Yet who gets remembered — and how — inherently involves judgment. To look back at the obituary archives can, therefore, be a stark lesson in how society valued various achievements and achievers. On March 8, 2018, the New York Times published a special Sunday supplement containing the photographs and beautifully written obituaries of some…
“Museums must become more inclusive places that welcome diverse audiences, but first they should reflect our society’s pluralism in every aspect of their operations and programs.” Excellence and Equity. 1992 This sentence on the first page of Excellence and Equity makes it the prescient and seminal publication that it was in 1992 and that it remains today.…
And now it’s alright, it’s okay And you may look the other way We can try to understand the New York Times’ effect on man. Stayin’ Alive. The Gibbs Brothers Monday, February 27 was training day for the 9th annual American Alliance of Museums Advocacy Day program; two days when museums from all over the…
As many of you know I often post about The Empathetic Museum (by the way, those of us working on that project now have a new website). At the AAM Conference in Washington, DC in May, I met Laura-Edythe Coleman, a follower of Empathetic Museum posts and a professional involved in both the museum and…
Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. 1942. I’m not sure why this phrase “Everything that rises…
The annual meeting of the American Alliance of Museums will convene this weekend through Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Atlanta, GA. For those of you following this blog, there will be a number of sessions related to a couple of persistent topics: The Empathetic Museum and #museumsrespondtoFerguson. If you will be in Atlanta, I hope…
The annual American Alliance of Museums conference will be in Seattle, WA this year May 18-22. Here are two sessions that aren’t on the official program, and one that is. Pop-Up Session on The Empathetic Museum Look for information on the time and place beginning on Saturday, May 17. One can only sign up for…
My first post on this topic promised to examine some of the reasons for museum education’s over-identification with formal education. A number of folks have offered thoughtful comments, both on this blog site and on various museum educator groups on LinkedIn. I took away three sets of ideas from these comments. · Some writers feel…
You’re at a dinner party with museum colleagues. All kinds of questions and observations filter across the table and around the room. What did you think about the most recent conference? Why do most museums seem to avoid edgy and groundbreaking topics? Is government funding driving our approach to museum education? Why is University X opening a new…