We argue that the art museum can and should be a place of philosophical exploration. It can be such a place because philosophy and art have important similarities. They both ask us to adopt a non-instrumental, contemplative attitude toward the world that allows us to widen our personal viewpoint and explore the complex nature of things. To…

In this essay, we explore ways in which cultural and museum spaces can be opened up to meaningful discussions about difficult topics and how this can be done through specific educational formats. We attempt to look critically at some of the assumptions that are around in critical museum education theory and practices, e.g. influences coming from…

This article examines forms of activism in which artistic expression features as a means of raising awareness and catalyzing progressive change on matters of equality, diversity, inclusion and social justice. Focusing in particular on anti-racist and decolonial activism within the context of art museums, experimental project spaces and collections…

In the twenty-first century, museum learning has shifted with the world's social climate, exploring new approaches to engage the public with collections. This text reframes the museum art educator as an activator and how they can utilize concepts within Afrofuturism to decolonize hegemonic white cultural institutions and Eurocentric epistemes.…

In the grand tradition of Isabella Stewart Gardner and Henry Clay Frick, Alice L. Walton has used her immense wealth to create a world-class museum for the enjoyment of a broad public audience. Unlike Gardner and Frick, however, Walton, who opened a museum in 2011, did not select a location in a bustling metropolis to build what will become her…

In the last decade, explorations into the work of volunteer educators, titled "docents," within art museums revealed turbulent circumstances that led some institutions to alter their volunteer programs, if not end them entirely. How did art museums come to rely on volunteers to undertake such an important responsibility -- that of…

This article explores vulnerability and intuition through Stay Gold, an intergenerational arts program developed specifically for the LGBTQIA+ community and its relationship to museum education. Our bodies are subjugated by normative ideologies at birth, and certain bodies (I use the term queer for these bodies, which encompasses sexualities,…

In this article, the authors argue that the art-historical canon, however it is construed, has little relevance to the selection of objects for museum-based teaching. Their contention is that all objects are fundamentally agile and capable of interrogation from any number of disciplinary standpoints, and that the canon of museum education,…

This article offers a gender/queer, first-person perspective of the necessary role educators play in the link between museums and local communities who have been historically and systemically oppressed (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and intersections therein). By linking racial and labor equity, this article argues for a deeper…

Museum partnerships can involve significant tensions, especially when these collaborations reach across institutions to blend disciplines such as art and mathematics. Rather than simply being obstacles to overcome, we suggest that tensions arising in multi-institutional, cross-disciplinary collaborations can be highly generative for collaborators,…

How can museum educators create dialogical experiences with European decorative arts? This question frames my essay and stems from the challenges I have faced introducing objects whose original functions seem to overshadow their aesthetic and interpretive value. Repeated efforts to spark rich dialogue and collective interpretation around pieces of…

This article argues that releasing images of artworks into the public domain creates a new possibility for the public to challenge the canon or create their own, based on access to previously inaccessible images. Through the dissemination of openly licensed artworks across the Internet, museums can support the public in expanding their engagement…

In late 2006, the Columbus Museum of Art adopted a new framework that established creativity as the lens for learning and visitor experiences. The purpose of our article is to critically examine the role of evaluation in CMA's reinvention, and in particular to highlight three features of evaluation at CMA that we believe contributed to the…

In late 2006, the Columbus Museum of Art adopted a new framework that established creativity as the lens for learning and visitor experiences. When the Columbus Museum of Art committed to creativity as a focus and lens for learning, the work and nature of its education department adapted and changed. What is a museum's responsibility to its…

Thematic education programs are increasingly common in art museums across the world, especially when it comes to programs for schools. Currently, however, there is no consensus as to what constitutes a valid theme. This article makes explicit four different conceptions of the term "theme" that underlie current art museum education…