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  • 1.  Diminishment of museums - thank you!

    Posted 11-12-2025 08:31 AM
    Thank you all so very much for your thoughts, suggestions, and information! It brings me multiple emotions including hopefulness knowing that some conversations are happening, and even some pushback. Continued sadness over how some staff are feeling as they strive to deal with the challenges they're facing. Pride that good work continues. Confident about the actions we can take. And continued appreciation for all the ongoing preservation, conservation, research, interpretation, and education that museums and historic sites keep upholding for all of us, all the people, we the people. Thanks again!

    Susan

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    Escape into the world of museums, art, and culture!
    Susan Marie Ward, MA, MS, LCMHC (ret.)




  • 2.  RE: Diminishment of museums - thank you!

    Posted 11-13-2025 04:26 PM

    Hi everyone. I was just clued into this conversation. I've been working on a plan with my partner Rich Mintz to encourage museums to employ online advocacy/activism techniques in their email programs. AAM says 96% of Americans want their elected representatives to do more for museums. Support for museums is non-partisan. But we fear activism tools because they're so commonly used by cause-based organizations. If you think activating our constituencies could help us, please go to https://ActForArts.org and let us know what kind of problem you could solve with the help of your constituents.

    One idea I've heard (tip of the hat to Steve Jacobson of JCA Inc.!) is Museums Monday--like Giving Tuesday, but a day on which we all ask our email lists to contact their local, state, and federal elected representatives just to say that museums deserve more support. What if? I think it would be incredible and effective.

    Thanks,
    Matt Morgan



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    Matt Morgan
    President
    New York NY
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  • 3.  RE: Diminishment of museums - thank you!

    Posted 11-14-2025 09:24 AM
    Hi, Matt (et al) - I love the Museum Monday idea!  anybody, anybody? Vivian



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  • 4.  RE: Diminishment of museums - thank you!

    Posted 11-14-2025 11:35 AM
    I like the idea, too! A couple random thoughts... Thinking of the marketing adage of the "rule of 7" (the number of times someone has to see something before they act), should it be more than once a year? And, might the call to action include things like an email template for people to use, or a prepared video that could be shared?

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    Escape into the world of museums, art, and culture!

    Susan Marie Ward, MA, MS, LCMHC (ret.)
    828-450-0300 ph/text




    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Diminishment of museums - thank you!

    Posted 11-14-2025 02:20 PM
    I think for the first big day, we'd want to coordinate the emails with press releases, lobbyist/govt relations efforts, etc. It could generate a lot of press and enhance the impetus to act. Journalists would ask the representatives what they're doing about it, giving it life outside our echo chambers. 

    And then, YES! I don't imagine it would be one annual effort; individual museums or smaller collaborative efforts of several museums (in a region, for example) could follow up multiple times. I mean, museums should have online advocacy *programs*--I'm not talking about a one off, I'm talking about permanent adoption of a tried and true strategy that every kind of nonprofit EXCEPT culturals has been using successfully for years. And Museums Monday is the way to kick it off.

    Please, please, if you're interested, sign up at actforarts.org and we can start building a community around this. I really don't have enough free time to email you too much, I promise.

    Thanks,
    Matt




    Original Message


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