Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 7, 2010

Nina has written a fantastic book engagement called The Participatory Museum. A third argues that the project won’t be truly participatory unless users get to define what content is sought in the first place. Despite its long history, few researchers studied the use and impact of citizen science until the 1980s.

Model 98

Model Activities Active Activism 98

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

OCTOBER 25, 2011

Note From Beth: Yesterday, I attended a convening called “ Beyond Dynamic Adaptability ” for arts organizations about cultural participation in the arts. The most successful documentaries are having a significant impact on major debates and public policies, from environmental concerns to financial regulations.

Guatemala 93

Guatemala Movie Artist Award 93

Museum 2.0

JULY 17, 2012

But we've just compiled all our attendance data for the past year at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (our fiscal year ends on June 30), and several people have written to me asking for the numbers behind our turnaround. A big festival with 50 collaborators and 1,000 visitors might rate a $250 budget.

Museum 47

Museum History Arts Artist 47

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 11, 2012

I'm incredibly proud of all the staff, trustees, volunteers, collaborators, visitors, and members who have made this happen. Our team focused this year on just three things: making the museum more comfortable, hosting new participatory events, and partnering wherever possible. They all have in concert, and they build on each other.

Audience 47

Audience Museum Participatory History 47

Museum 2.0

JULY 11, 2012

I get excited about a lot of things in my work at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. Ze Frank is a participatory artist who creates digital projects that are explicitly about creating and enhancing authentic interpersonal connections. Photography, video, audio, text, origami, mail art.

Museum 45

Museum Participatory Artist History 45

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 25, 2012

Stacey has been collaborating with local artists to produce a series of content-rich events that invite visitors to participate in a range of hands-on activities. This past Friday, we experimented with a new feedback format at an evening event focused on poetry and book arts. full description here , photos from the event here ).

Activities 50

Activities Active Activism Participatory 50

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 11, 2015

INTERNSHIPS If you want to join us in Santa Cruz for more professional learning, consider an internship at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. We''re offering internships this summer in: Participatory Exhibition Design. Help take the participatory elements of this permanent gallery to the finish line. Video/Photo.

Participatory 20

Participatory Community Museum History 20

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

In particular, we want exhibition collaborators--artists, researchers, historians, collectors--to understand our goals and how we intend to steer the exhibition development process. We knew internally that we wanted our exhibitions to become more interdisciplinary, more participatory, and more responsive to audience needs.

Museum 38

Museum Artist Participatory History 38

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 2, 2013

Proposals involve sculpture, performance, participatory-projects, videos, and installation that use and respond to the museum’s collection. This past July, artist Guillermo Gómez proposed to restore a piece of art. Both objects and art-objects would be part of this continuing transformation and evolution.

Artist 49

Artist Museum Proposal Participatory 49

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

We've gotten a little more organized at The Museum of Art & History , and we've now released opportunities for summer internships. This could be a serious research opportunity for someone interested in impact assessment, community attitudes towards the arts, and the role museums can play in transforming communities.

Museum 34

Museum Participatory Arts Attitude 34

Museum 2.0

MAY 21, 2014

I''ve now been the executive director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History for three years. We talk a lot at our museum about empowering our visitors, collaborators, interns, and staff by making space for them to shine. Participatory work can be very labor-intensive. Building an amazing team. Naming fears, too.

Museum 49

Museum Director History Teen 49

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 23, 2018

We partnered with foster youth, former foster youth, artists, and community advocates to create an exhibition that used art to spark action on issues facing foster youth. This project wove together many different participatory threads. We commissioned new collaborative artwork. Short story: we learned a lot. What did we learn?

Issue 45

Issue Childhood Community Create 45

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 28, 2011

We've been offering a host of participatory and interactive experiences at the Museum of Art & History this season. I loved Jasper Visser's list of 30 "do's" for designing participatory projects earlier this month. This isn't even participatory. We had over 400 successful bangers with no injuries.

Design 45

Design Participatory Learning Instruction 45

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? Aren't art museums less open to participation than other kinds of museums?" I was surprised by her question.

Museum 29

Museum Difference Participatory History 29

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

We can change that by embracing participatory culture and opening up to the active, social ways that people engage with art, history, science, and ideas today. Right now, they're often seen as elitist organizations serving an diminishing percentage of our population. The first way we open up is by inviting active participation.

Museum 55

Museum Open Charlotte Participatory 55

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 24, 2012

To that end, our exhibitions are full of participatory elements. We actively seek participation and develop structured opportunities for visitors to collaborate with us. Riding the art couch through downtown Santa Cruz with two visitors and a dog while blasting the Jackson 5 was one of the highlights of my year.

Platform 41

Platform Open Museum Participatory 41

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016

Last week I was honored to be a counselor at Museum Camp , an annual professional development event hosted by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH). Nina Simon, the executive director of the museum, is an expert in participatory design and fantastic facilitator.

Causes 50

Causes Change Museum Social 50

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

Originally posted in April of 2011, just before I hung up my consulting hat for my current job at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. I wrote The Participatory Museum in response to this energy--to put together case studies in the context of a design framework so we could talk as a field about what works and why.

Museum 45

Museum Question Participatory Evaluation 45

Museum 2.0

MAY 2, 2012

Today is my one-year anniversary as the executive director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. We went through a dramatic financial turnaround and redefined our relationship with our community through a series of experimental participatory projects and new programmatic approaches.

Museum 55

Museum Director Participatory Culture 55

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 16, 2013

Then again, Saturday was hardly normal at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. This past weekend, in conjunction with our exhibition about Ze Frank's current participatory project, A Show , we hosted " Ze Frank Weekend "--a quickie summer camp of workshops, activities, presentations, and lots of hugging.

Reflection 43

Reflection Community Museum Participatory 43

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 19, 2012

We're looking for an Exhibitions Manager to join our team here at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. This is a highly collaborative role, and we are looking for the perfect blend of strong design skills with a generous enthusiasm for amateur and professional co-creation.

Participatory 32

Participatory Museum Blended History 32

Museum 2.0

MARCH 28, 2012

At the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH), we've started experimenting with a "community first" approach to program development. There are many amazing community representatives from business, arts, education, and social services who connect us to powerful ideas and partners.

Program 49

Program Community Design Museum 49

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 31, 2012

In July of 2013, the MAH will host our first You Can't Do That in Museums Camp (or better name to be suggested by you), inviting 80 creative people to collaborate on an experimental exhibition. The Arts Dinner-vention Project - date TBD. and this one is going to be awesome. This camp will be a 2.5 Yes you can apply now.

Professional 35

Professional Develop Museum Arts 35

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

APRIL 25, 2011

I've seen this line of questioning almost completely disappear in the past two years due to many research studies and reports on the value and rise of participation, but in 2006-7, social media and participatory culture was still seen as nascent (and possibly a passing fad). In 2008, the conversation started shifting to "how" and "what."

Question 49

Question Participatory Museum Evaluation 49

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 3, 2019

I love alternative history novels. I was thinking I’d do a few alternative histories of museums for the first post of the last month of the decade. As I imagined a world without Nina Simon ’s Participatory Museum , I felt sad about all the visitors whose voices (and post-it note comments) weren’t honored.

Museum 21

Museum Work Social Media History 21

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 28, 2010

Every once in a while I come across a project I wish I could have included in The Participatory Museum. an exhibition produced with schoolchildren at the Wallace Collection in London, is a lovely example of co-creation that demonstrates the multiple benefits of inviting audience members to act as partners in arts organizations.

Children 46

Children Museum Create Project 46

Museum 2.0

APRIL 29, 2015

These are the slides and notes for the talk I gave at the American Alliance of Museums conference on Monday, April 27 about the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. When I became the director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History four years ago, I took this work with me. They talked about community building.

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. Note: you can view these photos of the exhibition on Flickr here.)

Participatory 51

Participatory Museum Blackboard Game 51

Museum 2.0

MAY 3, 2011

Last week, I talked with Tina Olsen, Director of Education and Public Programs at the Portland Art Museum, about their extraordinary Object Stories project. They designed a participatory project that delivers a compelling end product for onsite and online visitors… and they made some unexpected decisions along the way.

Story 53

Story Interview Museum Audio 53

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JUNE 5, 2006

Robert Newman: On the History of Oil (Robert if you are listening - I want to adopt ten babies to help run our idyllic post apocalyptic farmstead. I would love it if my i_like_to_watch tag was adopted widely so that the collaborative filtering aspect of tags could help me separate wheat from chaff. A girl can dream can't she?)

Feeds 50

Feeds Green Brain Audio 50

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

We're seeking great folks for public programs, participatory exhibit design, online marketing, 3D design, and whatever else you might have to offer. If you're interested in interning with me and my crew at the MAH in the coming months, please check out our offerings. I'm curious to learn more about how other institutions are handling this.

Museum 35

Museum Student Participatory Structure 35

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

I''m glad to see coverage about art museums involving visitors in exhibitions. I meet them doing research in the archives, collaborating on cultural festivals, and contributing stories to exhibitions. The metaphor for traditional art museums is the temple. What is the metaphor for participatory arts? Not a crowd.

Journal 54

Journal Participatory Museum Community 54

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Two weeks ago, I wrote about t he use of the word "quality" in the arts and its many forms. Inspired by Stacy, I wanted to share some of the work we are doing at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History to clarify what we mean by engagement. I don''t think these goals are universal by any means to the museum or arts field.

Goal 48

Goal Museum Evaluation History 48

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 25, 2009

Rabinowitz commented that "as a 40-year veteran of history museum interpretation, I can say that I never learned so much from and about visitors." Tags: Talking to Strangers design participatory museum usercontent interactives. A lone "What do you think?" What have you seen work well, and what have you seen fail?

Design 31

Design Goal Difference Platform 31

Everyaction

OCTOBER 5, 2016

The Digital Media and Learning Conference is meant to be an inclusive, international and annual gathering of scholars and practitioners in the field, focused on fostering interdisciplinary and participatory dialogue and linking theory, empirical study, policy, and practice. Opportunity Collaboration. Opportunity Collaboration.

Conference 111

Conference Calendar DC Washington 111

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

I'm thrilled to share this brilliant guest post by Marilyn Russell, Curator of Education at the Carnegie Museum of Art. In a straightforward way, Marilyn explains how her team developed a participatory project to improve engagement in a gallery with an awkward entry. Reassert the "forum"?

Museum 45

Museum Arts Problem Design 45