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? For this reason, I see history museums as best-suited for participatory projects that involve story-sharing and crowdsourced collecting (e.g.

Museum 29

Museum Difference Participatory History 29

Museum 2.0

JULY 31, 2013

It feels like a real gift to myself (and hopefully, to you) to schedule all this content now and not have to worry about it when my baby is born. 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.

Museum 35

Museum Participatory Reflection Conference 35

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 3, 2009

Last month, the Christian Science Monitor published an article entitled, "Museums' new mantra: Connect with community." It took me a couple weeks (and various museum blog responses ) to realize what bugs me about this article--it treats "connecting with community" as a marketing ploy, a "mantra" rather than a mission. Which community?

Community 22

Community Museum San Diego San Francisco 22

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 18, 2008

I've long believed that museums have a special opportunity to support the community spirit of Web 2.0 as physical analogs to virtual community platforms. People who engage deeply in any online community, whether a bulletin board or social networking site, want to meet in person. meetup for Elite Yelp! I don't think so.

Museum 22

Museum Hosting Model Community 22

Museum 2.0

JUNE 12, 2012

It is multi-disciplinary, incorporates diverse voices from our community, and provides interactive and participatory opportunities for visitor involvement. This post focuses on one aspect of the exhibition: its participatory and interactive elements. Note: you can view these photos of the exhibition on Flickr here.)

Participatory 51

Participatory Museum Blackboard Game 51

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 1, 2006

Ready to turn your institution into a site of participatory engagement? specializes in designing museum experiences and exhibitions that are community informed, socially stimulating, technologically ambitious, and intriguingly experimental. Want to bring the spirit of this blog to your colleagues and projects?

Museum 21

Museum Professional Service Participatory 21

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. I worked on one project in which the client institution thought they wanted unfettered teen expression.

Project 22

Project Museum Teen North Carolina 22

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! Some of the most interesting questions included: how do you verify the accuracy and authenticity of visitor-contributed content?

Slides 20

Slides Participatory Museum Children 20

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

It opens up new conversations about the work of art in our communities. Every other year, they convene TUPAC, a group of 35 outside advisors, including teens, college students, Temple University professors, artists, philanthropists, and community leaders. Temple Contemporary is truly community-led. There is no formula.

Process 20

Process Share Philadelphia Arts 20

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 7, 2008

For many museums, visitor research--how people use the museum, navigate exhibits, and understand content--may be an equally important arena in which to adopt groundswell listening techniques. Creating Communities for Continuous Visitor Research What if you check out your museum on the Web and find. A community provides insights.

Museum 20

Museum Teen Second Life Discussion 20

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

At the big one, I worked on a small project with teens to design science exhibits for community centers in their own neighborhoods. We had only eight people doing everything related to content and programming at the museum. Many people focus job application cover letters and interview content on what they've done so far.

Museum 52

Museum Boston Participatory Job 52

Museum 2.0

APRIL 6, 2011

Let's say you spend a year working with a group of teens to co-create an exhibition, or you invite members and local artists to help redesign the lobby. Community processes are both exciting and time-consuming. In many cases, once the final project is launched, it's hard to detect the participatory touch.

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Participatory Process Museum Children 48

Museum 2.0

MAY 16, 2007

The recent flurry of restrictions that has sent teens fleeing? I want to see more multi-person exhibits, more prompts for discussion about content, more tools to facilitate connecting wtih other visitors whose interests are similar or in some way useful to your own. Tags: participatory museum visitors. The irritating design?

Museum 20

Museum Myspace Facilitation Social Network 20

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

In many museums, comment cards are currently the most "participatory" part of the visitor experience. It's the one place where visitors can offer direct, open-ended feedback on the institution's content and services. community activities of interest (please vote and comment--I will move to action stage at the end of the month).

Comment 20

Comment Tools Museum Conversation 20

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

I was talking this week with Mark Allen, the founder of Machine Project (an alternative arts space in LA), about different models for community engagement in cultural institutions. The framework is the format or setup for how community members are invited to participate.

Voice 42

Voice Los Angeles Denver Museum 42