Museum 2.0

MARCH 21, 2012

How do you help visitors know what they can and cannot do in your museum? Most museums have this figured out: they have signs, they have guards, they have cases over the objects. And this works pretty well in science museums, where designers talk about "hardening" exhibits to withstand the more aggressive touchers among us.

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Museum Denver Artist Milwaukee 49

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 26, 2012

In that spirit, I offer a few things that have excited me in recent weeks: The MCA Denver Holiday Video is out, and it is very, very good. Way better than that video at Museum X where the director drones on about the new initiatives of the year. This is just a super-interesting review of an exhibition of damaged art.

Denver 33

Denver Museum Arts Participatory 33

Museum 2.0

MAY 9, 2012

Last week, I was in Minneapolis for the American Association of Museums annual meeting. Kathleen McLean led a terrific session called "Dangerous Ridiculous" about risk-taking in museums. Interestingly, at my museum, our team is naturally better at ridiculous than we are at dangerous. I found this idea really powerful.

Reflection 43

Reflection Columbus Museum Participatory 43

Museum 2.0

JULY 27, 2011

I'm trying to reposition our museum as a cultural hub supporting creative and intellectual community growth. Our conversation made me reflect on the museums that most inspire me from a public service perspective--institutions with missions that stretch far beyond their walls. These museums work differently.

Advocacy 44

Advocacy Public Service Homeless 44

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 10, 2008

In the final installment of Museum 2.0’s s four part series on comfort in museums, we get down to the basics: creature comfort. So for this last piece, we look at going the other way: making museums more physically comfortable. And on the walls, my friend explained, was art from the museum itself.

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Museum Denver Arts Design 30

Museum 2.0

JULY 26, 2010

Art spaces masquerading as laundromats and letterpresses. From a museum perspective, I think there's a lot to learn from these venues' business models, approach to collecting and exhibiting work, and connection with their audiences. Want some waffles with your art? Skill-sharing free schools. Community science workshops.

Culture 49

Culture Alternative St. Louis Los Angeles 49

Museum 2.0

APRIL 21, 2010

Last week, I took in the new Galileo science show at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I used to perform these kinds of shows at the Capital Children’s Museum, and I was impressed by the whole production. There’s no history museum doing a send-up of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. What do you think?

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Demonstration Museum Children Denver 32

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." This is the opposite situation of the previous design goal, one typical in science and children's museums. A lone "What do you think?"

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Design Goal Difference Platform 31

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

I'm on the road this week, with speaking gigs in Oslo, Denver, Charlotte, and Roanoke (join the NAMP livestream on Sunday at 9:25am PT here ). I'm thrilled to share this brilliant guest post by Marilyn Russell, Curator of Education at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Reassert the "forum"? Who doesn't like a mini version of something?)

Museum 45

Museum Arts Problem Design 45

Museum 2.0

MAY 5, 2009

I just returned from the American Association of Museums (AAM) annual meeting in Philadelphia. I led two sessions, one on visitor co-created museum experiences, and the other on design inspirations from outside museums. what is the value of the exhibition experience to non-participants, that is, regular museum visitors?

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Slides Participatory Museum Children 20

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

When I started at The Museum of Art & History (MAH) in May, one of my priorities was redesigning our website. We made two key decisions that I think are somewhat unusual in doing this work: We tried to create a single message that clearly defines what the museum is about and put that front and center.

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Museum Websites History Arts 43

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 16, 2013

When you count attendance to your museum, do you include: people who eat in the cafe? Louis Post-Dispatch published the kind of "how sausage is made" story that rarely gets written about the arts. It''s about museum attendance and how the five big, free museums in St. Summertime concerts at the history museum?

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St. Louis Impact Museum Denver 55

Museum 2.0

JUNE 18, 2007

Live facilitation has a varied role in museums. In children’s and science museums, explainers are everywhere. From a financial and management perspective, however, many museums try to minimize live facilitation as much as possible. Many peoples’ most memorable museum experiences come from interactions with staff.

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Facilitation Museum Interaction Denver 20