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. They all have in concert, and they build on each other.

Audience 47

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. Please share yours in the comments. I keep visitor comments in my office. Get a good eraser.

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?" Everyone can have her own personal experience of history.

Museum 29

Museum Difference Participatory History 29

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

AUGUST 9, 2011

It's a little living room in a lobby area that invites people to lounge on comfortable chairs, leaf through magazines and books related to art and Santa Cruz history, and generally hang out. An unnamed art museum once created an incredible interactive and participatory installation related to a temporary exhibition.

Museum 51

Museum Arts History Columbus 51

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. Feel free to add your own questions and answers in the comments! Are there certain kinds of institutions that are more well-suited for participatory techniques than others? The Museum 2.0

Museum 45

Museum Question Participatory Evaluation 45

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. What opportunities might that open up for participatory and community projects that evolve over time in the space? What if we slowed down and changed some spaces less frequently--like once a year?

Participatory 32

Participatory Museum Blended History 32

Museum 2.0

MAY 21, 2014

I''ve now been the executive director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History for three years. I''m open to any questions you want to share in the comments. Participatory work can be very labor-intensive. We have prioritized opening up to as many partners as possible through collaborative structures that scale.

Museum 49

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.

Public 27

Public Museum Arts History 27

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

There are many participatory kiosks that are functional black holes--visitors make videos or draw pictures or write stories, drop them in a slot, and. Such participatory activities would be seen as a waste of time. This sounds ridiculous, but it’s the way many museums approach participatory projects. nothing happens.

Participatory 35

Participatory Museum Rate YouTube 35

Museum 2.0

MAY 29, 2009

Two weeks ago, I conducted a participatory exhibit design workshop with staff at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Admirably, the Smithsonian has opened up their new media strategic planning via a public wiki. I love that the new media team published these evaluations and responded to the individual comments.

Slides 20

Slides Process Video Open 20

Museum 2.0

APRIL 21, 2011

I'm reaching the end of my consulting days, with just one more day on the road before I dedicate myself to Santa Cruz and The Museum of Art & History. The one-hour conversation will be wide-ranging, free-wheeling, and open to your comments and questions. I wanted to let you know about a bonus opportunity that has popped up.

Arts 26

Arts Model Wisconsin Business 26

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 23, 2014

They give high-energy, interactive tours of the Metropolitan Museum and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). When the opportunity to design my own two-hour museum adventure at the American Museum of Natural History presented itself, I jumped at the chance. We have a specific opening activity to bring the group together.

Museum 55

Museum Interview New York Interaction 55

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. It is incredibly rewarding work.

Museum 55

Museum Director Participatory Culture 55

Museum 2.0

APRIL 25, 2011

Feel free to add your own questions and answers in the comments! Granted, I live in an increasingly narrow world of people who are exploring these topics and want me to work with them, but I still learn a lot from the questions and struggles I hear from colleagues and people who comment on the blog. The Museum 2.0 Yes and no.

Question 49

Question Participatory Museum Evaluation 49

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. I have always approached blogging as an open invitation to "wander along with me" in a learning space driven by curiosity.

Museum 35

Museum Participatory Reflection Conference 35

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

The ideal candidate has a good grasp of our local artistic assets in Santa Cruz County, a knack for participatory placemaking, and enthusiasm about putting on a show. How do you know who you need before you open? If you are reading this via email and would like to share a comment, you can join the conversation here.

Public 20

Public Activities Active Activism 20

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 28, 2009

Creating open communities with old siloed corporate structures. Yet, our executives and managers, our internal stakeholders cannot understand the open culture. I began our talk today with my personal nonprofit history. Note from Beth: This week I'm researching and thinking about the topic of creating movements. Get out now.

Create 94

Create Green Social Media Structure 94

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. The exhibition was open for 54 days and was visited by 14,000 people. As Learning Director Emma Bryant commented, "The exhibition is much more subtle than I think we would have done if we had done it by ourselves for children."

Children 46

Children Museum Create Project 46

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

George will respond to comments on this post and is also reachable here. Over time the movement and arrangement of things trails a layered aesthetic that convey histories and narratives of changing communities passing through this unfolding three-story artwork.

Collaboration 36

Collaboration North Carolina Museum Artist 36

Museum 2.0

JUNE 12, 2012

--Helene Moglen, professor of literature, UCSC After a year of tinkering, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History is now showing an exhibition, All You Need is Love , that embodies our new direction as an institution. This post focuses on one aspect of the exhibition: its participatory and interactive elements.

Participatory 51

Participatory Museum Blackboard Game 51

Museum 2.0

MARCH 18, 2015

I sat down with Emilyn Green, Executive Director of the Community Science Workshop Network , to learn more about their history, design, and engagement strategy. At that point, we opened three new locations: Sanger , Greenfield , and a new San Francisco workshop in the Excelsior neighborhood because the Mission has changed so dramatically.

Green 20

Green Interview Share Community 20

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 25, 2009

Many institutions do this unintentionally--by providing post-its or comment books, pens or crayons. I encourage you to share your own rules and thoughts on this in the comments. 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."

Design 31

Design Goal Difference Platform 31

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I still get fidgety listening to the podcast, but now I see it as an artifact of a supremely conducted participatory project rather the sole product of the process. And they made me appreciate them as superb facilitators as a particular kind of participatory experience: conversation with strangers. They really cared about me.

Reflection 20

Reflection Museum Podcast Participatory 20

Museum 2.0

MAY 5, 2009

Visitor Co-Created Museum Experiences This session was a dream for me, one that brought together instigators of three participatory exhibit projects: MN150 (Kate Roberts), Click! learning to enter open, personal relationships with participants. This was particularly true for Click!, This has both positive and negative outcomes.

Slides 20

Slides Participatory Museum Children 20

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 14, 2009

I used the example of two very different exhibitions that solicited visitor-contributed content: Playing with Science at the London Science Museum, and MN150 at the Minnesota History Center. The Minnesota History Center team solicited visitor nominations for exhibition topics and then built an exhibition out of those contributions.

Project 22

Project Museum Teen North Carolina 22

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 18, 2007

Openness - ????A A blog with the comments feature enabled allows or sharing photos in flickrs allows Extension program participants to discuss plans and programs. Bloggers frequently link to and comment on other blogs, creating the type of immediate connection one would have in a conversation. Leave a comment on a post.

Remix 50

Remix Professional Technorati Wiki 50

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Our museum in Santa Cruz has been slammed by those who believe participatory experiences have gone too far. Each of these articles--and the comments around them--are fascinating artifacts of a debate that has been behind the scenes for too long. I''ve always understood that participatory experiences are not for everyone.

Participatory 53

Participatory Museum Arts History 53

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

A commenter, Stacy Peterson, responded by turning my exploration back on itself: Quality makes sense but engagement is more open to interpretation. 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. Engagement?

Goal 48

Goal Museum Evaluation History 48

Museum 2.0

MARCH 10, 2010

This is the first of a four-part series on the behind-the-scenes experience of writing The Participatory Museum. Please let me know in the comments if there's anything in particular you want to know about - I'm happy to share whatever interests you. Participants were engaged in the following ways: Content review (open).

Participatory 21

Participatory Museum Statistics Process 21

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

In a straightforward way, Marilyn explains how her team developed a participatory project to improve engagement in a gallery with an awkward entry. Our colleagues in the Museum of Natural History were eager collaborators. This is a perfect example of a museum using participation as a design solution.

Museum 45

Museum Arts Problem Design 45

Museum 2.0

JUNE 2, 2010

Kathleen McLean (Independent Exhibitions), Dan Spock (Minnesota History Center), and Kris Morrissey (University of Washington) all shared thought-provoking and useful insights on visitor participation in museums, but Mark Allen and Emily Lacy brought down the house with their bluegrass rendering of the Machine Project and its engaging, quirky work.

Slides 22

Slides Museum Los Angeles San Jose 22

Museum 2.0

JULY 24, 2012

When we talk about making museums or performing arts organizations more participatory and dynamic, those changes are often seen as threatening to the traditional arts experience. What if historic arts experiences were actually a lot more participatory? comment thread. But what if the "traditional" arts experiences is a myth?

Greece 51

Greece Arts Industry Participatory 51

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 25, 2008

I hope you'll share yours in the comments below (or on your own blog). And check out the comments. I didn't grow up staring open-mouthed at natural history dioramas or wandering through art galleries. There are many parallels between free-choice learning and participatory design. This post tells my (weird) story.

Museum 29

Museum Alternative Education University 29

Museum 2.0

JULY 17, 2008

MN150 is a newish permanent exhibition (opened in Oct 2007) at the Minnesota History Center that marks the sesquicentennial of Minnesota with 150 of “the most influential forces in the state’s history.” If we didn’t get thoughtful comments, we were just going to do it ourselves. But we didn’t have to do that.

Interview 21

Interview Minnesota Museum History 21