Visitor-centered. Civic-minded. Inclusive. Diverse. Welcoming. Responsive. Participatory. Learn how these qualities of 21st century museums are impossible without an inner core of institutional empathy: the intention of the museum to be, and be perceived as, deeply connected with its community. This introductory session will consider issues of racial and economic justice as benchmarks for institutional self-reflection, assessment, and change. MODERATOR/PRESENTER: Jim Cullen, Principal Consultant

1. 10/11/17
1
Empathetic
Museum
101:
A
Maturity
Model
to
Advance
Inclusion
AMA/WMA
Unite
Conference
September
23,
2017
Jim
Cullen
|
@jimcullenalta
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
-­‐ Introduce
museum
professionals
to
the
five
characteristics
of
an
Empathetic
Museum
-­‐ Build
capability
for
empathetic
museum
practice
through
a
process
of
institutional
self-­‐assessment,
strategic
planning,
and
organizational
change
Goal:
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
Who
Are
We?
We
are
educators,
exhibit
designers,
interpretive
planners,
and
administrators—
advocates
and
allies—
committed
to
institutional
change
and
open
dialog
about
the
challenges
facing
museums.
Empathy:
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse

2. 10/11/17
2
The
action
of
understanding,
being
aware
of,
being
sensitive
to,
and
vicariously
experiencing the
feelings,
thoughts,
and
experience
of
another
of
either
the
past
or
present
without
having
the feelings,
thoughts,
and
experience
fully
communicated
in
an
objectively
explicit
manner.
​Merriam-­‐Webster
Dictionary
(2013)
Empathy:
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
The
Big
Idea
• We
often
use
aspects
of
the
human
person
to
describe
our
institutions
• “The
Empathetic
Museum”
is
an
extended
metaphor
highlighting
the
qualities
of
an
institution
that
is
aligned
from
the
inside
out
with
its
community.
• Origins
of
the
empathy
metaphor
www.museumcommons.org
HEAD
ARMS
HEART
SOUL
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
Stages
of
Organizational
Life
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
Alberta
Museums
Association
Sustainability
Working
Group,
2013
(Hatcher
and
Anderson)
http://www.museums.ab.ca/media/34750/museumsswg_report_final.pdf
IMLS
statement
NYPL
opened
doors
for
warmth,
water,
charging
devices
Museums
in
the
area
??
Other
museum
associations
??
Example.
Superstorm
Sandy

3. 10/11/17
3
Association
of
African
American
Museums
Statement
of
condolence
to
parents
of
Michael
Brown,
Trayvon
Martin,
Tamir
Rice
Urged
their
members
to
use
collections
to
help
provide
context
for
understanding
and
healing.
Example.
Ferguson
Authentic
alignment
of
an
organization
with
the
experiences,
values,
and
needs
of
the
communities
it
serves.
But
how?
What
is
Institutional
Empathy?
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
A
versatile
tool
for
mapping
the
developmental
stages
of
an
organization’s
practices
or
culture
and
identifying
the
key
characteristics
of
each
stage.
“What
is
the
critical
mass
of
characteristics
that
constitute
empathetic
institutions,
what
are
the
meaningful
developmental
stages
of
each,
and
how
can
this
help
us?”
What
is
a
Maturity
Model?
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
Empathetic
Museum
Maturity
Model
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse

4. 10/11/17
4
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
• Shows “critical mass” of key factors
(these aren’t the only ones)
• Overlap of characteristics
• Explicit notion of maturity -­ not
growth in size or passage of time
• These are examples -­ you don’t
“check the boxes” and declare
victory
5
characteristics
• Civic
Vision
• Institutional
Body
Language
• Community
Resonance
• Timeliness
&
Sustainability
• Performance
Measures
Empatheticmuseum.com/maturity-­‐model
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
1.
Civic
Vision
How
the
museum
expresses
empathy
externally
through
its
civic
role.
Example.
Eastern
State
Penitentiary
Exhibit
→
Program
à Overhaul
See:
• Beyond
Neutrality,
Sean
Kelley’s
post
in
CFM
• Honoring
Experience,
Janeen Bryant’s
post
on
EmpatheticMuseum.com
Kerry
Wood
Nature
Centre
Red
Deer
• Partnered
with
local
refugee
agency
to
host
immigrant
language
programs
in
their
classroom
• Provided
child
care
outdoors to
teach
immigrants’
children
about
local
nature,
build
vocabulary,
and
give
confidence
in
interacting
with
their
new
environment
• Led
immigrants’
winter
camping
trips
• Roving
summer
interpreters
on
bicycles
with
interpretive
materials
go
to
public
parks,
where
many
immigrant
families
gather.

5. 10/11/17
5
Galt
Museum,
Lethbridge
• “The
Loneliness
is
Killing
Me”
• “Changing
Places:
Diversity
and
Immigration”
• Special
presentation
about
Syrian
immigrants
by
Lethbridge’s
Program
Director
for
Immigrant
Services
Morton Molyneaux, Galt Museum
2.
Institutional
Body
Language
How
the
museum
embodies
empathy
through
staffing,
policies,
workplace
culture
and
structure,
etc.
Example.
Harvard
2.
Institutional
Body
Language
How
the
museum
embodies
empathy
through
staffing,
policies,
workplace
culture
and
structure,
etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdMfPn6bpi0
Buried
in
the
Footnotes

6. 10/11/17
6
3.
Community
Resonance
How
the
museum
values,
relates
to,
and
serves
its
diverse
communities.
Example.
Sainsbury
Centre
for
Visual
Arts
Norwich,
UK
Sainsbury
Centre
for
Visual
Arts,
Norwich,
UK
• Congolese
refugees
project
• Develop
language
skills
and
confidence
by
discussing
Congolese
artifacts
• Participants
readily
engaged
with
the
objects!
• But...
conversations
turned
to
confusing
or
challenging
experiences
in
their
new
culture.
• New
sessions
around
common
themes
in
these
stories,
mediated
by
objects
drawn
from
more
diverse
collections
• Modernist
Henry
Moore
sculpture
“Mother
and
child”
led
to
discussions
about
culturally-­‐
acceptable
displays
of
emotion
or
intimacy.
Canadian
Museum
of
Immigration,
Halifax
• Partners
with
provincial
immigration
agencies
• Curriculum-­‐based
tools
for
school-­‐aged
children
about
anti-­‐bullying
and
cultural
differences
• Acts
as
civic
”front
porch”,
providing
free
spaces
for
cultural
and
immigration
organizations
to
perform,
meet
and
display
• A
dozen
educational
programs
on
communications,
citizenship,
cultural
identity,
the
immigrant
experience

7. 10/11/17
7
4.
Timeliness
&
Sustainability
How,
why,
and
when
the
museum
responds
to
community
issues
and
events
in
a
sustainable
way.
Examples.
Superstorm
Sandy
Ferguson
5.
Performance
Measures
How
the
museum
measures
success
in
empathetic
practice.
Example.
Minnesota
Historical
Society
– internal
measurements
of
D&I
Performance
Measures
The
Limits
of
Language
• Pushing
up
on
limit
of
language &
new
vocabulary
• Get
comfortable
with
discomfort
– Don’t
let
it
stop
you.
• Have
been
asked:
Is
the
Rubric
focused
on
White-­‐dominant
museums?
Not
necessarily;
Focus
is
lack
of
cultural
competency
Framework
is
flexible;
able
to
be
applied
across
institutions
of
varying
sizes,
missions,
locales.
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse
The
Hard
Work
of
Change
• Don’t
want
to
minimize
the
work
required
• Rubric
runs
risk
of
oversimplifying
how
intensive
this
work
is
• Identify
where
you
are
on
the
rubric
• Set
priorities
• Get
buy-­‐in
• Implement
change
• Evaluate
progress
• Museum-­‐time:
Takes
time
to
get
buy-­‐in
&
manage
the
internal
process
of
change
#EmpatheticMuseum |
@EmpatheticMuse

8. 10/11/17
8
What’s
Next?
•Empathetic
Museum
Honor
Roll
•Ongoing
methodical,
evidence-­‐based
and
informal
validation
•Assessment
tools
-­‐ self-­‐assessment
and
stakeholder
assessment
•Correlate
institutional
stages
with
leading
and
lagging
indicators
For
more
information
about
the
Rubric
or
Workshops:
EmpatheticMuseum@gmail.com
www.EmpatheticMuseum.com
Resources:
The
Empathetic
Museum
Maturity
Model
http://empatheticmuseum.com/mat
urity-­‐‑model
Project
Implicit
(harvard-­‐‑based)
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit
/takeatest.html
Revisionist
History
-­‐‑ My
Little
Hundred
Million
http://revisionisthistory.com/episod
es/06-­‐‑my-­‐‑little-­‐‑hundred-­‐‑million
Beyond
Neutrality
http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.co
m/2016/08/beyond-­‐‑neutrality.html
Honoring
Experience
http://empatheticmuseum.weebly.co
m/updates/honoring-­‐‑experience