Last weekend was the Alliance of American Museums conference. The focus of this year’s conference was "Tackling the Museum Field’s Biggest Challenges,“ kicking off with observations from the Alliance's leadership and a keynote from Thomas Friedman. The title of this essay reflects the overarching message of the President and CEO, Laura Lott, who encouraged museums to remember that "normal is not the goal post." She later observed that this moment in time is similar to the societal adjustments after World War II. Museum leaders (and policymakers) are making choices that will "set our field's trajectories for decades." This essay will, thus, focus on conference observations that provide considerations for museum leaders and managers as they navigate decisions for their futures.
It is notable that two future-thinkers, Thomas Friedman and Elizabeth Merritt were presented on the first day, setting a tone for thinking about the opportunities and challenges museums will face in the near future.
BIG GLOBAL TRENDS
Thomas Friedman, a three-time Pulitzer prize winner, columnist of the New York Times, and author of 7 books, kicked off the conference sharing two ideas:
A precise framework of WHY he writes: to learn.
An introduction to the framework of HOW he works: deep listening with a multi-dimensional lens that emphasizes history, change, and systems models.
His analysis of our current state of global unrest, however, uncovered the friction at the heart of our current technological & knowledge revolution. He noted that we are in a Promethean moment akin to the creation of the Guttenberg Printing Press or the steam engine. Our global society is facing technological changes that have advanced our ability to know more and affect more almost instantaneously. This, in combination with advancing climate change inherited from the industrial revolution, provides a flashpoint for the daily onslaught of conflict witnessed in the news. These changes have allowed humans to connect in ways we, perhaps, were never intended to connect – in both speed and distance. This powder-keg of connectivity in the face of our climate crisis provides museums with a significance that cannot be understated. To stabilize our natural, social, and political ecosystems, we need to develop complex and adaptive coalitions. Museums are one of the most trusted institutions in society. Thus, they can support healthy communities that are interconnected, protected, and respected. They are sites of learning that can create both understanding and foster change. Museums must "push the light against the darkness."
THE FUTURE FOR MUSEUMS: TRENDSWATCH 2022
Elizabeth Merritt, VP of Strategic Foresight at the American Alliance of Museums, provided an overview of the core takeaways from her 2022 TrendsWatch. The 5 core areas are:
Education for our children
Livable communities for our elders
Mental health
Emergency response in the face of disasters
A human-centered culture of sustainability
The most significant for this platform's focus on technology was her reflection that museums need to continue and possibly expand their digital work, even when audiences return to the galleries, gardens, and education spaces intentionally designed to foster deep engagement. As demonstrated impeccably through TrendsWatch 2022, virtual solutions, like virtual tours for schools or elder groups, were solving problems that existed prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. An irregular opportunity to visit a museum became a regular monthly or weekly virtual engagement during the pandemic. While the indelible in-person engagement should not be lost, the virtual access offers a significant and necessary augmentation, recognizing that in some circumstances, co-presence is not always possible due to economics or physical ability. Ultimately, museums must embrace the fact that the power of presence, while critical, can be amplified and expanded via digital pathways. At times, providing critical access to those who otherwise cannot participate or who find the hurdles to participate overwhelming. This is true for multiple populations, from school-aged children to elders.
Image: Education staff set-up for virtual tours. Source: The Pennsylvania Art Education Association.
In fact, digital engagement served as a critical link to elder communities and individuals during the pandemic. These are solutions that need to remain for those who are physically unable to come to the museums at a future time. With the overall greying of our nation, planning for a breadth of elder engagement (from hiring to digital education) is a critical feature of future planning.
Data and Technology
Whether taking advantage of bold opportunities of the “business of the unusual” or addressing the need to regain financial sustainability or audience participation, the use of data and technology is omnipresent. From data-informed personas and customer journeys in marketing to considering how to take advantage of opportunities in the "business of the unusual" to transform the industry, data cannot be ignored.
Source: iStock.
A significant shift in the world of technology is the global recognition of the potential of NFTs. NFT's are non-fungible tokens built on a blockchain (most often the Ethereum blockchain). NFTs came to the forefront of the art world in 2021 when Beeple's NFT sold at an auction for $69 million. What were geeky artist amusements became culturally significant fueled by the digital expansion caused by the pandemic. While NFT's are not new to AMT Lab (see our e-book that serves as an NFT primer), they are changing quickly, as this was the focus of discussion on the "NFT's, the Metaverse and the Future of Museums" panel on which I served with Brendan Cieko (founder of Cuseum) and Karen Levy (DSL Collection). From emerging NFT museums (like the Seattle NFT Museum) and metaverses (like Sotheby's), NFTs went from a wacky idea to a global phenomenon in a year. From collections to memorabilia to POAPs (proof of attendance protocols), the opportunities for Web3 technology are increasingly becoming clear. As demonstrated by Levy and all the panelists, Web3 technologies should not be seen as replacements for existing models, but as opportunities for expansion, should the business case make sense for a specific museum. For example, the British Museum's use of NFTs from their core collection. Taking existing IP and transforming it into a digital asset (given the right to do so is provided) makes sense in the current market. The market, however, is still in its infancy. It is unstable with BOTH the values of cryptocurrency fluctuating and the value of NFTs facing typical arts market volatility. Additionally, blockchain technology is well-known to have a significant climate cost – one that must be taken into account before advancing any internal Web3 project within an organization.