WestMuse Blog

Here on the WestMuse Blog, you’ll find a variety of articles and resources to help guide you through this difficult time as we all stay home to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Check in every #WestMuseWednesday and Fridays for our latest blog posts discussing current topics from learning how to work from home to sharing social media best practices.

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September 1, 2015
By Brenda Salguero
I grew up ashamed of who I was.
It wasn’t until recently I even realized that I had felt this way. That is the insidious nature of systemic racism—you never realize how much you hate yourself or even why.
Like all Americans, I grew up surrounded by a white dominant media, but the communities I lived in never reflected what I saw on TV. Additionally, the majority of my teachers...
August 27, 2015
By Lindsey Kouvaris
As museums, our charge is to care. We take possession of historical objects, cultural artifacts, and works of art. We commit to exhibiting them, caring for them, and preserving their place in history. And, we adopt institutional missions, collections policies, and collecting goals to help guide us through the process.
But, what about the objects that don’t seem to fit our...
August 25, 2015
By Molly Billows
The Native Youth Program (NYP), currently in its 36th year, is the longest running Aboriginal public program at the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology (MOA). Each summer the program brings together six urban Aboriginal youths from the Greater Vancouver area to develop and lead public tours in the museum.
This year the youths are giving tours of c̓əsnaʔəm: the...
August 20, 2015
By Dawn Barraclough
Hosting the Western Museums Association (WMA) 2014 Annual Meeting was a great catalyst for the Las Vegas cultural community, bringing us together and into the future as a united force. It all began in 2012 when, with local museum consultant Art Wolf at the helm, Las Vegas museum directors met to prepare a bid to host the 2014 WMA Annual Meeting. This campaign included a...
August 18, 2015
By Katelyn Foley
Artist-In-Residence programs, in the traditional sense, exist to give time and space for artists to focus on creative enterprises. While many programs of this type continue to provide this opportunity for artists, museums and other cultural organizations are looking at the model as an audience engagement or educational outreach opportunity. I have had the opportunity to work on a...
August 11, 2015
By Reed Redman
The Seattle Art Museum’s (SAM) Remix is a popular event which takes place at our downtown location twice a year, and the Olympic Sculpture Park every summer. With humble beginnings, the event started with a grant from the Wallace Foundation to explore and engage audiences ages 18–34. The aim was to produce a program that shifted the audience’s experience of an art institution and...
July 28, 2015
By Lauren Valone
Design thinking is a big buzzword these days, and is being applied in both corporate and not-for-profit settings. However, it is much more than simply thinking like a designer might. Indeed, design thinking is about combining analytical and creative methods to arrive at innovative solutions. Dana Mitroff Silvers, former Head of Online Services at the San Francisco Museum of...
July 23, 2015
By Chloe Verrey
Aside from four years of college, I have lived in San Jose, CA my entire life. In high school, I didn’t see much value in the place I called home. All I wanted was a place of my own, so I left. After four years living in Eugene, Oregon, I could not wait to get back to San Jose. How could such a short period of time change my mind? And now, years later, San Jose is more my home...

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