Museum 2.0

MAY 21, 2014

Seeing so many cheerful one-liners in my inbox made me think about how different my work situation is today than the last time I reflected on it in public in 2012, at my one-year anniversary. I''ve now been the executive director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History for three years. Making co-creation sustainable and powerful.

Museum 49

Museum Director History Teen 49

Nimble AMS

DECEMBER 29, 2020

An example of this is museum memberships, in which members have access to behind-the-scenes tours of the institution or early access to special exhibits before the general public. The very structure of associations lends itself to embracing these trends and transforming the way you think about membership now and in the future.

Associations 78

Associations Change Classes Trend 78

Connection Cafe

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

The following post was originally published on the Center for the Future of Museums blog. On Wednesday, August 8, over 300 museum professionals joined CFM director Elizabeth Merritt and Seema Rao, principal of Brilliant Idea Studio , to explore self-care in the museum workplace. But effort and efficacy are not the same.

Museum 21

Museum Culture Professional Training 21

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 17, 2012

When I started this blog in 2006, I made a multi-media introduction to the concept of "museum 2.0" Venue as content platform instead of content provider: the museum becomes a stage on which professionals and amateurs can curate, interpret, and remix artifacts and information. The museum gets better the more people use it.

Museum 47

Museum Artist Remix Professional 47

Bloomerang

APRIL 7, 2022

The arts and culture focus areas in this list include performing arts, artists, art education programs, museums, visual arts, and beyond. Each year, the Center awards panel-adjudicated project grants in two areas—exhibitions and public interpretation, and performance—as well as 12 fellowships for individual artists.

Arts 104

Arts Culture Grant Fund 104

Museum 2.0

MAY 6, 2016

Five years ago, I left the consulting world to take the helm at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH) at a time of crisis and change. We have spent the past three years planning and raising money for a project to build a creative town square for our city on the front porch of the museum. I bridle under too much structure.

Museum 20

Museum Director Arts History 20

Kindful

AUGUST 12, 2021

The arts and culture focus areas in this list include performing arts, artists, art education programs, museums, visual arts, and beyond. Each year, the Center awards panel-adjudicated project grants in two areas—exhibitions and public interpretation, and performance—as well as 12 fellowships for individual artists.

Arts 73

Arts Grant Culture Fund 73

Connection Cafe

MARCH 31, 2015

I recently had the pleasure of attending the South Carolina Federation of Museums Conference in Florence, SC. Here’s what I learned: At the core of each museum is a personal mission. I wasn’t familiar with many of the museums who were in attendance at SCFM, even though I’ve lived and worked here for 40 years now!

South Carolina 20

South Carolina Museum Conference Personal 20

Museum 2.0

MAY 3, 2010

Last week, I attended Structure Lab , a half-day workshop on legal and financial structures for ventures for social good. The Structure Lab is set up as a "game" in which you explore cards in various categories (values, assets, financing, etc.) to better articulate what you are really trying to do with your project concept.

Structure 31

Structure Model Social Profit 31

Tech Soup

JULY 13, 2015

The Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library (MBWML) was established in 1958 and named to honor the mother of America's first president. The museum and library preserves the rich history of the Northern Neck through its collections, exhibits, tours, and educational programs. Images: Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library.

Virginia 36

Virginia History Museum Library 36

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 22, 2009

Earlier this year, a group of informal science researchers, led by Rick Bonney of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, published an extremely useful report on public participation in science research (PPSR). In this report, the authors describe three specific models for public participation: contribution, collaboration, and co-creation.

Public 36

Public Research Participatory Report 36

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 2, 2013

George Scheer is the director and co-founder of Elsewhere Collective, a fascinating "living museum" in a former thrift store in Greensboro, NC. In this post, George grapples with the challenges of balancing the care for a museum collection with that of contemporary artists-in-residence who are constantly reinterpreting it.

Artist 49

Artist Museum Proposal Participatory 49

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 7, 2010

Nina has written a fantastic book engagement called The Participatory Museum. After a broad survey, Rick’s team defined three broad categories of public participation in scientific research: contribution, collaboration, and co-creation. I've purchase a two copies, one for me and one to give away.

Model 98

Model Activities Active Activism 98

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. We actively seek participation and develop structured opportunities for visitors to collaborate with us. Last month, a couple came in and asked if they could stage a pop up tea ceremony at the museum.

Platform 41

Platform Open Museum Participatory 41

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 9, 2010

Use a Unique HashTag: A hashtag is a keyword that opens up a public conversation on Twitter. Activities: If the event will be more than a networking event, have some structure activities or presentations. Some Tips: Tweet Before the Tweet Up To Build Excitement. Be creative. Also encourage people to live tweet from the event.

Offline 96

Offline Online Houston Museum 96

Museum 2.0

MARCH 27, 2013

I've written about different structures for participatory processes (especially in museums), and recently, I've been interested in how we can apply these structures to the design of public space. There's a constant dialogue in participatory work about how to make peoples' contributions meaningful.

Design 49

Design Participatory Children Museum 49

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

We've gotten a little more organized at The Museum of Art & History , and we've now released opportunities for summer internships. These are unpaid part-time and full-time opportunities to help design public programs, develop new uses for the museum, perform visitor research, and pursue unusual projects.

Museum 34

Museum Participatory Arts Attitude 34

Museum 2.0

APRIL 1, 2009

On Monday, I gave the keynote at the Museums in Conversation conference in Tarrytown, NY. I learned to cultivate creative greed while working on Operation Spy at the International Spy Museum, where I was lucky to be working on a project that was so new to us that we didn't have any pre-established models or structures for doing it.

Museum 20

Museum Conversation Columbus Local 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

JULY 10, 2018

The museum was in huge financial trouble. My expertise was on inviting strangers to participate in public settings like museums. I remember the first staff meeting I ever ran. I had just started at the MAH as the new executive director. I wasn't sure we were going to make payroll that week.

Hosting 31

Hosting Arts Help Museum 31

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

We're seeking great folks for public programs, participatory exhibit design, online marketing, 3D design, and whatever else you might have to offer. I had a bit of a wakeup call about internships last month at an "emerging leaders" lunch event at the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums conference. We might never get there.

Museum 35

Museum Student Participatory Structure 35

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 12, 2009

The conventional wisdom on museum memberships is that they are "one size fits many" programs whose primary benefits are free entrance to the museum and insider access to exhibition openings. But what about all the other people who love your museum? Want to know how the Brooklyn Museum is answering this question?

Museum 24

Museum Audience Program Artist 24

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 19, 2016

We believe that partnerships build a stronger museum and a stronger community. Every channel in Slack is public by default. Like most museums and nonprofits, we have a donor database. The reality is that growth has meant more structure. One of my organization's core values is radical collaboration. SALESFORCE.

Collaboration 20

Collaboration Tools Build Organization 20

Museum 2.0

JUNE 1, 2010

You can join the conversation in the blog comments, or on the Museum 2.0 Like many museum and library professionals, I am enamored of the idea of cultural institutions as “third places” – public venues for informal, peaceable, social engagement outside of home or work. This is the only post written by me, Nina Simon.

Place 41

Place Discussion Culture Museum 41

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 7, 2007

I got my copy of the fall issue of Museums and Social Issues this week. The theme is "Civic Dialogue," and the journal includes articles on the historical, cultural, media, and museum practice of getting people talking to each other (including one by me about such endeavors on the web). A place many museums are not.

Museum 22

Museum Lecture Denver San Francisco 22

Museum 2.0

APRIL 19, 2016

Our museum has already had several requests to lend our support to bond measures that will be on the ballot in 2016. We reviewed a handful of existing policies from other institutions (local and national, museums and not), discussed their attributes, and started drafting/stealing/reworking with a Google doc. How did we create it?

Policy 20

Policy Advocacy Create Museum 20

Forum One

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

This Black History Month, we reflect on the strategy work that our team does through our partnership with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture —much of which centers around expanding access. And for those who have, they quickly understand that the Museum has much more to offer than can be absorbed in a day.

History 73

History Accessibility Museum Award 73

Museum 2.0

MAY 3, 2011

Lots of museums these days have video comment booths to invite visitors to tell their stories, but how many of those booths really deliver high-impact content? Last week, I talked with Tina Olsen, Director of Education and Public Programs at the Portland Art Museum, about their extraordinary Object Stories project.

Story 53

Story Interview Museum Audio 53

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

Ravon Ruffin and Amanda Figuero - Claiming Space for Brown Women in the Digital Museum Landscape Based in Washington DC, Brown Girls Museum Blog is a new-ish site led by graduate students Ravon Ruffin and Amanda Figueroa. The Museum of Impact is a pop-up project of short-term exhibitions on urgent topics of social justice.

Culture 20

Culture Work Museum New York City 20

Museum 2.0

APRIL 23, 2009

Like many people who've worked in science centers and interactive experience museums, I've always been perplexed by the fact that hands-on workshop audiences top out around age 14. They are more than just workshop spaces--they are member institutions, like museums. Isn't this one of our dreams for museums?

Museum 24

Museum North Carolina San Francisco Structure 24

NTEN

AUGUST 13, 2012

Technology-responsible staff are involved in overall strategic planning, helping to craft the future of the organization and the plan for how technology can support that work, both inside the organization and through public-facing technologies. We have HIGHLY innovative staff who push our available technology structures to capacity.

Adopt 81

Adopt Benchmark Tech Technology 81

Nonprofit Tech for Good

DECEMBER 14, 2022

For example, if you join a modern art museum, there is a good chance you won’t have to pay admission to other modern art museums. For events, ongoing series, or recurring celebrations online, consider the following options for publicity: 1. Events (publicity or other perks). You just need to show proof of membership.

Donor 337

Donor Sponsor Accessibility Music 337

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 5, 2010

The bigger question is about how to structure the second phase. For example, the Tech Museum Awards of five $50,000 prizes each year attracts many organizations with real capacity who are seeking both prestige and funding that could be significant in getting the new projects off the ground. Are they intended to inspire students?

Accessibility 100

Accessibility Award Proposal Phase 100

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

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Payne," member of the incredibly popular Santa Cruz roller derby team, wants to pitch a partnership with our museum. She doesn't have a specific idea for a partner event or exhibit, but she feels like we have a lot to offer each other in terms of publicity and a shared focus on enhancing cultural experiences in the community.

Phase 38

Phase Library Museum Homeless 38

Museum 2.0

APRIL 7, 2009

Which of these descriptions exemplifies participatory museum practice? Museum invites community members to participate in the development and creation of an exhibit. Museum staff create an exhibit by a traditional internal design process, but the exhibit, once open, invites visitors to contribute their own stories and participation.

Participatory 27

Participatory Design Difference Museum 27

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 24, 2011

This post features an interview with Sarah Schultz, a museum staffer at one of the institutions Light profiled in the book (the Walker Art Center). It's easier to secure grants for community-based programming or exhibitions, but it's not easy to get funding for some of the core work that museums do.

Arts 46

Arts Interview Teen Artist 46