Open Forum

Hello museum friends -- I am looking to connect with museums who have incorporated drag artists and performers in recent family-friendly programming.

We are a small-sized maritime museum planning planning to host a Drag Story Hour this June. While Drag Story Hour has become popular in library settings (and controversial in recent months), I find this kind of event relatively rare in museum settings. 

What would you share with a small museum starting this kind of event for the first time? I would love to hear what worked, what didn't, any pointers, and lessons learned. What was community reception and feedback? Was their any impact to raising (or losing) financial support? How did you deal with protesters, if at all? 

(If your museum considered hosting this event but chose not to, why?)

I understand this has become a touchy subject for some -- please keep comments positive, tolerant, and inclusive. 

Thank you very much for your advice,

Nomi

Hello museum friends -- I am looking to connect with museums who have incorporated drag artists and performers in recent family-friendly programming.

We are a small-sized maritime museum planning planning to host a Drag Story Hour this June. While Drag Story Hour has become popular in library settings (and controversial in recent months), I find this kind of event relatively rare in museum settings. 

What would you share with a small museum starting this kind of event for the first time? I would love to hear what worked, what didn't, any pointers, and lessons learned. What was community reception and feedback? Was their any impact to raising (or losing) financial support? How did you deal with protesters, if at all? 

(If your museum considered hosting this event but chose not to, why?)

I understand this has become a touchy subject for some -- please keep comments positive, tolerant, and inclusive. 

Thank you very much for your advice,

Nomi

------------------------------
Nomi Dayan
Executive Director
The Whaling Museum & Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor
Cold Spring Harbor NY
------------------------------

Hi Nomi,

The Penn Museum in Philadelphia hosted some drag performances and programming in relation to the 2021–2022 exhibit "The Stories We Wear." It was prompted by the exhibition content---the curatorial and exhibitions teams worked with a Philly-based drag performer to include their story and an ensemble in the gallery, and the learning programs team continued the relationship with further programming. 

From the exhibitions side (I was on the exhibition development team at the time, before moving to a different institution), there wasn't any internal pushback about including a drag-related story once the idea emerged. There were one or two negative visitor comments on later evaluations, but there were just as many---if not more---positive evaluation comments and social media posts from visitors who were excited or moved to see a drag story highlighted in a museum. For more details on the programming side, you could try reaching out to folks in the learning programs department at Penn. Good luck!

------------------------------
Lauren Cooper
Exhibition Interpretation Specialist
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Original Message:
Sent: 02-10-2023 02:21 PM
From: Nomi Dayan
Subject: Drag in Museum Programming?

Hello museum friends -- I am looking to connect with museums who have incorporated drag artists and performers in recent family-friendly programming.

We are a small-sized maritime museum planning planning to host a Drag Story Hour this June. While Drag Story Hour has become popular in library settings (and controversial in recent months), I find this kind of event relatively rare in museum settings. 

What would you share with a small museum starting this kind of event for the first time? I would love to hear what worked, what didn't, any pointers, and lessons learned. What was community reception and feedback? Was their any impact to raising (or losing) financial support? How did you deal with protesters, if at all? 

(If your museum considered hosting this event but chose not to, why?)

I understand this has become a touchy subject for some -- please keep comments positive, tolerant, and inclusive. 

Thank you very much for your advice,

Nomi

------------------------------
Nomi Dayan
Executive Director
The Whaling Museum & Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor
Cold Spring Harbor NY
------------------------------

Hello museum friends -- I am looking to connect with museums who have incorporated drag artists and performers in recent family-friendly programming.

We are a small-sized maritime museum planning planning to host a Drag Story Hour this June. While Drag Story Hour has become popular in library settings (and controversial in recent months), I find this kind of event relatively rare in museum settings. 

What would you share with a small museum starting this kind of event for the first time? I would love to hear what worked, what didn't, any pointers, and lessons learned. What was community reception and feedback? Was their any impact to raising (or losing) financial support? How did you deal with protesters, if at all? 

(If your museum considered hosting this event but chose not to, why?)

I understand this has become a touchy subject for some -- please keep comments positive, tolerant, and inclusive. 

Thank you very much for your advice,

Nomi

Hello museum friends -- I am looking to connect with museums who have incorporated drag artists and performers in recent family-friendly programming.

We are a small-sized maritime museum planning planning to host a Drag Story Hour this June. While Drag Story Hour has become popular in library settings (and controversial in recent months), I find this kind of event relatively rare in museum settings. 

What would you share with a small museum starting this kind of event for the first time? I would love to hear what worked, what didn't, any pointers, and lessons learned. What was community reception and feedback? Was their any impact to raising (or losing) financial support? How did you deal with protesters, if at all? 

(If your museum considered hosting this event but chose not to, why?)

I understand this has become a touchy subject for some -- please keep comments positive, tolerant, and inclusive. 

Thank you very much for your advice,

Nomi

Hello museum friends -- I am looking to connect with museums who have incorporated drag artists and performers in recent family-friendly programming.

We are a small-sized maritime museum planning planning to host a Drag Story Hour this June. While Drag Story Hour has become popular in library settings (and controversial in recent months), I find this kind of event relatively rare in museum settings. 

What would you share with a small museum starting this kind of event for the first time? I would love to hear what worked, what didn't, any pointers, and lessons learned. What was community reception and feedback? Was their any impact to raising (or losing) financial support? How did you deal with protesters, if at all? 

(If your museum considered hosting this event but chose not to, why?)

I understand this has become a touchy subject for some -- please keep comments positive, tolerant, and inclusive. 

Thank you very much for your advice,

Nomi

Hello museum friends -- I am looking to connect with museums who have incorporated drag artists and performers in recent family-friendly programming.

We are a small-sized maritime museum planning planning to host a Drag Story Hour this June. While Drag Story Hour has become popular in library settings (and controversial in recent months), I find this kind of event relatively rare in museum settings. 

What would you share with a small museum starting this kind of event for the first time? I would love to hear what worked, what didn't, any pointers, and lessons learned. What was community reception and feedback? Was their any impact to raising (or losing) financial support? How did you deal with protesters, if at all? 

(If your museum considered hosting this event but chose not to, why?)

I understand this has become a touchy subject for some -- please keep comments positive, tolerant, and inclusive. 

Thank you very much for your advice,

Nomi

Hi Nomi,

You may also want to reach out to someone on the public programs team at the Dallas Museum of Art. I'm not sure who the best person on that team is to reach out to, but their info email is publicprograms@DMA.org. They've done drag performances as part of their Late Nights series. 

Cheers!

Hello museum friends -- I am looking to connect with museums who have incorporated drag artists and performers in recent family-friendly programming.

We are a small-sized maritime museum planning planning to host a Drag Story Hour this June. While Drag Story Hour has become popular in library settings (and controversial in recent months), I find this kind of event relatively rare in museum settings. 

What would you share with a small museum starting this kind of event for the first time? I would love to hear what worked, what didn't, any pointers, and lessons learned. What was community reception and feedback? Was their any impact to raising (or losing) financial support? How did you deal with protesters, if at all? 

(If your museum considered hosting this event but chose not to, why?)

I understand this has become a touchy subject for some -- please keep comments positive, tolerant, and inclusive. 

Thank you very much for your advice,

Nomi