Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

It felt like something opened up, right in that room, between the flag and the tissues and the microphones. This argument became one of the foundations of The Participatory Museum. Even a smash hit program is hard to scale up in this model. At the MAH, we've tried wherever possible to break out of unidirectional program models.

Platform 31

Platform Impact Childhood Museum 31

Museum 2.0

JULY 1, 2011

I've now been the Director of The Museum of Art & History in Santa Cruz for two months. The first part is saying yes and being open to the community." Ideas include combining Santa Cruz's famous love of yoga with life-drawing classes, having models incorporate yoga poses for the sake of the would-be artists.

Museum 31

Museum History Arts Work 31

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

OCTOBER 23, 2018

This project wove together many different participatory threads. The exhibition evolved after it opened. We'd love to see this model evolve and grow. We co-created it from start to finish with community partners. There were over 100 partners. We commissioned new collaborative artwork.

Issue 45

Issue Childhood Community Create 45

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

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

MAY 9, 2012

I led a session with Eric Siegel and Ellen Rosenthal on museum business models and some of the issues we grapple with in managing money. And I talked about some of the challenges of finding the right income and expense models for a museum that operates more like a community center than a traditional cultural institution.

Reflection 43

Reflection Columbus Museum Participatory 43

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 20, 2009

While the majority of experience-based museums like children's and science museums have unrestricted noncommercial photography policies, many collections-based art and history museums continue to maintain highly restrictive photo policies. And I think the fourth and fifth are bizarre and ungenerous to visitors.

Museum 54

Museum Photo Policy Open 54

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

MAY 29, 2009

Two weeks ago, I conducted a participatory exhibit design workshop with staff at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Every program, old and new, should be evaluated against the mission (and the business model) for soundness. Tags: participatory museum professional development.

Slides 20

Slides Process Video Open 20

Museum 2.0

MAY 3, 2017

This is the ninth 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 “we” isn’t always staff; in most cases, our staff work with community partners in a participatory, co-creative model. We develop the ideas.

Develop 20

Develop Artist Participatory Blended 20

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

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. Elsewhere’s challenge today is how to continue modeling the public commons by practicing social exchanges through our set of things.

Collaboration 36

Collaboration North Carolina Museum Artist 36

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

A national election is the ultimate participatory project. I talk a lot about the "why" behind our work at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History when I'm with donors, at conferences , or presenting at Rotary Clubs. We need more tools to open it up. Who's really going to read the fine print to find out why?

Product 51

Product Build Museum Arts 51

Museum 2.0

JULY 20, 2016

However, I have enormous respect for the customer-centered model when it is executed in ways that truly invite visitors in on their own terms and deliver satisfying experiences. Glasgow Museums include other institutions--notably, Glasgow Open Museum --that are far more user-centered. All were given value.

Museum 20

Museum Audience Music Arts 20

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. So the Community Science Workshop model is to put a drop-in, FREE community science center in a place that is walkable to kids'' lives and schools. We''re not going to do that.

Green 20

Green Interview Share Community 20

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. Thank you to everyone who came and helped co-create an exciting experimental event in a beautiful city.

Facilitation 32

Facilitation Reflection Museum Participatory 32

Connection Cafe

NOVEMBER 1, 2018

You see them in business models like Airbnb, right? So that’s an extraordinary model and the reason it’s been able to scale so quickly is because of new power. You have housing, markets change, you have rental markets all too and so it’s these models that are able to do that so quickly.

Social 22

Social Game Model Fun 22

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. We all have business models. The report is brief, clear, and open. I''ve learned a lot from Irvine Foundation staff and partners directly.

Report 52

Report Malaysia Memphis Museum 52

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

OCTOBER 8, 2008

There are many models as well for what we do with user-generated content in the museum. And while some sites strive for transparency, most find ways to feature the kind of content and behavior that they want to see modeled for other users. Ideas participatory museum usercontent. There are some emerging case studies for this.

Authoring 42

Authoring Platform Museum YouTube 42

Non Profit Quarterly

NOVEMBER 17, 2021

Given the lack of established models, there will undoubtedly be some unanticipated curves ahead. Beyond these benefits, running a local currency on an app opens even more potential for experimentation. Given this history, it is unsurprising that interest in alternative currency was rekindled in the wake of the Great Recession.

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Local Digital Experiment Alternative 104

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

As many of you know, I’m writing a book about participatory design for museums. Over the last week, there’s been a lively discussion on the wiki about the key audiences and goal of the book, and I wanted to open that up to you (and you are, of course, welcome to join the wiki and help). And there’s a third reason.

Participatory 26

Participatory Design Museum Wiki 26

Museum 2.0

JUNE 11, 2014

This post was written by my colleague Nora Grant, Community Programs Coordinator at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. There are many different models, including The Pop-Up Museum of Queer History , The New York Met , SF Mobile Museum , and even a Pop Up Prison Museum.

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Museum Grant Lesson History 49

Museum 2.0

MARCH 6, 2019

This week, I've had multiple conversations with colleagues in the arts, symphonies, and urban planning about the fear professionals have about "losing control" when opening up new opportunities for people to participate. While I originally wrote this post to advocate for more participatory practice (i.e.

Authoring 44

Authoring Share Museum YouTube 44