For the November/December issue of Museum magazine, Elizabeth Merritt, director of the Alliance’s Center for the Future of Museums, invited contributors to explore one specific future that might result from existing limits and challenges playing out over time. (TrendsWatch 2018 presents this scenario, as well as three other potential futures, in a format designed to guide museum planning.)

In this future:

• the US population is more diverse
• economic stratification has grown
• the educational system has continued to fragment
• government funding for cultural nonprofits has continued to decline

Yet, in the face of these challenges, museums have thrived. Attendance is robust, our organizations are financially stable, and our visitors, staff, and board members reflect our communities. AAM’s challenge to the authors was to describe what museums would have done between 2017 and this version of 2040 to achieve such success. We think you will be delighted, surprised, and intrigued by the stories they have created in response to that challenge.

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