Great Lakes ADA Center’s Post

#ListeningSession 6 - GCF’s President and CEO, Matthew Randazzo and Chief Impact Officer, Rasheda Malcolm-Cromwell hosted an open forum with organizations in the arts and culture sector that enrich our region through creative endeavors, employment and arts education. During the conversation, attendees expressed a clear need for more funding and support for staffing and operations. Additional takeaways include a desire for more artists to be at the decision-making table, better access to boardrooms and private sector spaces, and greater recognition of the positive effects the arts have on our regional economy. How do you think we can best serve our region’s artists and cultural institutions? What opportunities do the arts bring to the region and how can we ensure these opportunities persist?

It is now even more imperative that museums and cultural institutions understand their position in civic engagement and social impact. Celebrate #Juneteenth by reflecting and learning in what ways you can honor and celebrate African American resilience and achievement.

Did you get the Readiness Institute at Penn State's newsletter earlier this month? This issue is a look back on 2023, recent awards and recognition, Penn State Day at the Moonshot Museum, and more! Check it out: https://bit.ly/48S4jEZ 🏷️: #PennStateOutreach #WeAre #PennState #Outreach #RIatPennState #ReadinessInstitute

In the spirit of “sharpening the saw”, I participated in a Design Thinking DC field session for the National Museum of American History this week. Question: How might we create a more inviting and engaging Constitution Ave entrance? So great to flex my DT muscles IRL with creative designers! #designthinking #smithsonian #creativity #brainstorming #prototyping

Rather than being passive repositories of artworks, artifacts and archival materials, Social Museums actively engage with their communities, addressing social issues, promoting dialogue, and fostering inclusivity. Central to the Social Museum philosophy is the belief that museums should serve as catalysts for social change and platforms for civic engagement. The Social Museum embodies four key principles.

Here's a resource that is much needed in our field! A book on Evaluating Accessibility in Museums. Speaking of which - if you are interested in accessibility in exhibit design, you should also check out OMSI's new Design Challenge Resource collection which includes a chapter on accessibility: https://lnkd.in/gM9Piw3c

When is the best time to start making your museum accessible? Is it: - after you have launched a new event or learning workshop? - after you have opened your new exhibition? - when you have received feedback from a visitor? - when an employee has shared with you that something isn't accessible? - when you are planning a new activity or exhibition? The reality is the best time to be thinking about accessibility is at all of these stages. At beginning to make sure that you are being proactive and thinking about accessibility and during to show you are responding to feedback and working with your audiences. #Autism #Accessibility #Museums #LivedExperience #Inclusion --- I'm Emily and I talk a lot about access in museums and heritage. If you would like to find out how you can make your museum more accessible please email me on emilyautism@outlook.com.

Echoing Lord Ed Vaizey's excellent speech this week One would expect the words 'Arts' and 'Culture' to be at the very heart of policy in the National Planning Policy Framework This is after all the essential text which governs spatial planning in England Yet in over 28,000 words the words 'arts' and 'culture' both appear only once Are we relegated to nipping out the back of the pub, for a sneaky cultural experience? The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities seems to think so As Arts and Culture linger shamefully in their lonely single mention, behind 'factory outlet centres' and 'indoor bowling centres and bingo halls' in a snappy section on 'town centres' in the Glossary. Lucy Frazer QC is this REALLY the best we can do as a Cultural and Arts powerhouse? Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a strong voice for our creative economy, but sometimes one has to wonder if anyone listens to anyone else in Whitehall Our culture and arts are part of the DNA our of national experience and an important way we need to think about the future of our nation. This of course must includes spaces they are to occupy HM Treasury has occasionally spotted the sector as the Chancellor said last year "Our Creative Industry isn’t just about the glitz and glam of the red carpet in Leicester Square. It brings in £108 billion a year to help fund our public services, supports over 2 million jobs, and is world renowned" but sometimes it is difficult to understand that the creative economy is actually one of our 5 key sectors identified for growth. If policy insists in being oblivious to our cultural life, Shakespeare's observation from Richard II might well be prophetic about the future of our national cultural and arts landscape: "Against the envy of less happier lands, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.... that was wont to conquer others, hath made a shameful conquest of itself" But then again - everyone is a critic. It takes real effort to actually achieve important things...

Our co-Founder Ilsa Govan taught "Foundations of Social Justice" for the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. This is a table set up with resources for the workshop. Do any of these look familiar to you? #deib #dei #deiworkshop #professionaldevelopment #antiracismwork #racialjustice