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. There are at least three significant things that have contributed to our success thus far: A clear strategy.

Audience 47

Audience Museum Participatory History 47

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.

Public 27

Public Museum Arts History 27

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

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

MARCH 21, 2012

Art, however, does not come to museums pre-hardened. At the museum of art and history where I work, we are grappling with the question of how to help people enjoy themselves while keeping the art and artifacts safe. The level of touching, especially of art, has increased. How will we deal with this?

Museum 49

Museum Denver Artist Milwaukee 49

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Do you consider yourself an "activist" for your organization, avocation, or art form? Sure, I admire cultural organizations that have a strong mission to change education or diversify access or transform the role of art in everyday life, but I'm an insider. It seems wonky and possibly confusing to talk strategy with visitors.

Product 51

Product Build Museum Arts 51

Museum 2.0

JULY 7, 2010

Most of my work contracts involve a conversation that goes something like this: "We want to find ways to make our institution more participatory and lively." It requires trading a certain history for an uncertain future--a nerve-wracking prospect no matter the situation. I employ the parallel strategy all the time in my work.

Audience 40

Audience Museum Oakland Participatory 40

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.

Build 20

Build Community Museum Artist 20

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

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

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

Everyaction

OCTOBER 5, 2016

Thousands of nonprofit pros rely on our annual Best Nonprofit Conferences Calendar to discover skill-building, strategy-slaying, network-enhancing nonprofit events. It is our turn to make history. National Arts Marketing Project Conference. National Arts Marketing Project Conference. Marketing & Communications.

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Conference Calendar DC Washington 111

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'

Museum 55

Museum Social Arts History 55

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 15, 2008

The Brooklyn Museum of Art is a great example of a museum really embracing these environments for community-building purposes. The exhibition uses the stories of three remarkable children in history as a launching point for a platform on which kids and families can make “promises” for how they will impact or change the world.

Museum 20

Museum Social Network Case Study Discussion 20

Museum 2.0

JULY 30, 2014

Our work to transform the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History into a participatory and community-centered place has been heavily supported by the James Irvine Foundation. The report is a slim 12 pages on the common characteristics of arts organizations that successfully and continuously engage diverse audiences.

Report 52

Report Malaysia Memphis Museum 52

Museum 2.0

MARCH 30, 2016

Our entire strategy at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History is rooted in community participation. When people ask if our work in Santa Cruz scales, I start by acknowledging our distinct strategy. But the strategies are different. Printmakers leading workshops. Teens advocating for all-gender bathrooms.

Community 20

Community Museum Local Participatory 20