Museum 2.0

MARCH 4, 2015

This week marks five years since the book The Participatory Museum was first released. Across the museum field, the questions about visitor participation have gone from "what?" I thought the pinnacle of participatory practice was an exhibit that could inspire collective visitor action without facilitation. and "why?" to "how?".

Participatory 20

Participatory Museum Empowerment Facilitation 20

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 15, 2014

This week, my colleague Emily Hope Dobkin has a beautiful guest post on the Incluseum blog about the Subjects to Change teen program that Emily runs at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. Subjects to Change is an unusual museum program in that it explicitly focuses on empowering teens as community leaders.

Teen 45

Teen Change Museum History 45

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 10, 2016

Museum technology nerds: this post is for you. I've been thinking recently about distributed content experiences--ways for people to interact with museum content (art, history, science, etc.) as they make their way through the world outside the museum. At the museum? but none of them are great. Who's tackling them?

Museum 20

Museum Experiment Digital Podcast 20

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.

Museum 29

Museum Difference Participatory History 29

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 29, 2009

Last week, Jim Richardson and I hosted MuseumNext , a 24-hour workshop for museum professionals focused on bringing new, wild museum projects into the world. We also ended the entire event with one of my favorite exercises, the Exquisite Corpse game, in which participants co-created comics of their craziest museum dreams.

Facilitation 32

Facilitation Reflection Museum Participatory 32

Neon CRM

JUNE 16, 2023

It can be used to facilitate critical tasks that keep people invested in your mission. Finally, you have her son Tim, who is 25 years old and works as a curator at a museum. He donated once several years ago to a fundraiser in partnership with his museum, but has not responded to any subsequent appeals.

Database 52

Database Guide Nonprofit Gift 52

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.

Causes 50

Causes Change Museum Social 50

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 3, 2012

But Vi doesn't work in a science museum. Beth Harris and Steven Zucker, who are well known in museums for their excellent Smarthistory website and podcasts. Beth Harris and Steven Zucker's content about art history is social and dialogue-based in format. the way the best museums do.

Learning 55

Learning Free Museum Online 55

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 12, 2012

This is a picture of the largest temporary exhibition gallery in the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. This winter, my museum is trying an experiment called Work in Progress. This winter, my museum is trying an experiment called Work in Progress. How do we facilitate visitor experiences in these spaces?

Work 40

Work Museum Artist Arts 40

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 6, 2012

Solid Women ”, winner of Best Medium Organization, presents a powerful, affirming story of 5 women succeeding in rebuilding their community after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, through the microloans facilitated through Fonkoze. Winning Best Small Organization is “ Protect Our Defenders ”, a gripping account of sexual assault in the military.

Conference 96

Conference Technology NTC Minneapolis 96

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 24, 2012

I like to ask myself this question periodically, challenging myself to find substantive ways for visitors to contribute to our museum. And when I think back on the past year, some of the most magical things that have happened at the museum have NOT been designed by us. We don't have to convince them that it's their museum.

Platform 41

Platform Open Museum Participatory 41

Museum 2.0

MAY 13, 2015

Visitors in front of the African Elephant Diorama at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC photo) This guest post was written by Karen Wise, Vice President, Education and Exhibits at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. “I History exhibits with hundreds of objects and no coherent story.

Los Angeles 20

Los Angeles Museum History Artist 20

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 18, 2014

I''ve mostly seen museums employ one of two methods for formal community advisors: Create special "spots" on the board of trustees for certain kinds of community representatives. CON: can feel disconnected from the primary governance of the museum or can feel like a second-class board overall. I struggle with both these options.

Community 39

Community Story Museum Map 39

Museum 2.0

JUNE 6, 2012

This post is the third and final in a series of reactions to Blueprint , a book chronicling the rise and fall of the Dutch Museum of National History (INNL) in 2008-2011. How is the exhibit living on at the museum and what is it like to take over someone else’s project?

National 27

National Netherlands Museum History 27

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

You will make history. It isn't until the last group when Starlee sees a young Reagan who decides against the invasion--and against history. And the intention was for the facilitator to point out either during the experience itself or during the debrief that there are a lot of different choices. Lives are at stake.

Grenada 48

Grenada Student History Library 48

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

In the spirit of a popular post written earlier this year , I want to share the behind the scenes on our current almost-museumwide exhibition at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz Collects. We're involving visitor services and volunteers more intentionally in facilitation. Pocket Museums in bathrooms.

Participatory 44

Participatory Museum History International 44

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

FEBRUARY 8, 2011

Last week, I facilitated an interactive keynote in Seattle at 2011 Tech for Good Leadership Summit sponsored by Microsoft Community Affairs , in partnership with NPower Seattle. By all accounts , the event held the space for peer learning. Watech4good Summit. View more presentations from Beth Kanter.

Knowledge 97

Knowledge Seattle Social Media Measure 97

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 1, 2013

It takes you through the technologies and tools for each channel for different goals and offers up lots of case studies from organizations such as National Wildlife Federation, Red Cross, AARP, Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, American Museum of Natural History, SEIU and others. Click to see larger version.

Campaign 97

Campaign Online Chapter Model 97

NTEN

JUNE 21, 2011

The speakers for this panel include: Tracy Fullerton - Electronics Arts Game Innovation Lab Ruth Cohen - American Museum of natural History Elaine Charnov - The NY Public Library Jason Eppink - Museum of the Moving Image Syed Salahuddin - Babycastles Elaine Cohen: The New York Public Library 100 Years of the flagship library in New York.

Game 52

Game Culture Change Museum 52

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 17, 2016

The more my organization has become focused on community engagement, the more we've balanced being experience producers with being experience co-creators/facilitators. Our museum is growing, and I'm always weighing different ways to expand our impact. We need more empowerment in this world, and these institutions offer it.

San Diego 20

San Diego Work Museum Model 20

Museum 2.0

APRIL 2, 2014

In his thoughtful preface to this project, I reconnected with five lessons I''ve learned from participatory projects in museums and cultural sites. If there are museum objects and visitors'' objects on display together, all should be afforded the same level of exhibit design, labels, etc. Constrain the input, free the output.

Participatory 52

Participatory Arts Music Learning 52

Qgiv

APRIL 23, 2021

In addition to showcasing your auction items and facilitating registrations, make sure that your website can host “fund-a-need” items. Art & History Museums Maitland is planning a virtual 3-day online art auction for summer 2021.

Fundraising 52

Fundraising Virtual Sponsor Hosting 52

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

This month we’ve been thinking about “What is a museum?” (I'm I’ve been visiting museums my whole life. Does that make me the best judge of museums? People are the defining characteristics of museums. I’ve worked with and at plenty of museums that can sometimes feel empty. I'm not alone there.

Museum 36

Museum Place Life Ohio 36

Museum 2.0

JULY 7, 2009

culture might affect museums. The true story is that I desperately wanted to find a way to engage in discussions with some of my museum heroes. Kathy McLean is one of my heroes who motivated the start of Museum 2.0, I have learned so much from her work as an exhibition designer, audience advocate, and facilitator.

Work 20

Work Museum Online Dallas 20

Qgiv

OCTOBER 27, 2021

They take care of your facility, give tours of your museum, welcome attendees to your annual gala, and pass out medals at fundraising races. You could even ask volunteers to facilitate a warm introduction for you instead of just giving you a list of names. Volunteers are the backbone of any nonprofit organization.

Volunteer 98

Volunteer Strategy Guide Local 98

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. There are lots of great science museum resources, but not where these kids can walk after school. Any big museum has barriers and limitations to full community ownership.

Green 20

Green Interview Share Community 20

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 23, 2018

The facilitation was as chaotic and fragile as a spiderweb. The exhibition evolved after it opened. The lead partners were youth who had been marginalized and exploited by institutions. There were trust issues. Complex power dynamics. The result was the best exhibition I've had the honor of working on (check out these outcomes ).

Issue 45

Issue Childhood Community Create 45

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. Between the giant squid brainstorming and experimentation, I gave a talk to the larger Smithsonian Institution about multi-platform museum experiences. The slides are also available for download.

Slides 20

Slides Process Video Open 20

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 19, 2009

They edit the conversations into radio shows, which are then made available as a podcast (you can listen to episode featuring me, #89: Museum Secrets, here ). And they made me appreciate them as superb facilitators as a particular kind of participatory experience: conversation with strangers. But it's more complicated than that.

Reflection 20

Reflection Museum Podcast Participatory 20

Museum 2.0

JULY 4, 2007

On Tuesday, I reviewed Elaine Gurian’s essay, Choosing Among the Options , on museum archetypes and self-definition. Today, discussion with Elaine about ways museums choose their direction, how change is possible, and new museum types to be added to the list. What if you don’t want to be identified as one type of museum?

Museum 20

Museum Puerto Rico Change Boston 20

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 8, 2006

Elisa’s focus is interactive arts, media design, and cultural management, and she has been involved in many pertinent projects, such as MUVI (the Virtual Museum of the Collective Memory of Lombardia). Environmentalists, the Museum of Natural History at CU, they all responded very enthusiastically to this.

Interview 20

Interview Museum Culture Sound 20

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

I'm thrilled to share this brilliant guest post by Marilyn Russell, Curator of Education at the Carnegie Museum of Art. This is a perfect example of a museum using participation as a design solution. The activity was facilitated by the activity station set up in the lobby just outside the gallery. This was transformational!

Museum 45

Museum Arts Problem Design 45

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. So many museum exhibitions relegate the participatory bits in at the end. The Love Lounge I LOVE.

Participatory 51

Participatory Museum Blackboard Game 51

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Two weeks ago, my museum was featured in a Wall Street Journal article by Ellen Gamerman, Everybody''s a Curator. I''m thrilled that our small community museum is on the map with many big institutions around the country. I''m glad to see coverage about art museums involving visitors in exhibitions. Core Museum 2.0

Journal 54

Journal Participatory Museum Community 54

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

DECEMBER 16, 2010

I’ve had the pleasure working with Diana Scearce , from Monitor Institute, who has been facilitating and weaving this network. Social media tools for engaging and capturing the work of crowds include: wikis, custom platforms or web sites that facilitate voting, rating, giving feedback, adding content, or funding.

Measure 96

Measure Fund Impact Minnesota 96

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.

Facilitation 20

Facilitation Museum Interaction Denver 20

Museum 2.0

MAY 14, 2009

I've become convinced that successful paths to participation in museums start with self-identification. The easiest way to do that is to acknowledge their uniqueness and validate their ability to connect with the museum on their own terms. Who is the "me" in the museum experience? Not so at museums.

Museum 20

Museum Personal Experiment Profile 20