Note: This post is one of a series examining organizational culture in museums. If leadership at your museum, or other museum leaders you know, are interested in finding innovative ways to make museums better places to work, please see this page to learn more about three new initiatives from Museum Questions consulting. Please note, earlyContinue reading “What do we need in place to create organizational change? Interview with Laura Huerta Migus”
Category Archives: Interviews
What is Dialogic Questioning? Interview with Sarah Pharaon
In 2010 I published a book that outlines one way of teaching with works of art – a thematic, inquiry-based approach. Although my ostensible audience for this book was teachers, this book was developed from practice in the museum field, and is used by museum practitioners. Since then, although I still use this approach, IContinue reading “What is Dialogic Questioning? Interview with Sarah Pharaon”
How can we grow membership programs in a way that strengthens and connects the museum as a whole?
Becky Pierson Davidson is a community-driven product strategist. Her background is in digital transformation tech working with both Fortune 500 companies and startups before she pivoted to the information industry and was Head of Product at bossbabe, managing a membership program for female entrepreneurs. She has taught user experience design courses with General Assembly, andContinue reading “How can we grow membership programs in a way that strengthens and connects the museum as a whole?”
How Can Museums Help Visitors Effect Social Change?
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?”
How can museums measure social impact? Interview with Johanna Jones
Johanna Jones is the Director of Evaluation and Visitor Insights at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). Johanna leads the Museum’s audience research, evaluation, and social impact measurement work. Before joining OMCA in 2016, Johanna was an evaluation consultant for 20 years. In 2020, you wrote about the work OMCA has been doing to evaluateContinue reading “How can museums measure social impact? Interview with Johanna Jones”
What can museums learn from Philosophy for Children? Interview with Ariel Sykes
Ariel Sykes is an educator and teacher trainer who specializes in Philosophy for Children (P4C) and dialogic pedagogy, with a focus on ethics education and community engaged learning. She serves on the boards of the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO), the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum (SEAC), the National High School Ethics BowlContinue reading “What can museums learn from Philosophy for Children? Interview with Ariel Sykes”
What are effective practices in creating a Teacher Advisory Committee?
Image: Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston’s Teacher Advisory Group, 2022-23 A few weeks ago (in July 2023), a member of the museum-ed discussion list asked the group for recommendations of effective practices in Teacher Advisory Committees. This question provoked numerous responses from educators who also wanted to learn more, and a few responses from museums whoContinue reading “What are effective practices in creating a Teacher Advisory Committee?”
Should museums deaccession art to pay staff?
This post comes out of a conversation between Rebecca Shulman and Jackie Delamatre. You can see other Museum Questions blog posts by Jackie Delamatre here and here. Proceeds from the sale of non-living collections are to be used consistent with the established standards of the museum’s discipline, but in no event shall they be usedContinue reading “Should museums deaccession art to pay staff?”
How can storytelling promote change? Interview with Lane Beckes
Lane Beckes is Associate Professor of Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience at Bradley University. Lane studies social processes at the intersection of cognition, emotion, and neurobiology. His research interests include social bonding, empathy, emotion, and prosocial behavior. Read a previous interview with Lane in Museum Questions here. Lane, over the past few months I have heard,Continue reading “How can storytelling promote change? Interview with Lane Beckes”
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”
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