Shownotes
In this episode, Amy explores what it really means to be a community museum and why becoming a trusted, welcoming space doesn’t require a huge budget or a blockbuster exhibit. From button trades to community curators, she shares real-life examples of small museums creating big belonging. Amy also unpacks the idea that “every museum is a community museum” and shares the story of one of her favorite museums, the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum.
This is part of Amy’s Summer Book Club series based on her free ebook, “Getting Visitors Through Your Museum’s Doors: Building Connection in a Noisy World.”
Links from the Episode:
- Download a free copy of the ebook: www.lovemymuseum.com/ebook
- Learn more about the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum
- Listen to the rest of the series:
https://www.lovemymuseum.com/podcast/summerbookclub
https://www.lovemymuseum.com/podcast/everybody-knows-your-name
More Free Resources for Museums:
About the host:
Amy Kehs is a brand strategist and communications expert for museums. She has owned Kehs Communications since 2000 and has worked for the most renowned and well-loved museums in Washington, D.C. Her goal is to ensure that museums thrive into the next century and she hopes people will come to love museums as much as she does. Her proven process sets up proactive communication habits for museums, cultivating relationships with visitors who will want to return and bring a friend. Want to talk more? Click this link to book a call.
Transcripts
Today on the podcast we're talking about what it really means
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:to be a community museum and why it
doesn't take a huge budget to become
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:a place people feel they belong.
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:Let's get started.
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:Hi there and welcome to
the Love My Museum podcast.
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:I'm your host, Amy Kehs,
and I love museums.
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:I'm also a brand strategist and
communications expert for museums.
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:I.
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:You're listening to a special
series that I'm doing this summer.
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:It's a summer book club series where
we are walking through the key ideas
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:inside my new free ebook, getting
Visitors through Your Museum Stores
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:Building Connection in a Noisy World.
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:This is your first episode.
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:Here's a quick overview
of how this series works.
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:Each podcast covers one theme
or strategy from the ebook.
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:Something to help you attract more
visitors, create better experiences, build
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:longer relationships with your community.
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:Every other week I'll be here with
a new episode, and on the in-between
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:weeks, if you're also signed up on
my email list, I'll send you a short
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:email with a takeaway or action step
that you can work on during the week.
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:I.
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:If you haven't downloaded the ebook
yet, you can grab it for free@www.love
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:my museum.com/ebook.
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:It's the foundation for everything
we'll be talking about this summer,
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:so go ahead and get your copy.
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:Today's episode is about becoming
a community museum, and it's all
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:about helping your museum feel
like it belongs to everyone.
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:You don't need a blockbuster exhibit or
a million dollar renovation or a huge
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:budget to become a community museum.
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:What you do need is connection.
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:It's not about being the biggest
or flashiest museum in town.
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:It's be about becoming
part of people's lives.
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:It's about creating a space
where your visitors feel
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:welcome and seen and included.
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:I.
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:In the ebook, I share one of
the most powerful things I ever
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:learned from one of my clients.
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:I also consider her a mentor and a
friend, and she told me that every museum
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:needs to be a community museum okay.
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:At the time, that statement really changed
the way I started thinking about museums
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:and their legacy and their place in the
world, because it's not just about what
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:you preserve or present, it's about how
you show up for the people around you.
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:And when your museum becomes a
place where people feel like they
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:belong, you don't have to work
as hard to get them in the door.
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:They come because they like to, because
it feels like a second home for them.
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:So what does that actually
look like in practice?
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:I.
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:In the book, I share a few
real life examples from small
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:museums that are doing this well.
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:One example is a children's museum that
might trade buttons for admission, and
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:that was a win-win because it helped young
families save money and it also helped
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:the museum restock their craft room.
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:Another story that I share is a
local history museum that invited
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:volunteers to pick their favorite
artifacts for a first night event.
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:And another story is about a
historic home that lets a nonprofit
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:organization use their space for free.
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:And in exchange, that organization
organizes monthly speaker nights
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:that are open to the public.
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:The nonprofit gets a free meeting
space and the historic home gets help
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:planning events for their community.
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:None of these ideas took a lot of
money, but they did take intentionality
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:and the research backs this up to
a culture track report, found that
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:people who feel like they belong at
a museum are three times more likely
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:to return and recommend it to others.
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:Think about that.
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:You don't need a marketing campaign.
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:You need people saying, you
have to check this place out.
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:It feels like us.
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:That's community and that's loyalty.
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:And it starts by putting people, not just
artifacts at the center of your work.
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:As a museum, you can be that local hub.
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:A community museum is where families
want to bring their out of town Visitors,
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:students go on their first field trip.
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:Neighbors gather, not just
for new exhibits, but also for
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:connection, and people feel proud
to be part of what's happening.
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:You don't have to change your
mission to do this, but you might
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:have to change your mindset.
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:Instead of asking, what can we offer next?
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:Try asking, what does our
community need from us?
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:Right now,
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:The Premier community museum in
the country is the Smithsonian's
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:Anacostia Community Museum.
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:it's one of my favorite museums.
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:Let me tell you the story of how it began.
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:In 1966 at a National Museum of
Museum Directors, then Smithsonian
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:Secretary Es Dylan Ripley
gave the museum professionals.
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:That were in attendance, a challenge to
try to take their museums to the people.
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:His comments sparked an immediate
response from Washington DC's communities
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:and requests for a new museum poured
into the Smithsonian from neighborhood
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:organizations all across the city.
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:The Smithsonian eventually entered
into an agreement with the Greater
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:Anacostia Peoples Corporation, and
just a year later, the Anacostia
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:Neighborhood Museum opened its doors.
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:Now, Ripley's intention had been for
this museum to be an annex of sorts,
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:where artifacts and exhibits from the
museums on the National Mall would.
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:Be displayed, and for a little while
this happened, but the protests that
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:followed the assassination of Dr.
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:Martin Luther King Jr in April of 1968
were a catalyst for change at the museum.
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:And the first director of the
museum, John Kenard, began moving the
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:museum's direction beyond traditional.
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:Object oriented museums.
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:He insisted that museums become
people oriented, and his message
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:to his staff was, we can either
simply be in the community or we
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:can become a part of the community.
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:And so instead of being that annex
museum where they were just displaying
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:artifacts from the other museums, they
started installing their own exhibits that
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:their neighbors could see themselves in.
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:And the rest is History is now
called the Smithsonian's Anacostia
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:Community Museum, and it is still
at the center of its community.
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:Over 50 years later, Kennard's
groundbreaking idea is constantly
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:continuing to break new ground in
museum and community relations.
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:During the pandemic when the building
was closed, the museum projected
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:exhibits outside on the walls.
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:They installed a community
fridge in the parking lot that
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:provides free access to food.
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:They have a community garden outside
and they hold workshops for their
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:community on how to grow your
own garden from start to finish.
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:And for the last few years, they have
hosted a farm stand to bring fresh fruits
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:and vegetables to their neighborhood,
which is in a known food desert.
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:The exhibits that they install,
talk about their community, and the
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:people that come to visit can see
themselves in the stories they tell.
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:If you ever get a chance to
go to one of their events, I
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:highly, highly recommend it.
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:There is nothing like it.
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:Even outsiders will leave
feeling a part of something.
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:You'll be welcomed with open arms.
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:The events there just
really encapsulate joy.
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:So this week's challenge is simple.
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:Pick one small step to become a
little more community centered.
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:Think like the Anacostia Community Museum.
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:What does your community
need and how can you help?
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:Here are a few ideas.
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:You could invite feedback on
an upcoming exhibit for a local
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:teacher or maybe form a student
advisory board like Mount Vernon.
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:George Washington's home in
Alexandria, Virginia has, you could
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:partner with a small business for a
shared event or a shared promotion,
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:or maybe a town scavenger hunt.
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:feature, a local voice, so a volunteer
or student or a community member in your
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:next email or your next social media post.
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:You don't have to do all
of these all at once.
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:I'd love to hear what you try.
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:Send me a message or reply to this week's
email if you're on my email list, and
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:tell me what you're experimenting with.
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:That's it for today's episode.
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:Thank you so much for listening.
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:If you haven't downloaded the ebook
yet, it's not too late to jump in.
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:It's totally free packed with strategies
and stories and checklists that you can.
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:Use right away.
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:I will leave the link in the show
notes, and when you download the book,
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:you'll be added to my email list.
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:And next week the people on my list will
get a quick action item in your inbox
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:to help you take one small step toward
becoming a more community centered museum.
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:And in two weeks, I'll be back with
the next episode in the series, which
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:is defining your unique museum story.
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:Until then, please remember that
every museum is a community museum.
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:Yep.
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:Even yours.
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:I'll talk to you soon.
