Open Forum

This sounds like a wonderful initiative that I'd like to learn more about.  I have to say that I feel strongly that taking the "outside in" approach is well and good, but if the museum -- and its staff -- doesn't look like the community it's hoping to bring through its doors, I doubt this effort can be sustained.  I've been working to make the change from the inside out.  That is, first, educate our homogeneous staff (read: white, middle class), not just about race, but socio-economic differences, gender identity, etc, examine what is represented in our collections and exhibits, and push against HR to find ways to recruit underrepresented segments of our community to apply and get the training they need to fulfill job responsibilities.  My museum is governed by a community college that requires its applicants to have a good credit background.  If they don't, they don't even get an interview.  Guess who gets cut out of our pool of potential new hires with that policy?

Dear Elspeth,

Thanks so much for your thoughtful response to our "outside in" approach. I definitely agree with you that the work has to happen in both directions, and no museum can become diverse and inclusive without creating a culture, structures, and staff that are aligned with those goals. Chris Taylor at the Minnesota Historical Society is doing great work in that arena, and I urge you to reach out to him as he has created a number of tools for measuring where their organization is at, and articulating where they would like to go. He also did a useful AAM presentation last year that's available in the conference recordings.

If you want to learn more about Cool Culture Family Leaders program, it appears in this publication:

https://aamd.org/sites/default/files/document/050916-AAMDNextPracticesDiv-Incl.pdf

Best,

Barbara

This sounds like a wonderful initiative that I'd like to learn more about.  I have to say that I feel strongly that taking the "outside in" approach is well and good, but if the museum -- and its staff -- doesn't look like the community it's hoping to bring through its doors, I doubt this effort can be sustained.  I've been working to make the change from the inside out.  That is, first, educate our homogeneous staff (read: white, middle class), not just about race, but socio-economic differences, gender identity, etc, examine what is represented in our collections and exhibits, and push against HR to find ways to recruit underrepresented segments of our community to apply and get the training they need to fulfill job responsibilities.  My museum is governed by a community college that requires its applicants to have a good credit background.  If they don't, they don't even get an interview.  Guess who gets cut out of our pool of potential new hires with that policy?

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Elspeth Inglis
Assistant Director for Educational Services
Kalamazoo Valley Museum
Kalamazoo MI

Hello All,

There is a project in Philadelphia called the Philadelphia Public History Truck that engages broad audiences in history.   

https://phillyhistorytruck.wordpress.com/

There is a book called Letting Go? Sharing Historical Authority in a User-Generated World.  It includes many examples of ways to engage communities in history.    

Hope this helps.

This is a great topic... if you still need someone I would love to join in on this topic. We were founded as a museum without walls 25 years ago, and aspects of that are still with us today...we seek community feedback on our topics for exhibit to inform and shape how they are developed, and look to not only to draw people in to the space, but by taking exhibits and programming out to the community to draw new audiences from areas of the city who would not ordinarily come to our location. Our exhibits encourage interactivity and virtual participation via remote story kiosk and social media. Visitor participation at remote locations is added to the larger exhibit in the main museum location in our current exhibit award winning exhibit NUEVOlution. As VP of exhibits at Levine Museum  Id love to talk about strategies we have used over the last 9 years to encourage community participation , diversity and inclusion within our exhibits and audiences reached.  

Wow, that original posted program sounds amazing and I would love to learn more about it. 

I am also fascinated by many of the comments. While I agree that it can be difficult when the staff does not resemble the community they engage it can be difficult, but I don't think it is impossible. At my museum, I am the only staff member. I resemble some, but not all of our target audience. Most of the week, I am the only person running the museum, and we have docents 3 hours a week on Sundays to give me a day off. 

However, there are definitely ways to engage communities of other religions, ethnicities, and socio-economic status. 

I would highly recommend the work of Dr. Carol McDavid in public archaeology. She has numerous articles on community practice, and now is one of the editors of the Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage, and their articles can often cross into the museum world. 

http://journalcah.blogspot.com/

Are you familiar with the Jersey Explorers Children's Museum? http://www.jerseyexplorer.net/ I'm not involved with them but was introduced to them by a member of their board. Their staff is made up of community youth who are considered at risk. These young people create the exhibitions and lead visitors through all of the educational engagements. It's incredible! I highly recommend reaching out to them. I'm sure they're not AAM accredited but the work they're doing is worth learning more about. I'm not sure who their director is but perhaps a general inquiry would yield something worthwhile: info@jerseyexplorerchildrensmuseum.

Thanks for this great lead! We've filled up our panel, but it's always good to know of great work going on.

Best,

Barbara

Hi Barbara - I sent the following in a private message but realized that it doesn't alert you in any way (I don't think), so you might just be checking for responses here. 

Anyway, I absolutely LOVE the program that you described. I am not sure if you have filled your panel, but I would be very interested in participating.

The education department at the Bass Museum of Art on Miami Beach has also been running a family program to engage diverse audiences. 

Our museum has devoted the last two years to using our contemporary art exhibitions and visual literacy pedagogy to affect change in parents perceptions about family involvement in their child’s education during out of school hours. Through partnering with other community based organizations, public schools, head start centers, preschools and the county library system we implemented a program (Creativity in the Community) that uses art and imagery as a means to bring culturally diverse families of young children together to engage in activities that promote literacy, art, language and communication skills. Families enrolled in the program learn through the teachings of visual literacy, that children’s books and art exhibitions can become catalysts for creativity and positive growth for their families.

Background information: The Bass is located in Miami Beach, which is a key off of the city of Miami. It is a struggle for families to get here for many reasons including transportation and distance, so we offer these classes in communities throughout the Miami Metro area (we started with 8 sites and are now up to 13). Our museum has actually been closed for a year for some renovations, but typically we would bus our families in once a month to visit the museum for free to engage in and with various activities and performances. Since we have been closed we have been busing the families to other cultural institutions during their free admission or free family days so that they may experience other institutions and gain awareness of their programs and locations. Additionally, in response to the same issues that the other commenters have brought up regarding the lack of diverse museum staff, we have been recruiting, hiring and training our teachers from the areas that the classes are held. In other words, the sites that we are offering these family engagement workshops become 'partner sites' who often send us referrals or recommendations for individuals to hire and train. 

I could go on, but I think it best to first see if you still need panel members and if you think this is a fit.  

I look forward to hearing from you. My email is k c r o o k @ t h e b a s s . o r g