Museum 2.0

MAY 3, 2017

This is the ninth in a series of posts on the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ( MAH )'s development of Abbott Square , a new creative community plaza in downtown Santa Cruz. The “we” isn’t always staff; in most cases, our staff work with community partners in a participatory, co-creative model. We develop the ideas.

Develop 20

Develop Artist Participatory Blended 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. Note: you can view these photos of the exhibition on Flickr here.)

Participatory 51

Participatory Museum Blackboard Game 51

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Our museum in Santa Cruz has been slammed by those who believe participatory experiences have gone too far. We always knew that the inclusion of participatory and community-centered practices in arts institutions was controversial. To me, the backlash against participatory and community-centered experiences is not surprising.

Participatory 53

Participatory Museum Arts History 53

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 18, 2008

On 8.16.08, the Museum of Art and History (Santa Cruz, CA) hosted FreelanceCamp, a free unconference that brought 150 designers and techies from the south bay area together to talk shop. Projects participatory museum. Again, hundreds of mostly young people shot hundreds of videos and photos featuring or on location at the museum.

Museum 22

Museum Hosting Model Community 22

Museum 2.0

MAY 8, 2013

At the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History , we''re approaching this challenge through a different lens: social bridging. Family Art Workshops" suffer from anemic participation whereas multi-generational festivals are overrun with families. Museum of Art and History programs social bridging' And rarely the twain shall meet.

Museum 55

Museum Social Arts History 55

Museum 2.0

APRIL 24, 2012

Participatory history programming. Over the past year, we've found it fairly easy to invent and sustain participatory art and craft projects. How do we deal with the blending of personal and institutional goals when it comes to contributing to efforts to improve the whole community? Working with teams through change.

Conversation 43

Conversation Participatory Museum Minneapolis 43

Museum 2.0

APRIL 18, 2012

For a long time, I knew I cared deeply about designing from "me to we" --inviting visitors to form social connections through participatory experiences--but I couldn't express a clear reason why. We tailor the programming blend to diverse ages, making sure no activity is just for kids or adults, no matter how much glue or fire is involved.

Community 42

Community Teen Build Social 42

Museum 2.0

JUNE 15, 2009

Facilitated/Unfacilitated Blend When we started this course, I really pushed the students to think about ways to induce unfacilitated interactions among strangers. In Praise of the Post-It There's lots of post-it-powered art on the web these days (like this and this ). Not so for the post-its.

Advice 31

Advice Museum Facilitation Student 31

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

It launched in October of 2007 with a very simple and understandable idea: to produce a global map of pieces of art made with stones on beaches. The act of making art, and the recognition on a simple website, are the only rewards. It's about making art, connecting to the earth, and being part of something greater.

Project 38

Project Museum Artist Map 38

Museum 2.0

JUNE 29, 2010

Nina's research keeps finding that the right kind of constraints work to produce a better participatory museum experience. There's a nice overlap to be found here blending the traits of Oldenburg’s third place with the mission of the institution. It was a collaborative library/design/art/community-building project.

Place 30

Place Discussion Library Museum 30