Lisa Cowan is Vice President of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation; in this capacity she helps with strategy, development and oversight of foundation programs and grantmaking. Lisa has been working with community-based organizations for the last 25 years, first as a community health educator and program director at several youth-serving agencies, then as a SeniorContinue reading “How do we address the power dynamics of philanthropy? Interview with Lisa Cowan”
Category Archives: Museum Administration
TOP FIVE IDEAS for Online Programs
These ideas come from Julia Lazarus, an experience designer and cultural project producer interested in creative audience engagement, public humanities program development, and strategic cultural planning. She is currently a fellow with the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. Previously, she served as Assistant Director of Online Learning & Innovation at Brown University’s School ofContinue reading “TOP FIVE IDEAS for Online Programs”
TOP FIVE IDEAS for leveraging digital platforms and thinking
This post is the first in a series of interviews with individuals who have ideas for how museum professionals might leverage this moment to think or work in new ways, or how we might do our work more efficiently and effectively. This post is from Nik Honeysett, CEO of BPOC, a San Diego-based, non-profit consultancyContinue reading “TOP FIVE IDEAS for leveraging digital platforms and thinking”
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?”
Is Failure Useful?
There’s a cult of failure these days. A google search for “failure” brings up articles like “Why success always starts with failure” and the New York Times article “On campus, failure is on the syllabus.” In fact, failure is so in vogue that there is now a museum dedicated to it. Failure is hot in museums,Continue reading “Is Failure Useful?”
What does it take to create a great education program?
As we plan for 2018 at the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum, we have decided to reduce the number of programs we offer, holding workshops and home-school programs monthly instead of semi-monthly, and cultural festivals bi-monthly instead of monthly. The goal is to leave more time to ensure excellence of programs, and to build strong systemsContinue reading “What does it take to create a great education program?”
What does it mean for a museum director to have a vision?
This week’s guest post is by Tracy Truels, Director of Learning and Engagement at Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Tracy has also worked at museums in Houston and New York. In addition to her work in museums, Tracy is a writer of fiction and operas. The views expressed in this post are Tracy’s own, and doContinue reading “What does it mean for a museum director to have a vision?”
How can we learn from the past?
This guest post is by Lynda Kennedy, the Vice President of Education and Evaluation at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum Complex. Lynda has worked at numerous museums, including the Museum of the Moving Image, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. A graduate of the Bank Street College of Education’sContinue reading “How can we learn from the past?”
Why are museums wary of new audiences? Interview with Laura Huerta Migus
Laura Huerta Migus is the Executive Director of the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM). Prior to joining ACM, Laura was the Director of Professional Development and Inclusion Initiatives of the Association of Science & Technology Center, where she was responsible for the planning and implementation of all professional development and equity and diversity efforts. InContinue reading “Why are museums wary of new audiences? Interview with Laura Huerta Migus”
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”
Museum Questions 