Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MARCH 1, 2016

It also has been fun to reflect back on training sessions I’ve designed and facilitated over the past 2 decades as working as trainer in the nonprofit technology area. Over the last few years, I’ve used my blog as a transparent reflection tool. Group Polling Techniques and Tools. The Art of Good Closers.

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Training Train San Jose Instructional Design 50

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 25, 2016

Most participatory projects were short-term, siloed innovations, not institutional transformations. Interestingly--for good and ill--this transformative funding program coincided with a national funding crisis in the arts in the UK. Bernadette Peters' provocative 2011 report, Whose Cake is it Anyway? didn't mince words. and realistic.

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Museum Participatory Resource Place 20

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 23, 2008

I'm prepping for a workshop on Social Media and wanted do a round up of recent compelling examples of arts organizations using social media strategies and tools. I've covered arts organizations and social media here and there over the past three years and last winter co-wrote a cover story article with Rebecca Krause-Hardie for ArtsReach.

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Arts Social Media Examples Artist 74

Museum 2.0

MAY 9, 2012

Our curator writes labels about licking the art. Merilee Mostov and the Columbus Museum of Art. In particular, we had a great group of 15 talking about participatory history experiences on Sunday. Participatory art and co-creation on the rise. I found this idea really powerful. I host dating games.

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Reflection Columbus Museum Participatory 43

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 28, 2013

Earlier in 2013, I was amazed to visit one of the new “Studio” spaces at the Denver Art Museum. The Denver Art Museum is no stranger to community collaborations, but we’ve been dipping in our toe a little more deeply when it comes to developing permanent participatory installations. Who are all of these people?

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Denver Museum Arts Collaboration 35

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 16, 2013

Or that we take a group photo together at the end of the day. Then again, Saturday was hardly normal at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. The group was mostly young (teens to thirties) and nerd-diverse: a little bit punk, a little bit hacker, a little bit craft grrl. It was pretty freaking amazing.

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Reflection Community Museum Participatory 43

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

It is always challenge to use participatory techniques when your participants are not native English speakers and you don’t speak the language. I thought I’d share a few quick insights and tips that I learned for others who may be preparing for doing tech training internationally and want to use participatory techniques.

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Facilitation Training Train International 50

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 7, 2010

I'm a huge fan of work and the way she thinks - especially after she road the Scare House ride on the Santa Cruz boardwalk with me and did a brilliant reflection on its design. Nina has written a fantastic book engagement called The Participatory Museum. Tags: Art Sector Arts & Technology engagement.

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Model Activities Active Activism 98

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 4, 2010

It's rare that a participatory museum project is more than a one-shot affair. Wikipedia Loves Art, Take One The first version of Wikipedia Loves Art first took place in February 2009. It started with a request from a group of New York Wikimedians to the Brooklyn Museum. I hope you'll share your thoughts in the comments.

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Wikipedia Arts Museum Images 40

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. In 2008 and 2009, there were many conference sessions and and documents presenting participatory case studies, most notably Wendy Pollock and Kathy McLean''s book Visitor Voices in Museum Exhibitions.

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Museum Question Participatory Evaluation 45

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. People voted by clapping.

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Causes Change Museum Social 50

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 29, 2009

MuseumNext had four main sections: Interactive activities , including an opening workshop with a group of designers associated with an extremely wonderful exhibition called Doing it for the Kids featuring sustainable toy designs. Click any link above to see the video from the initial pitch and final report from each group.

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Facilitation Reflection Museum Participatory 32

Museum 2.0

JULY 23, 2019

In reflecting on the sample, I’ve made some broad reflections on museum workers and visitors. Today, I wanted to think about participatory elements, something so essential to this blog. Lumin at Detroit Institute of Art Now on to the interactives…I’ve been thinking a great deal about the function of interactives in museums.

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Museum Participatory Interaction Classroom 35

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."

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Question Participatory Museum Evaluation 49

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 26, 2012

I have felt in the past that some of the MCA's holiday videos were a bit too pretentious, but this year's edition is full of joy and a message that really reflects what they do in Denver. I LOVE the way the James Irvine Foundation presents their lessons learned from grant-making in the Arts Innovation Fund program.

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Denver Museum Arts Participatory 33

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 11, 2012

I can't say that any one experience--working on a collage with other visitors, swinging on a hammock, discovering a participatory display for pocket artifacts in the bathroom--directly contributed to increased attendance and giving. This community was ready for a museum that reflected the unique creative identity of Santa Cruz.

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Audience Museum Participatory History 47

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. The contributions that are the "best" may be a narrow reflection of your own personal preferences.

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Design Participatory Learning Instruction 45

Museum 2.0

JULY 31, 2013

You''re in for a treat, with upcoming posts on creativity, collections management, elitism, science play, permanent participatory galleries, partnering with underserved teens, magic vests, and more. Reflective time is important, especially when your work is hectic. It is this community--you--that I want to reflect a bit more on.

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Museum Participatory Reflection Conference 35

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. I promise--after this post, I'll stop writing about this. actively sought out community needs to respond to.

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Museum History Arts Artist 47

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.

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Museum Difference Participatory History 29

Museum 2.0

MAY 21, 2014

It has some of the same feel as the disconnected affection of people wishing you a happy birthday on Facebook, with professional reflection baked in. Seeing so many cheerful one-liners in my inbox made me think about how different my work situation is today than the last time I reflected on it in public in 2012, at my one-year anniversary.

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Museum Director History Teen 49

Museum 2.0

MARCH 14, 2017

This is the second installation 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 MAH fundamentally has two jobs: we bring art and history out into our community, and we invite our community in. We want to break out.

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Public Museum Arts History 27

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

The majority of our public programs at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History are created and produced through community collaborations. C3 is a group of diverse community members that meets to creatively brainstorm new forms of collaboration with community members. Can't wait to hear what you think. What are their needs?

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Collaboration Community Tools Museum 55

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. Six goals for MAH community programs.

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Program Community Design Museum 49

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.

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Children Museum Create Project 46

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 5, 2008

Cultural Connections is a group of museum professionals who meet up a few times a year and host excellent programs on a variety of topics. I was captivated by Chris Alexander 's story about participatory online/onsite efforts at the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA). Reason #258 I'm glad to live in California: Cultural Connections.

Case Study 20

Case Study Participatory Studies Museum 20

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

I spent some time playing with this question last week at the Milwaukee Art Museum, a large general museum that is moving toward redesign of the permanent galleries. While for me meandering was mostly pleasurable, if I were there with a particular goal or a group of people, I would have been stressed out. Do you interrogate the map?

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Experiment Lesson Learning Museum 44

Museum 2.0

APRIL 16, 2008

I've written before about the inspiring work that the Brooklyn Museum of Art is doing with their community-focused efforts. Click is an exhibition process in three parts: The Museum solicited photographs from artists via an open call on their website, Facebook group, Flickr groups, and outreach to Brooklyn-based arts organizations.

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Museum Participatory Artist Arts 24

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.)

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Participatory Museum Blackboard Game 51

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

On September 10, the Whitney Museum of American Art started offering a new membership called "Curate Your Own," in which members select one of five specialized "buckets" of benefits in addition to core admission and discount benefits. People want to experience art in quite individual ways. The "insiders" are another example.

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Interview Director Museum Arts 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. It is a group of people connected by something shared.

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Build Community Museum Artist 20

Museum 2.0

MARCH 15, 2010

It's not the extent to which they are participatory. In some cases, that's based on subject matter, as at the Museum of Jurassic Technology or the American Visionary Art Museum. They reflect the soul of the community and can be responsive to its unique interests and needs. It's not their size or type or subject matter.

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Support Museum St. Louis NSF 41

Museum 2.0

JULY 9, 2009

Last month, I met an artist who was part of a group that created a renegade podcast tour for the Portland Art Museum. But I also found myself wondering if this imagined set of interpretations for the art was any more compelling or useful than any other imagined set of interpretations. together on one large panel nearby.

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Museum Alternative Portland Artist 22

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

I also learned that the best money in museums for someone who's starting out is in art modeling. After a long day running around a science center, I would show up at the Worcester Art Museum in the evening and make $20 just to stand around and listen to a painting instructor talk about art.

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Museum Boston Participatory Job 52

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. If you start with an event, you may grow the relationship from one-off to a deeper connection with the group. Other person: Nope. Me: Me neither.

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Museum Hosting Model Community 22

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 25, 2009

When you want visitors to spend a long time reflecting and sharing their thoughts, you need to design spaces for response that are comfortable and minimize distractions. Unfortunately, most talk back walls don't support the grouping of visitor contributions or attempt to encourage conversational threads to develop.

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Design Goal Difference Platform 31

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 2, 2008

I always assumed that this would be a semi-private endeavor and that the public nature of the blog would just be an efficient vehicle for sharing my ideas with a small group of interested folks. But enough of these experiences have convinced me that the participatory museum is not a fringe concept. There is funding. There is interest.

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Museum Voice Minnesota Participatory 20