition of TrendsWatch from the Center for the Future of Museums. In …
Tearing Down Barriers
With “SubSpace,” the Museum of Science, Boston is creating a more inclusive environment by pushing the boundaries of theater, technolog…
How the Greenwood Art Project United a Community in Reflection and a Vision for the Future
By 1921, the thriving Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had generated one billion dollars of collective wealth in today’s economic terms. Nicknamed “Black Wall Street” by W.E.B. …
Catching Feelings for a Triceratops: How Live Theater in Museums Evokes Empathy in Visitors
An excited murmur can be heard throughout the audience as they await the show to begin. When we come together to watch a live performance we expect to be moved, to be transported out of the …
Pivoting Your Programming: Virtual and Other Unique Options for Small Museums
This is a recorded session from the 2020 AAM Virtual Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo. Learn more about how small museums are continuing to connect with their audiences, even when COVID‐19 …
With the Help of MAP, the Manassas Museum Met Its Changing Community’s Needs
Through the Museum Assessment Program, museums gain perspective on how to improve core areas of their operations, with a combination of guided self-reflection and close consultation with an …
Picture of Health: How MFA, St. Petersburg, Reimagined the Museum Program as a Source of Wellness and Healing
As the Curator of Public Programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, my professional focus has always been the MFA’s public spaces, performing arts venue, and gardens—not the …
These Museums Helped Welcome Immigrants and Refugees to their Community, and Yours Can Too!
Welcoming America’s annual Welcoming Week enlists organizations around the country to welcome new immigrants and refugees into their new communities. This year, AAM is a national partner of …
The Peabody Essex Museum’s Climate + Environment Initiative Seeks to Create a Different Climate Future
As the director of an interactive art and nature space, I’ve included climate change as a topic in many shows and programs over the years. But until recently, I had convinced myself that …