Connecting Experience and Research
Research is the fuel in the engine of the museum’s output. Like a car, which is basically inert without a driver, the museum only fulfills its full mission when drawing visitors. Visitors are now a scarce commodity. Drawing more visitors requires considering our offerings and the way those offerings come to fruition. This does mean …
Interpretation : Focus on Tactile and Kinesthetics
In museum galleries, we signal ideas through a variety of ways. Collections are visible in the galleries. Interpretation adds more signals, like ancillary images, audiotours, and of course text. But, we also omit many stimuli. We often completely exclude two major forms of meaning-making, kinesthetic and tactile. What happens when we do this? And, what …
Continue reading “Interpretation : Focus on Tactile and Kinesthetics”
The Regional Arts and Culture Ecosystem
No institution is an island. Understanding your part in the greater whole of your community can help, your organization find the best way to work in the community. Large Single-Sited Institutions: ex. Museums Multi-Sited Institutions: ex. School systems, Library systems Event-Focused Organizations: ex. Reader/ Writing Events, musical festivals Small Single-Sited Organizations: ex. Arts centers Mobile/ …
What Museums Can Learn from the Black Panther
Taken from the Marvel Comic Books, the Black Panther is a movie about a fictional African nation that cloaks its advanced civilization as a form of self-preservation. The king of the nation has superhuman strength thanks to serious sumptuary success. The Black Panther’s trail to bring a bad guy to justice starts some even worse …
Continue reading “What Museums Can Learn from the Black Panther”
Vistor-Centered Interpretation
There is a symphonic aspect to exhibition and museum gallery planning. Many ideas come together to create something coherent and ideally pleasing to the audience. Just as some music is appealing to only a few, and others hit the charts, some exhibitions and museum spaces work for more rarified audiences. That said, museums can …
Employee Engagement: Cultural Silos and Personal Ladders
Trends come and go in business. You might hear one person say in a meeting, “It’s all about stories.” And then all of a sudden every article in business journals and blogs are about stories. Breaking silos is a particularly fashionable phrase current. Silos Silos dot the countryside in much of the US. These tall …
Continue reading “Employee Engagement: Cultural Silos and Personal Ladders”
Addressing Inadvertent Bias in Language
Words matter. Actions matter too, don’t forget. But, words can be harbingers of actions. They are certainly bellwethers of the inner mind. Words belie deep secrets. Words are the ultimate tells. Most imperative, however, words are not static. Their meaning, their usage, their connotations fluctuate. The transmutation of meaning can feel imperceptible for people, like …
The Strengths of Museums: What We Can Learn From Each Other
Last week, I had a wonderful amount of feedback on my post. I had compared two fairly different types of museums, Art and Science Museums, to see what they can learn from each other. Often, museums silo their practices within their own specialty. By looking over the wall at the successes of others, the whole …
Continue reading “The Strengths of Museums: What We Can Learn From Each Other”
How to make museums more engaging? Develop Employee-Centered Museums First
Museums share collections and research for visitors. But, of course, they are also workplaces. People, who work at museums, create research and installations for visitors. This simple equation highlights an essential challenge for museums. Unhappy People equals Unhappy Product Unhappy people are some of the most generous folks around. They share their negativity with awful …
Continue reading “How to make museums more engaging? Develop Employee-Centered Museums First”
What can museums learn from each other?
Scott Sayre, of the Corning Museum of Glass, once said, “Science Museums make complex ideas simple and art museums make simple ideas complex.” (Hear more from Scott here). This comparison struck me as so incredibly powerful, not just for its succinctness, but also its insight. Both times of museums are two sides of one coin. …