MASSAction 2017: Decentering Whiteness

How to transform museums into places of greater inclusion and equity?슠 This is the key question of the MASSAction (Museum as Site for Social Action) initiative, begun in 2016 and coordinated out of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.     A few weeks ago 36 museums (art, history, science) from across the country gathered for…

Play is the “Content” in Children’s Museums

One of my favorite blogs is슠Museum Questions, posted most Mondays by Rebecca Herz. 슠I read her February 27, 2017 post, “Why Are Children’s Museums Museums?”슠 with even greater interest than usual for a couple of reasons: First, during the late 1980s into the 1990s–the period that Rebecca is examining in her post–I was involved developing…

Atlanta, Ferguson, and Beyond

The annual meeting of the American Alliance of Museums will convene this weekend through Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Atlanta, GA. For those of you following this blog, there will be a number of sessions related to a couple of persistent topics: 슠The Empathetic Museum and #museumsrespondtoFerguson. If you will be in Atlanta, I hope…

Joint Statement from Museum Bloggers and Colleagues on Ferguson and Related Events

  The recent series of events, from Ferguson to Cleveland and New York, have created a watershed moment. Things must change. New laws and policies will help, but any movement toward greater cultural and racial understanding and communication must be supported by our countrys cultural and educational infrastructure. Museums are a part of this educational…

We Can’t Outsource Empathy

Participants at Town Hall meeting held in August 2014 by Missouri History Museum soon after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. 슠Photo: Emanuele Berry|St. Louis Public Radio   How many of you were aware that, earlier this year, the AAM (American Alliance of Museums) Board 슠published a new슠policy statement on diversity and inclusion?…