The Empathetic Museum Pop-Up Session: AAM 2014

  A small but enthusiastic group met on May 20 in “The Unconference Room”  at the American Alliance of Museum’s 2014 meeting in Seattle to continue discussions on The Empathetic Museum that began at AAM’s meeting in Baltimore in 2013: Janeen Bryant VP for Education at the Levine Museum of the New South; Karen Hasselflet, Cultural…

Radical Open Authority: When Life Happens and Museums Respond

“Open Authority” is a phrase that’s everywhere in museum blogs, tweets, and conferences these days.  What exactly does it mean?  At the recent Museum Computer Network (MCN) conference in Montreal  Ed Rodley and a panel explored this question in Defining Open Authority in the Museum, proposing that “developments in the realm of accessibility have dovetailed…

The Empathetic Museum: Help Widen the Conversation

Following up on  June 7 and June 29  posts on empathy in museums, six museum colleagues from a variety of areas in the field are proposing a session called “The Empathetic Museum”  for the  May 2014 American Alliance of Museums Conference in Seattle, WA.  I’m one of the panelists, so this is a shameless plea for…

Museums and the Marathon Bombings: New Perspectives

Last week I posted a reflection on the varied responses of museums in Boston in the immediate aftermath of the Marathon Bombings–from closing in honor of the victims to free admission in solidarity with the community  to direct outreach to the injured children and families.This week I direct you to two thoughtful and heartfelt posts, Our…

Museums and the Boston Marathon Bombings

Compassion+Systems in Place+Timeliness=Community Impact In the midst of the international outpouring of support and sympathy for the victims of the two bombs that went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15,2013, what role did museums, especially Boston museums, play in their beleaguered community? As readers of Museum Commons know, I…