Museums have long sought a role for themselves in changing our society. For example, art museums once aimed to acculturate the working class by fostering specific ideas about high art and high culture, understanding themselves as “an agency for molding as well as for reflecting public taste and opinion” intended “to educate and uplift theContinue reading “How Can Museums Help Visitors Effect Social Change?”
Category Archives: What is a museum?
Do museums have a responsibility to name and address issues of contemporary importance?
In the past few months, I’ve visited the museum Eastern State Penitentiary twice. The museum is exemplary for its excellent audio tour (which you can hear parts of here) and the way it incorporates art into a historical site. More strikingly, it is notable for drawing attention to a contemporary issue (largely, but not exclusively,Continue reading “Do museums have a responsibility to name and address issues of contemporary importance? “
How do we change a museum’s relationship with its building? Interview with Steven Snyder
Dr. Steven Snyder is the President & CEO for the Fleet Science Center in San Diego, CA. Since taking on the role in 2013, Steve has redefined the Fleet’s role, taking it from a science center in Balboa Park to a community organization dedicated to helping all San Diegans achieve their place in our sharedContinue reading “How do we change a museum’s relationship with its building? Interview with Steven Snyder”
Can Museums Be Neutral?
A few months ago, Mike Murawski, in partnership with LaTanya Autry of the Mississippi Museum of Art and The Empathetic Museum, created t-shirts to support a “Museums are not Neutral” campaign. Murawski wrote, “Museums have the potential to be relevant, socially-engaged spaces in our communities. Yet, too often, they strive to remain “above” the political and socialContinue reading “Can Museums Be Neutral?”
What is the job of a culturally-specific museum?
This post is by Janine Okmin, Associate Director of Education at The Contemporary Jewish Museum, where she develops resources for schools and teachers, and trains museum tour guides. Formerly the Associate Manager of Learning Through Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Janine has led teacher workshops nationwide and in Taiwan. She has also developed programsContinue reading “What is the job of a culturally-specific museum?”
Should museums be storytellers or truth-tellers?
What do museums have to say about, or learn from, recent events in Charlottesville? Museum leaders and professionals have shared statements condemning and consoling, from their position as community leaders. Bloggers and professional organizations have also shared resources, as museums take on the role of educators. Thankfully but not surprisingly, museums and museum professionals are advocatesContinue reading “Should museums be storytellers or truth-tellers?”
What is the role of objects in an institution committed to social justice?
Museum educator Andrea Jones writes a blog called Peak Lab Experience – a blog I highly recommend reading. Like many of her posts, Museums, Can We Stop Letting Objects Control The Narrative?, published this week, made me think. In this case, the question it made me think about was: What is the role of objects in an institutionContinue reading “What is the role of objects in an institution committed to social justice?”
Why visit childrens museums? Interview with Elizabeth Kaplan
Elizabeth Kaplan is a lawyer who lives in Louisville, Kentucky and a college friend of mine. When she visited Peoria recently I learned that she has taken her children to children’s museums all over the country. With this in mind, I interviewed Elizabeth for Museum Questions. We so often hear from colleagues; this post isContinue reading “Why visit childrens museums? Interview with Elizabeth Kaplan”
Why are children’s museums museums? – Take 3
For the past few months I have been working an article related to children’s museums, and thinking a great deal about the period from the 1960s to the 1980s, when children’s museums transformed from spaces with collections-based exhibits aimed at elementary school children into play spaces for the under-10 set. At first I understood this transformation as theContinue reading “Why are children’s museums museums? – Take 3”
What is the political role of art education in rural communities?
Kate Baird is a museum educator at the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri. She is also a founder of Placeworks, which offers art residencies and field trips at no cost to participating rural schools. Placeworks is a partnership of the Springfield Art Museum and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, which is funded by theContinue reading “What is the political role of art education in rural communities?”
Museum Questions 