The Empathetic Museum: A "Pop-Up" Conversation

In response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, The Maritime Aquarium is offering free general admission to all residents of Newtown, as well as to Newtown educators and Newtown employed슠first responders and their immediate families (up to 6 people per family), now through all of 2013. We at The Maritime Aquarium are heartbroken…

See You in Baltimore?

I’ll be at the annual conference of the American Alliance of Museums in Baltimore, MD from May 19 through 22. 슠If you are attending, please say hello, especially if we haven’t met before. If you are a regular reader of this blog you may be interested in a couple of sessions that I’ll be chairing:…

Museums and the Marathon Bombings: New Perspectives

Last week I posted a reflection슠on 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 슠to 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…

Meet a Museum Blogger

Dear readers, I’m working hard on an upcoming post, and it’s taking me more time than I슠anticipated to think this one through.슠 In the meantime, fellow blogger Jamie Glavic has begun a series called “Meet a Museum Blogger” on her Museum Minute blog.슠 She sent a슠variety of questions to answer,슠and uses these to create a…

Increasing Museum Transparency through Social Media at the Levine Museum

  Recent posts on Museum Commons have addressed issues of museum empathy and슠 the use of social media to include the visitor voice.슠 In this connection the Education Department of the Levine Museum of the New South contacted me about a new summer program that is using social media to connect more closely with the…