Five Things I Learned About Museums in 2024
With 2024 nearly in our rearview and the new year on the horizon, it feels like the perfect moment to reflect on my time at Museum Exchange and what I’ve learned on the job so far. While it’s been a mere six months since I came on as Associate Curator of Engagement this June, our museum community has been incredibly welcoming and generous in sharing their current projects, aspirations, and priorities with me. Here are just a handful of my takeaways from these dialogues:
1. Thinking big, with finite resources.
Perhaps what came through most resoundingly in all of my conversations with museums this year was their consistently ambitious collecting plans, irrespective of institution size. Many museums have either already updated their collecting statements or are actively embarking on this work now. The other side of this, of course, is a need for resourcefulness, as the museum sector—in line with the arts landscape more broadly—continues to do the most with less. So many shared with me why this makes gifts of art so vital in growing and advancing their collections.
2. A commitment to diversity and representation.
A common thread I encountered across museums is a desire to grow collections in parallel with their communities, seeking to bring to the fore artists and makers who reflect the diversity of identities present among their audiences. This focus within museums aims to create more inclusive narratives of art history spanning dimensions of race, gender, sexuality, ability, nationality, and more.
3. Latine art and artists in focus.
Within the work of expanding representation in museum collections, over the last several months I’ve learned about many Latine art-specific collecting initiatives. These initiatives are driven by a number of factors including institutions seeking to uplift their Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) commitments, more museums gaining Latine Art curators, and the continued growth of dedicated Latine art scholarship more widely.
Installation view of Marisol: A Retrospective at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum while attending the Contemporary Curators Conference, July 2024.
4. Challenges and opportunities of change.
For anyone who has ever worked in museums, it’s a fairly familiar scenario to encounter leadership and staffing changes. This year I heard from a number of museums about both the growing edges and incredible opportunities of this kind of change. Of course, as with any transition, in many cases this meant temporary slow-downs as institutions worked to re-evaluate their work. However, on the other side of this, I heard from so many museums where changes meant evolution. These museums were now collecting with renewed clarity and purpose.
5. The importance of the day-to-day.
Finally, I learned how central it is to not lose sight of the practical concerns of growing a collection, from navigating the realities of shipping costs to conservation and storage. It could feel like a less glamorous aspect of collecting but nevertheless was a key concern that I didn’t take lightly, especially as a former museum professional myself!
As I hope is evident, it’s been an amazing and insightful experience speaking with so many museums in my brief tenure at Museum Exchange so far. As 2024 closes, I’m grateful for the conversations I’ve had within our wonderful community, and I look forward to continuing to learn from and advance the work of our museum partners in 2025!
