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  • March 02, 2021 3:01 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from KSAT

    The Witte Museum installed a state of the art HVAC system in 2017 with the “New Witte” expansion. This HVAC upgrade installed by Shafer with the new air purification system is improving the H-E-B Body Adventure, making the visiting space safer during the coronavirus pandemic. Now the entire Witte campus is upgraded.

    Museum officials on Tuesday said the new system can reduce 99.4% of COVID-19 air particles within 30 minutes of use.

    It was installed by Shafer Services Plus in the Twohig House and the H-E-B Body Adventure building, as the New Witte “already has excellent filtration systems,” the museum said in a news release.

    “The air purification systems use ionization and UV light to reduce virus particles, making The Witte Museum one of the city’s most advanced attractions and cultural institutions as far as pandemic health precautions,” the release states. “These systems also assist with the reduction of allergens and bacteriophage.”

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend air purification systems, along with masks and hand sanitizing, to help reduce the spread of the virus.

    See Original Post

  • March 02, 2021 2:57 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from AAM 

    This year has exposed the vulnerabilities of so many critical systems in the US, including health care, education, and the social safety net. In the latest edition of TrendsWatch I profiled many ways museums are caring for populations damaged by failures in these systems—serving as COVID testing sites, as food banks and community gardens, and sharing their space with local schools. Now the power grid joins the growing list of fragile systems that have faltered under pressure. As extreme cold gripped the country last week, nearly 3 million families lost power in Texas alone, coping with burst pipes, scarce resources, and buildings ill-equipped for sub-zero weather. I’m proud (but not surprised) to find museums rising to this challenge as well. Today’s guest post is by Claudia Martinez Gray, Director of Education at the International Museum of Art & Science in McAllen opening its doors to neighbors dealing with extreme cold and power outages.

    Download your free copy of TrendsWatch: Navigating a Disrupted Future and use the comments section, below, to share more stories of museums caring for the most vulnerable in this difficult year. 

    –Elizabeth Merritt, VP Strategic Foresight and Founding Director, Center for the Future of Museums. 

    Millions of Texans are shaking ice off their boots, homes and cars while recovering from Winter Storm Uri, a rare winter occurrence that blew through the entirety of the state. The International Museum of Art & Science (IMAS) is located in McAllen, a fast-growing city nestled in Deep South Texas. While we did not receive the snowfall of North & Central Texas, thousands in the area were without power and water for many days due to an overwhelmed power grid and frozen pipes. You may be wondering: how did a winter storm shake up a small museum along the US-Mexico border? I pose, instead, this critical question: how did a museum pivot to serve its community during a weather crisis?

    During the week of February 13-17, 2021, many Texans sat in cold darkness, anticipating the sun to peak out from the grey clouds as they struggled to keep warm in the record-breaking temperatures and piercing gales up to 20 mph. Living in South Texas, I never thought the community would need to worry about frozen pipes, cold-burnt crops, and lack of cold weather gear (or stunned sea turtles). We are accustomed to mild, dry winters. In fact, infrastructure in Texas is built to stay cool and most utilities are not winterized. Luckily, the museum never lost power or water and, understanding how fortunate we were, the team decided there was only one thing we could do.

    The IMAS quickly transitioned itself into a daytime warming center. We waived admission for three days, February 18-20, to welcome neighbors without power. To keep within CDC guidelines, we prepared to meet 50% capacity, and, per our usual policy, we asked visitors to practice physical distancing and wear face masks when on the museum campus. Staff quickly turned our out-of-service-due-to-COVID-19 hands-on areas into charging stations with spaced out lab tables and extension cords. A supply station offered hand sanitizer and writing tools for any folks who made use of our public Wi-Fi for school or office work. While we did not have the resources to offer warm food like many local businesses, we did have a stock of unopened cocoa mix from a cancelled event. When life gives you a winter storm, you make hot chocolate. Visitors were able to take the hot drink to-go to keep warm.

    Each day, the marketing team waited for confirmation of power (as there were rolling blackouts) to announce on social media that we were free and warm. We did wonder if folks would get the message in time, but those concerns were quickly dismissed. Our first announcement was shared nearly 300 times within 30 minutes of posting on Facebook. Interestingly, some visitors were families who did have power but were seeking some respite from cabin fever. Later, one patron commented on the post, “Thank you! We felt so inspired by the colorful exhibits!”

    Our education team was prepared to host several virtual fieldtrips that week. However, these were postponed since the local school district cancelled classes. Instead, Educators assisted Visitor Services and floated around helping guests and giving impromptu tours. In our science lab, we host a variety of Ambassador Animals, from reptiles to bugs. The children were so happy to see and learn about how our cold-blooded Ambassadors keep themselves warm during the winter (you’ve got to love an unexpected learning moment!) and pick-up free activities and resources courtesy of our local public utility.

    Over 250 visitors sought warmth at the IMAS in the days following the storm, more than double the usual weekend attendance since reopening our doors in June 2020. When our community was in need, we provided for our neighbors and this is how they will remember us. It will be a bright memory amongst the dark days that made up the historic winter storm of 2021.

    As climate change becomes more volatile and unstable, it is important for institutions to be open to innovative solutions to unforeseeable crises when developing emergency preparedness plans. Certainly, they should also consider the positive actions they can take to support the community in times of crisis. The practice of becoming a warm spot was surprisingly doable with limited time and with a small team.

    While we cannot control external systems, we can control our preparedness and response to unexpected events. From a global pandemic to climate change to economical shifts, it is clear museums are not short of challenges to consider. Using strategic foresight, it is possible to have a plan of actions that are taken to have positive outcomes. I believe this experience and our response to it will influence our new strategic plan that is currently being developed. Take it from this half-thawed out Texan, it should not take a crisis to start addressing potential problems at your organization, like not having a backup generator or an emergency plan for exhibit care.

    See Original Post

  • March 02, 2021 2:54 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from The Art Newspaper

    The Vatican Museums has been criticised for its lax Covid-19 security procedures by visitors trapped in overcrowded galleries last Saturday.

    Museumgoers took to social media to complain about the institution’s failure to implement effective social-distancing measures in some of its most popular spaces last weekend, in particular those decorated with frescoes by Raphael and his workshop.

    Vincenzo Spina, a tour guide who led a group through the museum on Saturday afternoon, said they were stuck in the Hall of Constantine, the first of a sequence of four Raphael rooms, “surrounded by people” and unable to move for 15 minutes when a museum guard “who appeared utterly confused” temporarily stopped access to the following room. It was “like the metro in rush hour,” Spina wrote on Facebook.

    Another visitor who took a 2:30pm guided tour of the museum on Saturday afternoon described the crush in the Raphael rooms as “scandalous” on the travel website Tripadvisor. Yet another said there was a “total” failure to respect Covid-19 guidelines. 

    Spina told La Repubblica newspaper that his visit to the Raphael Rooms descended into “chaos” because the crush of visitors was so bad that no-one was able to move “either forwards or backwards”. 

    In an open letter to museum management posted on Facebook, he added that he was “deeply ashamed” and “embarrassed” that he had led a group of unsuspecting tourists into a situation which he likened to “Dante’s inferno.”

    “There was no social distancing, no organisation”, Spina said, which left visitors “shocked and afraid” and even led to some instances of “individual and collective hysteria”, according to the tour guide. 

    “It is hard to understand how this could have happened [because] the Vatican Museums has had months to prepare for its reopening,” Spina said. 

    It is unclear why museum staff was unable to control the flow of visitors. 

    When asked to comment, the Vatican Museums sent The Art Newspaper a statement prepared by director Barbara Jatta for the Italian press agency ANSA. In it, she dismisses reports of overcrowding. 

    “I was in the museum myself last Saturday guiding some visitors through the galleries and the situation was not as dramatic [as reported on social media]. I find the controversy stirred up by some guides quite silly. First they complained that the museum was closed, then, after 88 days of forced closure, they complain when we reopen,” Jatta said.

    The Vatican Museums reopened to the public on 1 February after three months’ closure during the second, national pandemic lockdown in Italy. 

    Visitors are now required to book timed tickets in advance and, once inside the museum, they must wear masks; “maintain an interpersonal distance of one metre”, and “avoid gatherings” according to instructions on the Vatican Museums’ own website.

    Although all major museums in Europe are predicting drastically reduced visitor numbers when they reopen after long lockdowns, the Vatican incident shows that things can still go wrong fast if the flow of visitors to popular galleries or works of art is not managed effectively.

    See Original Post

  • March 02, 2021 2:50 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from AAM

    This year marks the thirteenth annual Museums Advocacy Day. It’s a day that I now look forward to every year and can proudly say that Blackbaud has been a part of for nearly a decade. During this collective movement, hundreds of museum advocates come together to give voice to the tremendous value museums contribute to our society and culture.

    In addition to serving as community anchors, creating unique education opportunities for people of all ages, and protecting our cultural heritage, museums are a boon to our economy. As shared by AAM’s President and CEO, Laura Lott, at the onset of last year’s Museums Advocacy Day:

    • Museums are economic engines that support 726 thousand jobs and generate fifty billion dollars in economic activity and another twelve billion dollars in tax revenue per year.
    • Museums have immense public support—95 percent of voters would approve of lawmakers who act to support museums and 96 percent want federal funding for museums to be maintained or increased. Additionally, every week Americans donate one million volunteer hours to the museum field.
    • Museums are an educational resource creating real change. Museums spend two billion dollars on educational programming each year, which creates professional development for teachers and learning opportunities for home-schooled students as well as all P-12 students.
    • Museums provide powerful and healing healthcare programs that reach diverse populations and support national security and diplomacy efforts through international cultural exchange.

    In the year since, that impact and the need to support it have only become clearer. Financial duress from the pandemic has not stopped museums from meeting the needs of their communities, whether providing spaces for remote and virtual classrooms or providing lesson plans, online learning opportunities, and drop-off learning kits to teachers and families.

    Last year, we focused on funding efforts related to the Office of Museum Services (OMS) within the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as well as tax policy measures that would make it more appealing for people from all socioeconomic backgrounds to donate to charitable organizations, including cultural spaces like museums. We walked away from our time together feeling inspired, energized, and unstoppable in our quest to further the pursuits of museums. AAM empowered us with tools to keep the conversation going through pre-written letters and social media posts.

    This year, Museums Advocacy Day is going virtual in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We will be having virtual meetings with Congressional offices to discuss COVID-19 economic relief legislation, funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Office of Museum Services, and tax incentives for charitable giving, among other issues.

    Advocacy efforts like Museums Advocacy Day create everlasting impact. And I challenge myself and my fellow advocates to keep the momentum going—Museums Advocacy Day should really serve as the kick-off to a year-round successful advocacy program. Constituents are in the best position to create lasting change. Their direct interactions with lawmakers and staff have a greater influence on legislators than any other group or strategy. Below are key insights for putting an advocacy program in place:

    • Focus: Like most museums and other arts and cultural organizations weathering the pandemic, you probably have many areas where you could use advocacy support, but it’s important to focus your efforts around one initiative at a time to help arm your constituents with the necessary resources and create one clear message for advocacy. This year, many are advocating strongly for the inclusion of museums in any additional COVID-19 economic relief legislation.
    • Educate: Provide your advocates with all of the facts and information they need to speak knowledgeably about your cause. Prepare them with material that outlines the issues and provide any facts and figures. That will be their strongest tool.
    • Empower: Help your advocates make their case for your cause by giving them a sense of what they can expect. Provide them with talking points or even a script, so they can practice what they’re going to say.
    • Be Heard: Utilize the power of social media to increase awareness of your cause. Create a social media campaign and draft posts with relevant hashtags that others can easily share across their networks. Create materials, such as one-pagers, that outline your mission, the cause being advocated for, and how others can get involved.
    • Show Gratitude: Your supporters are crucial. It’s their passion that will help spread the word about your mission and the causes important to your organization. Make sure they know you appreciate everything they do to help advance your cause, and that they know to share their appreciation (for their time, and support if applicable) with any lawmakers and legislative staff they connect with.

    Congress faces an enormous list of policy decisions—especially now, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues—many of which can have significant impact on museums. Ensure your supporters are empowered to advocate on behalf of your organization, so museums can continue to create lasting impact for generations to come.

    And finally, it’s important to remember that advocacy is a marathon, not a sprint. The pace of change can be frustratingly slow, but with persistent efforts it will happen. The power of our ongoing, year-round advocacy for museums is in building lasting relationships with lawmakers and stakeholders who can help advance our cause.

    I’m looking forward to continuing conversations this year with my fellow returning advocates and hopefully a ton of new faces!

    See Original Post

  • March 02, 2021 2:44 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from Pinnacol Assurance 

    Colorado is outpacing much of the country in administering the new COVID-19 vaccines, ranking 13th among all states in vaccines administered compared to population. Almost 8% of Coloradans have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

    Some of your employees may be among them, or they may have already received both doses. With coronavirus cases across Colorado dropping, it would be easy to let your guard down. So even with the vaccine rolling out, workplaces must continue to take precautions to keep workers safe.

    To assist you, we asked Pinnacol Senior Medical Director Tom Denberg, M.D., the most pressing questions regarding the vaccine and work reentry plans. The answers can help you protect your workforce as the pandemic continues.

    Can I spread COVID-19 if I’m vaccinated?

    “Yes, this is what experts currently believe, although data continues to be gathered and analyzed. 

    “Asymptomatic COVID-19 spread is possible even after you get the vaccine. While vaccination dramatically reduces the risk of developing the symptomatic disease, vaccinated people can still test positive if they are asymptomatic. It is possible that these individuals can then transmit the virus to unvaccinated people. 


    “For that reason, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that even those who have been vaccinated keep practicing social distancing, wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings.”

    Can I mandate that my employees get the COVID-19 vaccine?

    “You can. The better question is probably whether you should.

    “The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued guidance confirming employers can mandate vaccination with qualified exceptions, similar to the annual flu vaccine. To do so, the employer has to show that an unvaccinated employee would pose a ‘significant risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of the individual or others.’

    “For employees who can’t get the vaccine, such as people with a qualifying disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or those with sincerely held religious beliefs, employers would need to provide accommodations, such as use of N95 masks, remote work, or Family and Medical Leave Act leave.”

    Should I mandate that my employees get the COVID-19 vaccine?

    “There also are reasons not to make vaccination mandatory. Your decision may come down to the nature of your industry. Do your employees deal daily with the public? Are they essential workers? If not, you may want to keep vaccination voluntary.

    “While approved vaccines have been found to be safe, misinformation remains widespread. Mandatory vaccinations could impact workplace morale. Compelling employees to undergo vaccination too quickly may generate anger, anxiety and negative feelings toward employers.”

    How can I fight misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine in the workplace?

    “Consider amplifying public health messages about vaccine safety by sharing them in emails or on company social media feeds. Some employers even have shared pictures of themselves getting the vaccine to reassure employees.”

    Can employees who have been working from home return to the office safely after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine?

    “Most workplaces have changed their on-site operations to keep employees safe, and these measures should continue. 

    As more employees are asked (or required) to return to the workplace, the continued practicing of public health measures — e.g., mask-wearing, social distancing and plexiglass barriers for public-facing retail sales interactions — should be emphasized and should help alleviate at least some employee concerns." 

    “The rollout of the vaccine will provide the greatest opportunity for return to work and, eventually, life as usual. As the pandemic wanes, a return to ‘normal life’ will naturally happen.”

    See Original Post

  • March 02, 2021 2:35 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from Hyperallergic

    These are testing times for museums and performance venues across the globe. With the COVID-19 pandemic still walloping the world, these institutions have been frequently forced to pause their activities, accruing mounting revenue losses, with some being forced to shutter permanently. In some cities, like Los Angeles, museums have been forced to remain closed since March of 2020. This has been a source of growing frustration among LA museums in particular, as they are required to keep their doors closed while shopping malls, restaurants, and hair salons have been allowed to reopen.

    But what if museums are safer than almost any other indoor environment, assuming that safety guidelines are being followed? A recent study at the Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin) in Germany claims just that, determining that the risk of COVID-19 transmission is far lower in museums and theaters than in supermarkets, restaurants, offices, or public transportation.

    The study, led by Martin Kriegel and Anne Hartmann, conducted a comparative evaluation of indoor environments to assess the risk of infection via aerosol particles. The analysis considers the average length of stay in a given space (two hours at a museum; eight hours in an office; one hour in a supermarket; etc.), the quality of the airflow, the type of activity carried out in the space, and the dose of aerosol particles inhaled by people in a room, among other variables. Each environment has been given an R-value, indicating the number of people that one COVID-19 carrier can infect on average.

    The researchers found that if kept at 30% capacity with everyone wearing a mask and following proper precautions, museums, theaters, and operas are safer than any other activity studied. In museums, the R-value stands at 0.5 compared to 0.6 in hair salons and 0.8 in public transportation.

    Shopping at a supermarket with a mask is twice as risky as visiting a museum, according to the study, with an R-value at 1.1. Risk of infection is more than doubled when dining indoors in a restaurant at 25% capacity (1.1), or exercising in a gym at 30% capacity (1.4).

    Eike Schmidt, director of Italy’s Uffizi Gallery, recently cited the study while pleading with authorities to allow the museum to remain open. The Uffizi was forced to close just two weeks after it reopened on January 21 due to a surge in cases in northern Italy. Prior to that, the museum was closed for a period of 77 days, the longest since the end of World War II.

    Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), expressed the same sentiment in an interview back in October.

    “We need to open museums,” Govan said. “Every other […] big metropolitan museum in the United States, is already open, other than ours. And there are hundreds of thousands, if not over a million, visitors that have visited those museums since July. And so far, not one single case of COVID transmitted in museums.”

    Celeste DeWald, the executive director of the California Association of Museums, told the New York Times in a recent interview: “It’s frustrating to see crowded shopping malls and retail spaces and airports, yet museums are completely closed and many have not been able to reopen at all for the last 10 months […] There is a unique impact on museums.”

    Currently, the only indoor space open to the public at LACMA is the museum’s gift shop (at 25% capacity), as it falls under the category of commercial retail space. There’s no telling when visitors will be allowed into its expansive art galleries.

    In a column for the Los Angeles Times, art critic Carolina A. Miranda slammed California Governor Gavin Newsom’s policies as “absurd.”

    “The wildly uneven criteria speak more to the powerful, well-funded lobbies helping shape public health policy than to anything resembling science or even common sense,” Miranda wrote. “At a moment in which it is possible to get a tattoo or paw the goods at Chanel in Beverly Hills, it should be possible to visit a museum. Period.”

    See Original Post

  • February 16, 2021 3:06 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from Security Management Magazine

    Meet Paul—a seasoned professional who was recently hired by a famous international organization to be a regional crisis lead. Given the organization's informal, free-flowing, and innovative culture, Paul was confident about taking on his new role. The head of resilience and the human resources team made a conscious choice to hire him. He has an unusual professional and educational background, and his new perspective should foster more efficiency, innovation, and agility in the regional and global crisis teams. But for the organization to reap the benefits of diverse thinking, the commitment to inclusion shouldn’t stop at a job offer.

    For the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California in Berkeley, diversity refers to “an obvious fact of human life—namely, that there are many different kinds of people—and the idea that this diversity drives cultural, economic, and social vitality and innovation.”

    Today, the word “diversity” is strongly associated with racial and gender diversity, and the business case for it is stronger than ever. A 2020 report from McKinsey & Company, Diversity wins: How inclusion matters, states that companies that foster gender diversity are 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability compared to companies that don’t.

    Now, let us take it one step further. As noted by Berkeley, diversity among people is much richer yet complex to grasp. We differ in language, education, lifestyle, professional background, religion, ethnicity, gender, health, culture, social roles, sexual orientation, skills, income, political views, and countless other domains. In recent years, neurodiversity, which refers to the range of brain function differences, has even been recognized as another piece of the diversity map.

    Considering that people in general—and decision makers in particular—tend to seek out or construe data in a way that corroborates their preconceived ideas (a tendency called confirmation bias in psychology and cognitive science), we can easily imagine how complex and unsettling it is to deal with such a high level of diversity among their teams and colleagues.

    Yet, during crises, those decision makers are expected to think outside the box and lead through change. Change means conflict—conflicting thoughts, conflicting opinions, conflicting needs, conflicting objectives, and conflicting feelings. That is the negative perception of change. If we want to use a more constructive term: change also means diversity—diversity of thoughts, diversity of opinions, and diversity of needs. Diversity is inherent to a crisis.

    During a recent crisis, Paul witnessed his CEO and executive team say that the situation was so challenging and high-profile that they did not want to gather the regular crisis management team to lead through it. The CEO and her team of three did not want to get anyone else’s opinion. They managed the crisis behind closed doors. Paul tried to convince them otherwise, without much success. They had a heated discussion about it, but the CEO did not change her mind. Her leitmotiv was: “The crisis is challenging enough. I cannot afford to have wild thinkers around the table. I need clarity.”

    Eventually, the company did survive the crisis. From the standpoint of the CEO and her inner circle, that was a significant win. But elsewhere in the company—including for Paul—the story is slightly different. Across the company, the communication flow was severely damaged, Paul and many of his colleagues no longer trusted management, and employees’ motivation decreased. And after being labeled uncooperative and emotional, Paul moved on to another company. He realized that, for this company, diversity was just a façade.

    In a recent article, we noted that an efficient and sharp crisis leader focuses on others’ needs. Focusing on others means accepting differences without judgment, which requires a high level of self-awareness and empathy. In other words, beyond the quotas and statistics, implementing bonafide diversity means promoting a significant level of emotional intelligence throughout the company, from top to bottom.

    So, what does it entail for an organization, its leaders, managers, and employees to thoroughly and holistically embrace diversity?

    Last November, Forbes published an article where a panel of human resources leaders highlighted the top skills recruiters are looking for in 2021. Out of this list, organizations should promote three specific skills daily for diversity and resilience.

    The top skill is a growth mind-set (as opposed to a fixed mind-set). An easy way to identify if we have a fixed mind-set is to evaluate our self-talk: “I don't like to be challenged,” “I stick to what I know,” or “If I fail, my reputation is on the line.” Whereas, a growth mind-set will sound like: “Failure is an opportunity to grow,” “Any feedback is constructive,” or “The success of others inspires me.”

    The second critical skill to nurture is continuous learning and curiosity before, during, and after crises. The COVID-19 crisis, in particular, has proven that we must demonstrate innovative problem-solving monthly, if not daily. That means we need to surround ourselves with real heterogeneity of thoughts. Security and resilience professionals need to get out of our usual circles, networks, and industries and sincerely seek to learn from others.

    Finally, comfort with ambiguity is the third primary skill to stir up. As Jonni Redick, CEO of JLConsulting Solutions and a retired assistant chief for the California Highway Patrol, pointed out: "Contemporary leaders still struggle with the ability to shift their archetype and understand the need to be able to embrace change as a norm. Trusted leaders allow the conscious creation of new mind-sets and skills to invent new ways of doing business without becoming defensive. Understanding that our people will always be the most valuable asset, and when we overlook anyone, we overlook everyone."

    Start-up owners and employees can relate to this one directly. Our brain seeks stability and predictability, even if we like to think that we adapt quickly and that we are agile. Acknowledging it is the first step toward a more flexible and resilient mind-set.

    See Original Post

  • February 16, 2021 3:02 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from Artnet News

    The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has released a 42-page guide detailing best practices for US arts venues reopening their doors during the pandemic.  

    “The Art of Reopening,” as the document is called, is the result of interviews with nine arts organizations that have successfully resumed business in the past few months—albeit in a constricted, adaptive manner. 

    The organizations comprise an intentionally diverse group that spans artistic disciplines, budget sizes, and geographic regions in the name of capturing a broad snapshot of the US arts landscape. Among the interviewees are representatives from Americans for the Arts and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, as well as performing arts operations like the Cincinnati Ballet and the GALA Hispanic Theatre. 

    The guide lays out six bulleted lessons learned from these venues, with a focus less on specific safety measures than administrative and ideological approaches. 

    “Adapting quickly to new circumstances and information, and communicating those lessons promptly and effectively to artists/staff, board members, donors, and the public will attract greater confidence in your endeavor,” reads one tip from the guide. 

    The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, for example, has consulted with the nearby Baylor College of Medicine on its reopening plans. “We have assembled a team to help us think through this, to help us move through this really challenging time,” says the museum’s chief development officer, Amy Purvis, in the report. “The team helps us navigate the different and evolving thoughts about how the disease is transmitted, its incubation period, and the viral load.”

    The document also encourages organizations to strengthen ties to their local communities, re-commit to their founding missions, and to keep a camera rolling during all the ups and downs as they feel their way through these unprecedented times. Documenting and sharing the journey, the guide says, can help reach increasingly broader audiences.

    Included in the guide, too, is a survey of the reopening strategies from national service organizations in the arts, such as the American Alliance of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors, conducted by the NEA’s office of research and analysis last September and October. 

    Not surprisingly, the study found that museums have reopened at a greater rate than performing arts institutions. Programming-wise, reopened venues across both categories have found success with virtual performances, outdoor events, and timed or ticketed entry. 

    Download the full “Art of Reopening” guide here.

    See Original Post

  • February 16, 2021 2:59 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from MuseumNext

    As the song goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone”. And that’s certainly how the world is feeling right now about those cultural venues and institutions that we all miss so dearly.

    With the COVID-19 pandemic dominating our lives for close to a year now, the loss of our favourite pastimes and enriching experiences has become increasingly painful. So, it’s only natural that we attempt to reflect on how things have changed and how much we have all had to adjust to a “new normal”.

    Significant change causes us to try and make sense of the world around us, and time and time again we turn to art as a way to express and perceive the complex emotional impact of pivotal moments in human history. While spending time wandering the corridors and galleries of our favourite institutions may not have been possible for much of the last year, it’s true to say that museums haven’t been standing still. In fact, they’ve been finding new ways to resonate and connect with the public – at a time when their value has become intensely clear under the microscope of restrictions and hardship.

    A case in point: the Covid Letters:

    The UK’s Foundling Museum was originally founded in the 1700s as a home for abandoned children. It seems fitting, therefore, that their most recent exhibition gave voice to the young people struggling with the realities of the pandemic.

    The Covid Letters was pieced together by designed Jonny Banger, who sought out works from the nation’s children during lockdown. Using the letter Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent out to households to announce the lockdown as a canvas, children under the age of 16 were encouraged to customise and decorate it in a way that articulated their feelings about the pandemic. This included how they felt about the Government, the NHS, schools and the changes to family life.

    The result is over 200 unique works which give a direct insight into the way the pandemic has impacted young people. From anti-government graffiti to support for the NHS, this colourful collection is full of frustration, inspiration and stories.

    Going digital in a big way

    When much of the world first went into lockdown in spring 2020, museums were forced to shut their doors. Almost one year later, many of these institutions have mastered the art of digital exhibitions.

    Even the world’s biggest cultural powerhouses like The Louvre, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Amsterdam’s Van Gogh museum have spent the last year creating a constant stream of illuminating and inspiring content for museum fans to enjoy from anywhere in the world. And although this level of digitalisation has been forced upon us by chaotic circumstances, in a way it has made museums more accessible than ever before. The ever-evolving use of social media by museums in lockdown has also created a clear line of communication between institutions and the public, allowing fans and followers to inform the dialogue – rather than acting merely as the audience to broadcast messages.

    So it’s no wonder that the rise in digital exhibitions has been well-received. The Centre Pompidou in Paris has seen record numbers of “visitors” in lockdown, and a huge spike in digital interest. The museum’s official podcast has had eight times as many listens since the building’s closure, and the popularity of the museum’s YouTube channel is reportedly up by 60%.

    Exploring the state of wellbeing

    Not every museum has found success in lockdown, and many may struggle to entice visitors back through their physical doors in the wake of the pandemic – even if they have survived the financial hardship of the last 12 months. For those who succeed in battling through, however, there will almost undoubtedly be a period of self-reflection and introspection to navigate over the coming months and years.

    This is exactly what the Guardians of Sleep exhibition aims to achieve. Created through a collaboration between the Museum of London and Canada’s Museum of Dreams, the exhibition will collect descriptions of people’s COVID dreams as a way to explore and understand any commonality in how our mental health has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Such ambitious exhibitions highlight how, by engaging with today’s society, museums have the power to help us all feel less alone.

    Of course, any discussion about mental health must address the anxiety, fear and stress that has been a common feature of everyday life in recent times. But if museums are equipped to do anything, it is to help make sense of the world through. As we emerge from the trauma of Covid-19, capturing the knowledge we have gained and documenting the stories created during this period will be an essential role for museums.

    The pandemic has turned museum culture on its head. To find out more about the journeys museums and galleries have taken to tackle the COVID-19 crisis, don’t miss the MuseumNext Digital Summit later this month.

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  • February 16, 2021 2:55 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from California Academy of Sciences

    Earlier this month, the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) awarded the California Academy of Sciences an IF/THEN® Gender Equity Grant to increase the visual representation of women and gender minorities in STEM across museum content. The Academy joins 27 other recipients around the U.S. working to showcase greater gender diversity in exhibits, displays, and materials as part of their broader efforts to advance diversity, accessibility, inclusion, and equity. The Academy also received one of four prestigious Moonshot Awards given to support extraordinary efforts that can be easily replicated or shared with other science centers and museums.

    “Representation matters, and as the oldest cultural institution in San Francisco, the Academy is proud to highlight the diversity of STEM practitioners that reflects the diversity of our city,” says Dr. Lauren Esposito, Curator of Arachnology and Founder of 500 Queer Scientists, a powerful visibility campaign for LGBTQ+ professionals working in science, science education, and science advocacy.

    The Academy will develop a pop-up exhibit that tells the first-person stories of LGBTQ+ women and gender minorities of color in STEM professions. The exhibit will be made available for other institutions to easily and inexpensively recreate and display, allowing them to showcase the stories that resonate most with their audiences. In addition, Google Arts & Culture will host a virtual exhibit that features all first-person profiles plus additional content, helping to ensure these powerful stories extend beyond museum walls. The goal is to create space for the LGBTQ+ community to see themselves in STEM, and to help all audiences better recognize the true diversity of STEM practitioners in their communities.

    “People with LGBTQ+ identities have propelled science forward from the shadows, and they’ve persisted in the face of persecution—scientific and otherwise—for centuries,” says Esposito. “It’s long past time for us to be seen for our accomplishments, and embraced for our identities.”

    A growing body of evidence indicates that LGBTQ+ people in STEM are statistically underrepresented, encounter hostile work and educational environments, and leave STEM professions at an alarming rate. LGBTQ+ representation in STEM has lagged behind societal progress, particularly where identities of women and gender minorities intersect with Black, Indigenous, and other person-of-color identities. Museums like the Academy are perfectly positioned to start a conversation that catalyzes a culture shift across society. The Academy’s pop-up exhibit will be transformative by creating space for the communities being highlighted and by showing future LGBTQ+ professionals in STEM that they’re not alone.

    The pop-up exhibit opens later this summer and will feature the work of inspiring individuals who are a critical force for STEM progress but whose voices have traditionally gone unheard. To nominate someone for the exhibit, please fill out a submission form.

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