Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 2, 2013

In this post, George grapples with the challenges of balancing the care for a museum collection with that of contemporary artists-in-residence who are constantly reinterpreting it. Every Saturday, the curatorial team at Elsewhere , a living museum in downtown Greensboro, NC, reviews the project proposals of its artists-in-residence.

Artist 49

Artist Museum Proposal Participatory 49

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

Visitors bond and bridge through participatory experiences at MAH. The program is an experimental playground that bridges artists, students, chefs, comedians, hairdressers, bartenders, dancers, wrestlers and even tattoo artists to produce a community-led event. Cardboard tube orchestra at Radical Craft Night.

Museum 49

Museum Program Participatory Community 49

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 15, 2009

Over the past year, I've noticed a strange trend in the calls I receive about upcoming participatory museum projects: the majority of them are being planned for teen audiences. Why are teens over-represented in participatory projects? The other three are cultural, and I'm not sure how accurate they are.

Teen 24

Teen Participatory Experiment Museum 24

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 15, 2014

When basketball players are offering more cogent commentary on racial issues than cultural institutions, you know we have a cultural relevance problem. Museums are a part of this educational and cultural network. Colleges are addressing greater cultural and racial understanding in various courses. Things must change.

Museum 52

Museum Blogger Cleveland Missouri 52

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 30, 2013

Earlier this fall, I read this headline: "Stanford study: Participation in a cultural activity may reduce prejudice." When the music video was focused on Mexican culture, the researchers found that the white and Asian participants demonstrated a decrease in prejudice against Latinos, both immediately after the activity and six months later.

Measure 47

Measure Arts People Museum 47

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 24, 2012

I like to ask myself this question periodically, challenging myself to find substantive ways for visitors to contribute to our museum. To that end, our exhibitions are full of participatory elements. How do community members make your institution better? Visitors can comment on how we can improve or what they would like to see.

Platform 41

Platform Open Museum Participatory 41

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Last week, Douglas McLellan of artsJournal ran a multi-vocal forum on the relationship between arts organizations and audiences, asking: In this age of self expression and information overload, do our artists and arts organizations need to lead more or learn to follow their communities more? How do you respond to this question?

Arts 45

Arts Museum Artist Tucson 45

Media Cause

AUGUST 9, 2021

We develop our skills by seeking, absorbing, questioning, adapting, and experimenting, oftentimes bringing diverse influences together to create something that’s unique for our clients’ needs, but with connections to other relevant spaces. As we look to make an impact, how can we invite community members to create with us from the start?

Design 52

Design Experiment Nonprofit Collaboration 52

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

In some ways, a design lab can be thought of as “participatory research and testing.”. It is a useful technique for creating a more responsive, flexible organizational culture as well as coming up with more innovative ideas for programs and grants that are a good fit. How do we leverage the “rain” of culture change?3.

Design 50

Design Strategy Facilitation Advocacy 50

Museum 2.0

APRIL 15, 2015

We were discussing the potential for cultural organizations to have significant impact across communities: on planning, health, education, and quality of life. Over three days, 52 artist teams erected experimental projects along San Francisco''s biggest thoroughfare. "The arts are future-making."

San Francisco 20

San Francisco Arts Design Marketing 20

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 9, 2011

She is a fabulous and thoughtful artist. The same day we opened the Creativity Lounge, we opened new exhibitions throughout the building, including a paper collage show in the 3rd floor lobby by local artist Lisa Hochstein. For me, the goal is for people to have an enjoyable, educational, cultural, social experience.

Museum 51

Museum Arts History Columbus 51

Museum 2.0

JULY 17, 2012

It happened because we: partnered with local artists and community organizations whose passion and generosity made it possible for us to create incredible events. We created programming specifically targeted to families with young kids and adults looking for casual, intriguing, affordable cultural experiences on Friday nights and Saturdays.

Museum 47

Museum History Arts Artist 47

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 18, 2012

When talking about active audience engagement with friends in the museum field, I often hear one frustrated question: how can we get adults to participate? Major research studies by the NEA and others demonstrate that adults well into their 60s are highly motivated to participate actively with cultural experiences.

Interaction 47

Interaction Design Museum Participatory 47

Museum 2.0

MAY 21, 2014

Over the past three years, we''ve tripled our attendance, doubled our budget, and, most importantly, established deep and diverse relationships with community members, artists, and organizations across Santa Cruz County. I''m open to any questions you want to share in the comments. Participatory work can be very labor-intensive.

Museum 49

Museum Director History Teen 49

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 14, 2013

We recruited folks and designed software that texted them five times a day for thirty days, asking one question, "Rate your mood 1 (low) to 10 (high)." We ran with it and have since generated data about decision-making, cooperation, competition and negotiation for scientists (and also some artists) to play with.

Museum 51

Museum Roles Game Participatory 51

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Recently, I was giving a presentation about participatory techniques at an art museum, when a staff member raised her hand and asked, "Did you have to look really hard to find examples from art museums? I was surprised by her question. Aren't art museums less open to participation than other kinds of museums?"

Museum 29

Museum Difference Participatory History 29

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

We are hiring a temporary contract curator to activate the plaza this summer with 25+ cultural events. The ideal candidate has a good grasp of our local artistic assets in Santa Cruz County, a knack for participatory placemaking, and enthusiasm about putting on a show. multiple times per week. multiple times per week.

Public 20

Public Activities Active Activism 20

Museum 2.0

MAY 9, 2012

And I talked about some of the challenges of finding the right income and expense models for a museum that operates more like a community center than a traditional cultural institution. In particular, we had a great group of 15 talking about participatory history experiences on Sunday. Participatory art and co-creation on the rise.

Reflection 43

Reflection Columbus Museum Participatory 43

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Looking closer, I saw that each seat had its own handwritten label, telling the story of the Philadelphia cultural institution from which it originated. They were there for artist talks. They live their mission, working in questions and projects rather than exhibitions and programs. The community drives the question.

Process 20

Process Share Philadelphia Arts 20

Museum 2.0

APRIL 29, 2015

We had incredible success transforming our institution into a vibrant cultural center. For example, in Santa Cruz there is a huge community of creative people who identify as artists in non-traditional media. That’s why we partner with fire sculptors, knitters, graffiti artists, and bonsai growers.

Build 20

Build Community Museum Artist 20

Museum 2.0

JUNE 12, 2012

It made me think in ways that I haven't before about the relation of art--as expressive culture--to democracy. It is multi-disciplinary, incorporates diverse voices from our community, and provides interactive and participatory opportunities for visitor involvement. We've continued to do this for future exhibitions.

Participatory 51

Participatory Museum Blackboard Game 51

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

What happens when a formal art museum invites a group of collaborative, participatory artists to be in residence for a year? Will the artists ruin the museum with their plant vacations and coatroom concerts? Will the bureaucracy of the institution drown the artists in red tape? No, this is not a reality TV show.

Artist 39

Artist Museum Project Public 39

Museum 2.0

MAY 19, 2010

At a recent talk, a colleague from the Exploratorium asked me a very simple question. I didn't quite know how to answer this question. Darcie described the Centre Pompidou in Paris as a place where she is surrounded by working artists, where things change frequently, and where she feels as a visitor that anything can happen.

Community 21

Community Museum Participatory Relationship 21

Museum 2.0

JUNE 12, 2009

Here’s what happened: an art critic named Jerry Saltz posted an incendiary note on Facebook about the very low representation of women artists on the 4th and 5th floors (painting and sculpture) of MoMA. When those spaces are factored in, there are more than 250 works by female artists on view now. Let’s start there.

Conversation 21

Conversation Museum Artist Minneapolis 21

Museum 2.0

MAY 8, 2013

We''ve seen surprising and powerful results--visitors from different backgrounds getting to know each other, homeless people and museum volunteers working together, artists from different worlds building new collaborative projects.

Museum 55

Museum Social Arts History 55