Museums in the time of politics

I'm dipping my toes back into the museum blogging world, because my head is full of many things that I need to put down on [digital] paper.

I've been thinking a lot about how museums function as public spaces in an age of social justice, protest, and politics. That thinking was sparked by a good (if difficult and emotional) conversation during the Education PAG lunch at NEMA 2016, about which I may write more later.

Two blog posts this past week have also made me think further.

First was Westworld, museum collecting, and the 2016 election. I admit, I bailed on Westworld (I'm not great with violence and/or body horror), but it did raise some provocative questions about the way we see the world, what it takes to be a good person, and how to operate in a world where the rules seem to change daily. It's made me think a lot about how we share our collections and teach lessons from history in our post-fact world.

Second is What does a Trump presidency mean for the IMLS? from Engaging Places. There's some good news there - funding is moving forward with bipartisan support, the new director is set until 2020 - and some less than encouraging news. Of particular note is this summation, which highlights for me one of the most disquieting pieces of our new reality:

If after January 20, [the IMLS re-authorization bill will] be on President Trump’s desk but will he sign the bill or veto it? His decision will probably be most affected by what’s happening to him that day.

I'm going to continue to think about authority, history, museums, and social justice in 2017, and I'll be posting here weekly. I'll continue some museum highlights and reviews (including a number from a trip to northern Europe in summer 2016) and trying to dig a little deeper into how we work in the new reality of our world.

Blog Roundup

Some interesting posts from the blogosphere.

Blame the Crowd,  Not the Camera from Museum 2.0

Interesting take on a post by Grumpy Art Historian, in which he laments the National Gallery's new open camera policy. Simon argues the problem is not necessarily cameras, but the vast numbers of people crowding around star pieces of art. If you've ever visited the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, you know the feeling!

I find merit in both arguments. I tend to think that those taking photographs of objects are parsing their own experiences in their own way, and we shouldn't judge them for not having an "authentic" interaction with that object. At the same time, some people are clearly snapping photographs that they will never see again, that will not come out well, and are doing so out of a reflexive sense of imitation.

Ultimately, I would argue, the solution is more about mindfulness than anything else, but how do museums communicate that to their patrons? Only take a picture if you really think it through first? That feels elitist. Maybe provide more scaffolding by each painting or object to get people to think about the picture they're taking - like a hashtag for them to use, or a mention of the museum's Instagram account? Examples of fun ways for people to pose in front of the photographs?

So Many Job Openings, So Hard to Get Hired from Evil HR Lady

Okay, this one was mostly depressing, but I think points to some fundamental problems with museum employment as well. It's an employer's economy, and job profiles are in flux. There are also some actually helpful tips about matching yourself with a job that you may not be 100% ideal for.

Slactivism from Seth Godin

I may be a grinch, but I have become increasingly annoyed by the ALS ice bucket challenges. Part of that is admittedly jealousy - clever, viral, and raising a ton of money! But most of it is that it's become a gimmicky stunt that people use for attention - and then don't donate, or don't mention ALS. How many people dumping ice water over their heads really know what ALS is? Seth Godin offers a nicely different perspective here, one that made me think twice.

Weekly Blog Roundup in Museums

Here are a few interesting reads from the museum world & beyond.

How a Classic Business Matrix Can Help Museums and Historic Sites from Engaging Places

I've seen a few variations on the "apply business models to museums!" idea, but I really quite like this one. Definitely worth reading and considering.

Up All Night at the Museum from The New Yorker

Interesting, disturbing read from the New Yorker about the first ever adult sleepover at the American Museum of Natural History.

Joyful Museums

Yes, I'm plugging this again. It's a great project. If you haven't done the survey yet, please do!

Weekly Blog Roundup

It's been a while. Massive work projects will do that to you. Here are some interesting reads I've found over the last few weeks.

Why Marketing Needs a Corporate Folklorist from the Harvard Business Review

On the one hand: I could not agree more that having a corporate historian is an absolutely necessary position to ensure continuity, culture, and plain old memory.

On the other hand, the argument here, which ultimately ends up as "history helps you sell stuff!" squicks me a little.

On the other other hand, isn't that what we often say to sponsors anyway?

The Nonprofit Director's Skill Set: One Group's Opinion from Leading by Design

I have a copy of Leadership Matters waiting for the right moment and amount of concentration to read it, but in the meantime I quite enjoy this blog. I also really enjoyed this blog post, which I thought was an interesting consideration of an actually really important topic. Hiring a leader is one of the most important things any nonprofit organization will ever do.

What My Favorite Meteorologist Has To Do With City Museums from CityStories

Rainey is a brilliant, original thinker and I really like the clear argument she makes here for the work a city museum should be doing to connect to its constituency. I like the way she's framed it as a balance between expertise and community integration, something so many museums struggle with.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here are a few interesting blog posts from the museum world.


Pinterest as a Museum Tool from the Columbus EMPs

I've been playing with Pinterest for some months now, and I have to confess, it's not yet my thing. I'm not a terribly visual person. But I am really intrigued by the creative possibilities for museums, and this post is a great roundup of what's out there and how museums are using it well. Many of the ideas shared are good general-application thoughts about communicating with the public.

@HistoryinPics brings history to the public. So what’s the problem? (Part 1) from History@Work

I admit, I follow this Twitter account - but declined to RT something they posted when I saw it hadn't been credited at all. I had no idea about the commercial motivations behind the account. I'll think twice about whether I even follow them or not. (Also, two teenagers making $50,000 a month doing this? I am doing something wrong...)

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here's a roundup of interesting blog posts in and about museums (and a few that are not directly about museums but are useful anyway).

Organizing your employment history at Unclutterer

One of the biggest favors I ever did myself was to organize all my files on previous employers, both digital and paper. I weeded, kept useful information, and re-labeled all my resumes, job descriptions, and contact information. I can't overstate how much of a relief and help it is to have all that information at the tip of my fingers if necessary. It's not just in a job search - I keep it up to date now because I'm always being asked for a copy of my resume for grant applications.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here are a few interesting & exciting posts from the museum blog world.

First up: this is not a blog post, I know, but it has potential to be really excellent. A group of public historians are putting together an "unconference" in Boston that they're calling History Camp. I'm loving watching this develop; the interactive nature of planning, the open sourced presentations, the transparent fun of it all. I'm trying to get some time off to go down and talk but even if I can't, I wish them well!

How much interpretation is too much? from Every Word Counts

I have a grad school friend who swore that she'd never write another exhibit label after we graduated. I'm the opposite: I love them. I love the wordsmithing and the thinking and the tweaking. I love it until I violently hate it, but I always swing back around to wanting more by the time a new project comes up.

This is a great post about the times when you can do too much explaining. I've found myself falling more and more into the minimalist camp for labels; I want people to say what they mean and then get out and leave the rest to me. (That doesn't mean I want a basic tombstone label - but I don't want to read 500 words, either.)

News Roundup from Museum, Politics, and Power

I know: I'm rounding up a roundup. Consider this my way of saying that this blog makes me think and react and consider in ways that I don't usually. It's a fascinating multinational project that's tackling big issues that we don't often get to address.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here's a collection of interesting blogs from around the museum world.

Getting a job as an interpreter at an historic site: what to include and why from The History List

This is a well-compiled list of essential skills for frontline interpreters. Some of them aren't exactly emphasized in the more intellectual circles of museum studies programs. Using a register and handling cash is a big one - I'm always amazed at people who have never held a single cashier job and are baffled by registers. Handling money is a core job skill, and it will help you out in life above and beyond your professional career.

Financial Management at America's Billion Dollar Museums from Engaging Places

This is a really terrific overview of revenue, assets, and deficits at some of the biggest museums in America. Max lays things out in straightforward charts, delves into the reasons why some museums are out further ahead than others, and - my favorite - looks at the funding mix for these museums to see whether there's any one good model. (Spoiler alert: there isn't, but it's still fascinating to see the data.)

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here are a few interesting posts from the museum blogging world recently.

Striking a Balance: Conference Planning and Environmental Responsibility from History@Work

I live in Vermont, green capital of the country, and environmental concerns are something I live and breathe every day, but I am grappling a bit with all the ideas presented here. I think asking attendees to purchase carbon credits to offset the conference is a bit much - and does it really eat up that much energy to hold a conference? How can you calculate or prove that? A better idea: asking attendees to implement one green idea at their museum and bring the evidence of that to the conference to talk about. That said, this is still an interesting post in a series of them, and at least brings the issue up for debate!

A Campaign to Make History Relevant to All Americans from Engaging Places

Love the campaign, love the people involved, love what's being discussed so far. A small quibble: history is already relevant to Americans. They just need to better understand that.

Our History Museums Will Include the Events of These Days from The Uncataloged Museum

This is amazing. Linda interviews staff at a Ukrainian museum who are actively participating in and supporting recent protests in Kyiv. I am not nearly that brave, and I find their work inspiring.

Weekly Blog Roundup

I've missed a few weeks - apologies!

Where are you headed? Need a mentor? from The Uncataloged Museum

I just did a presentation on mentors and mentoring for the NEMA 2013 Conference, and Linda provided some excellent advice for that presentation. She is a consummate museum professional who does fascinating things and is incredibly thoughtful about her work. If you're seeking a mentor, and really want to commit to a quality, developing relationship, I can't recommend her enough.

Does your nonprofit believe this myth? from Know Your Own Bone

This is a really excellent overview of all the resources it takes to make a really successful social media policy tick along. Think Facebook and Twitter are great "free" marketing options? They are great, but they certainly aren't free.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Sorry to have missed last week's roundup - I was busy being inspired and networking at the New England Museum Association's 95th Annual Conference. What a wonderful week. I'll be posting about things I learned there for weeks to come.

But in the meantime: here are some interesting blog posts from the museum world.

A culinary school model for public history programs from History@Work

Linda Norris recommended this blog post to me when I had a conversation with her about my growing frustration with the proliferation of museum studies graduate programs. As co-chair of the NEMA Young & Emerging Professionals group, I'm always hearing about a new graduate program that someone has completed - and now they're having trouble finding a job. I'm frustrated for them, and I can't help but feel that the tipping point has to come soon.

Trevor Jones proposes in this post one possible solution/alternative to the academic public history program: making work in the field a requirement of entry. It's an interesting thought, and one that should be discussed further.

Amazon.com may help your fundraising efforts from Engaging Places

Amazon.com has a new program: when you sign in, you select a charity. 0.5% of each purchase you make is donated to that charity. There appears to be no cap. I'm looking forward to the postgame analysis: will it raise significant money, or just a few pennies here and there?

Museum Bashing and a Shift in Philanthropic Priorities from Museum Audience Insight

Did you see that Bill Gates recently called donating to a museum "morally reprehensible"? Reach Advisors examines this trend of declining interest in donating to museums from a data standpoint - and it's not good.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here's a roundup of blog posts from the museum world this week.

Skip the school bus: our trips for planning a virtual field trip from O Say Can You See (National Museum of American History)

As both the monetary and opportunity costs of field trips rise, virtual field trips are starting to become popular. I'm intrigued by the model but not yet convinced. This blog post is a good overview of the thinking behind a virtual field trip, and definitely shows some of its benefits as well as its challenges.

Participation, Contemplation, and the Complexity of "And" from Museum 2.0

You may have seen some of the recent "get off my lawn" editorials from various corners of the traditional museum world, several of them directed at the newly invigorated Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. Basically, the claim is that by increasing the diversity and number of particpatory programs, the museum is ruining its essential experience, that of a quiet contemplative hall for art (and history presumably though that always gets left out of these conversations). You can guess by my tone which side I tend to fall on, but here Nina Simon makes a compelling argument for why the truth is a bit more complex, and why the answers aren't as quite and trite as many of those editorial writers seem to believe.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here's a quick selection of interesting blog posts from the museum world this week.

"Arts" Coverage Isn't Museum Coverage from Museum Commons

This post went straight to the core of one of my major contentions with coverage of museums. Gretchen continues to talk more about exhibition critique, but how about any major coverage of museums that aren't art museums? How about an acknowledgment that actually, the most common type of museum in America is the small history museum, and what they have to offer is just as unique and valuable as the community art museums?

For that matter - and yes, I'm going to say this out loud and publicly - local history is vitally important to a community in a way that Yet Another Monet simply isn't. I would rather spend money on developing a program or a museum exhibit that examined a local tradition or family than I would on more art. The problem isn't limited to small places, either. Boston is a world-class city that has an enormous encyclopedic art museum that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in just the last few years to continue expanding. Yet it has no cohesive overall history museum and its enormously important smaller history institutions struggle. That is utterly baffling to me.

Museums are rectangles. Art museums are squares. Not all museums are art museums, even if all art museums are museums.

/soapbox

Tricks and Treats of Collections Management from NMSC Archeology & Museum Blog

This is a fun and informative roundup from the NMSC Center about the quirky things that collections managers deal with every day.

Tilting at Windmills, Part One from Thinking about museums

I could really just link one of Ed's posts every week in this roundup, but I particularly liked this one, which really breaks down the ideas and concepts behind immersive museum exhibits.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Welcome to a weekly roundup of interesting blog posts from the museum world.

As Goes Kansas, So Goes the Nation? from the Center for the Future of Museums

It's not often that I read a blog post and experience an actual, physical chill running down my spine. For those of us in the heritage business, this news is Not Good. It's a good - if depressing - roundup of trends pointing toward the defunding of nonprofit groups in general and museums in particular. I found myself wondering two things: first, is this truly the wave of the future, or is this just a valley in the cycle? second, will we ever be able to say that cash is not tight again? I've worked nearly my entire professional career in the shadow of the financial meltdown, and it's exhausting. Many museum colleagues have memories of more flush times, but I don't.

The Sustainability Question: Why Is It So Annoying? from Blue Avocado

This article made me laugh and laugh, and it also nails some essential truths. It's frustrating to see big money grants go to programs that obviously won't continue after the 2-3 years of the grant, and it's equally frustrating to look for seed money to start a small program - or fill in a hole in the budget - and encounter that question. Nonprofits depend on varied funding, but there are only so many balls we can keep in the air at the same time.

How Office Control Freaks Can Learn to Let Go from the Harvard Business Review

Let's just say this one struck a little too close to home...

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here are a few blog posts from the museum world that caught my eye.

Exploring Science Museums through Google Street View at the Tufts Museum Studies Blog

I can't say enough good things about how my successor as editor of the Tufts blog, Phillippa Pitts, has revitalized the blog and brought in some really terrific guest writers. This science museum column is one of my favorite, and I always learn something or take something away to think about when reading it.

Responses to Government Shutdown Vary at Historic Sites and Museums at Engaging Places

I have mostly been trying not to think about the government shutdown and self-medicating with The Daily Show and The West Wing. This post is a good roundup of reactions through the museum world to the government shutdown - which as of today appears to be over, though there is apparently already talk of gearing up for a January fight.

Who Counts? Grappling with Attendance as a Proxy for Impact at Museum 2.0

YES. Nina Simon nails it. What does attendance really mean, anyway? How do you count it? Is it a misleading statistic? What should we be counting?

Museum Blog Round-up

Here are a few interesting blog posts from the museum world this week.

Exhibition Inspriation: Moviehouse NOLA at ExhibiTricks

I love, love, love this idea on so many levels. I am a sucker for old movie theaters, and the format and energy behind this public history/crowdsourcing project is innovative and exciting.

Back to Blogging at Museum 2.0

Linking to a roundup of links in a blog roundup may be the clip show of the blogging world, but I'm glad Nina is back and blogging and these links are really great, so I hope you'll excuse the redundancy.

Shutdown does not mean shut up at Museum Minute

I am usually of the opinion that museum advocacy is a really important thing...for other people to do. It's not something that's held my interest or attention personally. This is a good clarion call for why and how advocacy matters, though. The shutdown right now has brought many of these issues into clarity.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here are a few good blog posts from the museum world.

Review: Cleveland Museum of Art's Gallery One Part One
Part Two
from Thinking about museums

Ed Rodley's writings are always interesting and thought-provoking, and he's at his best when he's doing deep critique on exhibit components. This excellent overview of an interesting new exhibit gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art is timely and offers quite a bit to ponder.

Reflections on a MOOC: One Museum Educator's Journey into the Unknown from the CFM Blog

I had actually signed up for MoMA's Coursera class but didn't have time to follow along when it went live. (A problem I understand is a fairly common one for MOOCs.) I'm thrilled to see this POV from the educators behind the class. MOOCs offer huge potential for museums if they can be done right.

In a perfect museum world... from Museum Planning

This is a nice little thought experiment. What would your perfect museum world look like?

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here's a roundup of some blog posts from the museum world.

Nice and  Matisse: Lessons from a City-Wide Project from Museum Commons

16th Street Baptist Church from historyplaces

Snapshots from AASLH in Birmingham from Engaging Places

The lay of the land: researching a National Park's administrative history from History@Work

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here are a few interesting posts from the museum blog world this week.

Reflections on the African Burial Ground Project at NMSC Archeology & Museum Blog

This is a really wonderful, thoughtful post on a sensitive project. I always count on this blog for good explorations of topics I never would have thought about otherwise, and this particular discussion of the archaeology and history behind the African Burial Ground, tied in with the modern sensitivities toward the space - and the 2003 reburial of remains - hits it out of the park.

Collecting Trayvon Martin's Hoodie at Museum Commons

Collecting contemporary history - particularly contemporary history of tragedy - is always controversial and difficult. When a Smithsonian curator mentioned that the hoodie Trayvon Martin wore when he was shot might be a good addition to a museum collection, opinions exploded. This is a good summary post with some thoughtful conclusions about the role collecting objects plays in making history.

Help Your Intern Get a Full-Time Job at the Harvard Business Review

Internships are perhaps even more crucial in the museum world than they are in the corporate world. Most graduate schools require one to finish a degree. Many of us have made valuable contacts and even gotten jobs from our own internships. How do you facilitate that when you're on the other side of the table?

Weekly Blog Roundup

Here are a few interesting posts from the museum blog world this week.

Don Wildman and a Mystery of a Museum Show from the Museumist

I'm really torn on Mysteries at the Museum; on the one hand, hooray public exposure for museums! On the other, the episodes I've seen seem to focus more on sensationalist stuff, not really neat overlooked history tidbits. Regardless, this is a neat guest post that gets behind the scenes on the show, which is obviously doing pretty well.

Every Word Counts

This isn't a specific post but rather a new blog that's come across my radar, highly recommended. It's great. Succinct, clear writing is so incredibly important in the museum world and I feel like it doesn't get nearly as much attention as it ought.

What is the most innovative type of museum? from Museum Planner

This is more in the neighborhood of downright depressing rather than inspirational. My preferred type of museum, history museums, gets second to last place, beating out only corporate museums. I've long felt that really good, quality innovation and participatory experiences are toughest to do at history sites, and I haven't yet been able to fully articulate why I feel that way, but this survey certainly seems to bear out that perception.