4 Resources for Building Stronger and More Resilient Museums

How Can We Build Stronger and More Resilient Museums?

I'm sure that's a question that many people who work in museums, and many people who love and visit museums, have been pondering.  Me too!  So I thought I would share four resources -- different positive jumping-off points to consider when thinking about the future of museums and other essential cultural institutions.


1) A Museum FAQ video conversation with Laura Huerta Migus

I was extremely fortunate to recently discuss the topic of building stronger and more resilient museums with Laura Huerta Migus, the Executive Director of the Association of Children's Museums, as part of the Museum FAQ video series.

Among the many powerful takeaways from our conversation were Laura's closing thoughts:

"I would ask people to not plan for what it looked like before but to take this as a real opportunity to reinvent yourself especially around being essential.  We’ve talked about museum experiences bringing joy and being restorative but we have a moment to really articulate and prove how we are of service and how we are healing environments and the places that we really occupy in society. 

And if we embrace that then we have an opportunity to come out of this so much stronger -- and not only as individual institutions but as a field. I think that's the challenge that I am holding to get myself through these weeks and that I see the leadership in our field really holding onto as well."

Please view our full video conversation embedded below or on the POW! YouTube channel or via museumfaq.com






2) Good examples of "Museums Stepping Up" from The Museum Group's email newsletter

I really like the idea of holding up positive examples of museum decisions made during difficult times, rather than the constant "drumbeat of doom" regarding layoffs and furloughs.

In that spirit, The Museum Group's most recent email newsletter offers up a compendium of museums and museum workers responding in thoughtful and creative ways to the challenges presented by COVID-19.  Like this museum shop in the UK selling groceries for their neighborhood, or Empathetic Museum publishing "How to Be An Empathetic Museum in this Troubled Time."

Definitely click here for a look at all the great examples in the free newsletter, and consider subscribing for a Museums Step Up "Part Two" in just a couple of weeks.

3) The book "Upstream" by Dan Heath 

NY Times bestselling author Dan Heath has written (or co-authored with his brother Chip) a number of interesting business and strategy books.  His latest offering, entitled Upstream is predicated on the notion that there are proven ways, grounded in both research and practical application, to "solve problems before they happen."

If ever there was a book for its time, it is Upstream. (The title comes from a story about two men walking near a river.  Suddenly they see a young child struggling in the water calling out for help.  One of the men swims into the river and rescues the drowning child. A few minutes later they see and hear another child in the river, and the other man dives in to save that child.  The same man immediately starts running away upstream.  His companion shouts,  "Where are you going?" The other man yells over his back, "I'm going to stop the idiot who keeps throwing kids into the river!"

Heath divides his chapters into the barriers to upstream thinking, questions for upstream leaders, and practical ways to apply upstream thinking to your own life. I found the ideas in this book especially useful during the current crisis.  You can find a free set of resources related to Upstream here.

(You can also purchase Upstream on Amazon, or other online booksellers.)

4) Museum Archipelago Podcast on "The Future of Hands-On Museum Exhibits"

I was happy to be interviewed by Ian Elsner for his Museum Archipelago blog on the future of hands-on exhibits.

I'll let you enjoy the full podcast yourself, but among the topics we discussed were how to use the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to lose lazy design tropes that promote empty interaction (like flip labels!) and to be mindful of the perceptions that visitors will rightly have about interactive experiences when museums begin to re-open.


I hope you find these resources thought-provoking AND hopeful as you make your way through the pandemic and its aftermath. In the spirit of positivity and collegiality, I've decided to give away two copies of Dan Heath's new book, Upstream, to two lucky ExhibiTricks readers!  Simply send me an email with the message, "I want to win Upstream!" before April 30th for a chance to win.  I'll randomly choose two winners during the beginning of May.  Good Luck!



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Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

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Design Inspiration: Building with Light and Color

Throughout time, artists, architects, and even exhibit designers have created opportunities for people to play with light and color.

A beautiful example of this is Sainte-Chapelle, the royal chapel completed in the year 1248 in Paris.

It is amazing to step inside the chapel surrounded by multi-story stained-glass windows.  The light and color shifts and changes as you move around inside the space.  In some ways, it feels like you are actually inside a stained-glass window!

A more modern take on employing light and color in architecture is artist Olafur Eliasson's installation called Your rainbow panorama.

Situated on top of the ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum art museum in Aarhus, Denmark, Your rainbow panorama invites you to experience the familiar (a city skyline) in unfamiliar ways. Olafur Eliasson's creation consists of a 150-meter-long and three meter-wide circular walkway in glass in all the colors of the spectrum. Your rainbow panorama is mounted on slender columns 3.5 meters above the roof of ARoS with a diameter of 52 meters.

Here's a quote from Eliasson about this work:

“Your rainbow panorama establishes a dialogue with the existing architecture and reinforces what was already there, that is to say the view across the city. I have created a space that can almost be said to erase the boundary between inside and outside – a place where you become a little uncertain as to whether you have stepped into a work of art or into part of the museum. This uncertainty is important to me, as it encourages people to think and sense beyond the limits within which they are accustomed to function.” 


Architect Keiichiro Sako takes the playful aspects of light and color into the design of this kindergarten building in China.

The lucky students are completely surrounded by rainbow colors -- on the stairs, in windows, and inside their classroom spaces!

Of course, the most fun is building and playing with light and color yourself. For that purpose, I'd suggest getting some colorful, translucent Magna-Tiles  (You can get them here at Amazon, or at other online stores.) I hope your days ahead are filled with light and color!

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Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

The Bionic Museum?

One of the TV shows my two younger brothers and I enjoyed watching when we were kids growing up in Detroit was "The Six Million Dollar Man."  In the show, astronaut Steve Austin is injured while testing a prototype spacecraft and becomes a "bionic man" by having his legs, one arm, and one eye replaced by advanced biomechanical enhancements.  During the opening credits of the series, a voice intones,

"We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better...stronger...faster."

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, it feels as if many museum workers are thinking about ways to reopen their museums so they are "better...stronger...faster."  But what does it mean for museums to become "better" in a post-pandemic world?  Will this crisis provide a turning point for museums or merely speed us along the road we've been traveling on for the past few decades as we rush to reopen?

Whether we can benefit from the current "pause" in museum operations or not, here are 6 (as opposed to six million!) things to think about right now as we ponder the future of our institutions. Nobody has all the right answers, but we all need to be taking the time now to be asking the right questions.


1) FUNDING
This crisis has shown more forcefully that so many museums have fragile funding structures. It is incomprehensible to me that large art museums with endowments of hundreds of millions of dollars (or more!) still were unable or unwilling to forego staff and contractor layoffs. It is shameful and morally wrong to amass such vast amounts of wealth that cannot be used to support staff in times of extraordinary crisis.

Most, if not all, museums are NOT truly self-sustaining entities and it is unrealistic to keep suggesting otherwise. The US government could, and should, do more to support the arts and cultural institutions -- a mere sliver of the federal budget redirected to this purpose would make a significant difference and support many, many jobs of museum, arts, and cultural workers. (And I don't mean the woefully inadequate funding currently doled out to the NEH, NEA, and IMLS -- which should each be increased by many multiples.)


2) STAFFING
The already disproportionate numbers of women, people of color, and younger people in entry-level or lower-level front-of-house, security, admissions, and education roles belies the true concerns about equity by many organizations.

Who occupies the top spots in museums?  Follow the money -- to which departments are funds allocated, and to which people in the organization?  Similarly, which people and departments face the cuts first when crisis strikes? Where you cut and spend often indicates your organization's real values.


3) FACILITIES
In a world where people have been trained to socially distance themselves from each other, to be wary of touching surfaces, and to be hyper-vigilant about sanitary issues, how do we show visitors we share their concerns?  What does this mean for new *public* cleaning regimens and added staff roles related to facilities?


4) EXHIBITS
How can we rethink the notions of "hands-on" exhibits? How do we re-tool or re-purpose educationally questionable (and now public-health questionable) experiences like mini-grocery stores?  How can we use technology and creative design approaches to recalibrate our notions of interactive exhibits and environments?


5) EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Museum educators and public-facing staff are the heart of museums. Without them, museums are just businesses masquerading as non-profits, not serving their communities as resources. If museums are serious about their roles as community resources, that should be reflected in the way they conduct business, NOT just when they are filling out grant applications or trying to impress donors.


6) PUBLIC TRUST
Museums are often, and rightfully so, touted as among the most trusted organizations. What does our behavior during and immediately after the pandemic do to build upon and continue that trust by the public?


Lots to think about as we move into the post-pandemic museum landscape.  What are YOUR key concerns related to museums?  Share your thoughts in the "Comments" section below.



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Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

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New Klee-Shea Children's Museum Project!

I wanted to share this exclusive blog post with ExhibiTricks readers about the new Klee-Shea Children's Museum (KSCM) project which hosted a virtual reality groundbreaking ceremony at midnight on March 31, 2020.

Spokesperson Jay Ochs informed me that the full name of the new museum will be the Klee-Shea Discovertorium Incrediblarium Children's Museum, named after the renowned community leader and paper goods heiress Dr. Kleemona Necks (known to everyone by her childhood name, "Klee") and her beloved 63-year old pet tortoise, Shelly, affectionately called "Shea".

Billed as a "world-class" institution unique in the entire museum field, some of the exciting new experiences that will be featured in the first-ever LEED Adamantium building include:


• A Holographic Mini-Grocery Store Area: using state-of-the-art haptic laser projection equipment, young shoppers will be able to fill their carts with realistic simulations of grocery products, thus easily resolving the need for KCSM staff to keep re-stocking the shelves after excited children jam every object into their carts, and eliminating sanitation concerns.

• Bowling Ball Pit: highlighting the "outside the box" thinking of Brooklyn-based exhibit design firm Boughess, this one-of-a-kind experience will allow young visitors to test their cooperation and risk-taking skills while at the same time also participating in fun and healthy strength training.

• "Feelings" Room: During initial testing, Klee-Shea staff realized that on rare occasions, exhibits would break or malfunction. Rather than immediately repairing these components, the museum will gather the non-working components into a dimly-lit area where unsuspecting children can discover feelings of frustration by attempting to make these non-operational exhibits work.

As spokesperson Ochs explained how all visitors would exit through the Klee-Shea Gift Shop (with products ranging from rubber dinosaur erasers to multi-thousand dollar telescopes that nobody will ever buy) he shared initial thoughts on the Museum's upcoming "soft opening" party when the entire facility will be filled with foam pillows and bags of marshmallows will be given to the first 500 people in line.

To find out more about this exciting project, follow the link to the Klee-Shea Children's Museum website.



Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"