Museums as Agents of Change: A Guide to Becoming a Changemaker

by Mike Murawski

Museums everywhere have the potential to serve as agents of change-bringing people together, contributing to local communities, and changing people's lives. So how can we, as individuals, radically expand the work of museums to live up to this potential? How can we more fiercely recognize the meaningful work that museums are doing to enact change around the relevant issues in our communities? How can we work together to build a stronger culture of equity and care within museums ? Questions like these are increasingly vital for all museum professionals to consider, no matter what your role is within your institution. They are also important questions for all of us to be thinking about more deeply as citizens and community members. This book is about the work we need to do to become changemakers and demand that that our museums take action toward positive social change and bring people together into a more just, equitable, compassionate, and connected society. It is a journey toward tapping the energies within all of us to make change happen and proactively shape a new future.

Genres: Museums, Museology, Nonfiction, Art

148 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2021

Reviews

[scriptedknight · Rating 5 out of 5]

rating: 4.5/5 stars
~
love. love radically in your communities. love endlessly in spaces there for you.

[BookLover92 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an inspirational and informative read full of insights into the complicated spaces that are museums. Murawski writes with urgency and care about the ways that people can and should make museums more human-centered spaces. He provides readers with a utopic vision of what museums can be, but he also provides concrete examples and advice to help people get closer to that dream.

The book is packed full of amazing resources, not just from other museum workers, but leaders in other fields. My favorite thing about this book is how Murawski beautifully weaves together all of the impactful conversations and readings he's engaged with that have informed his own practice. He consistently reiterates the importance of working in community and collaboration with others, and he even models this in the way he has structured and written his book.

For anyone who cares about making museums more equitable spaces that work for communities, and/or being a more thoughtful leader within any space, I would recommend this book. You'll come away with a list of additional books/readings to dive into!

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is intended to be inspirational -- your museum can work with the community, your museum can be a gathering place for the community, your museum can value self-care and community care, your museum can combat white supremacy culture, YOU can make change in the museum, etc.. Maybe I'm just jaded and cynical, but I read a lot of this and thought, "Well, in theory, that's great, but in reality, that wouldn't happen." Or maybe it's just because I'm always so far down in the hierarchy (which Murawski tells us we're supposed to get rid of) that I wouldn't actually have a voice in making change. Even though Murawski touches on how people low in the hierarchy can (supposedly) have a voice in making change, even that didn't seem realistic. So maybe I'm just jaded, or maybe I've only worked in places (museums and corporations) that absolutely would not be welcome to change, but I just kept thinking "Yeah, but..." while reading this book. So 4 stars for the effort, and kudos to any real-life organization that can do this, but knocked down a star because realistically, I don't see a lot of this happening, and least not based on my past experience.

[Brian Hutzell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Museums As Agents of Change provides a counterpoint to Whose Muse? Whereas the latter argues for a more traditional way of thinking about and managing museums, the former adopts the model currently in vogue, in which museums take on a much more activist role. I tend to side more with the traditionalists in this case. While museums can and should be part of the community, I think they tend to lose their focus when they become community centers. (Libraries are in similar danger of losing their identity when they try to be all things to all people.)

Mike Murawski, in Museums As Agents of Change, sees love as “the core of our work.” This comes as a surprise, since I doubt “love” is in too many museum mission statements. Nevertheless, Murawski’s sincerity is apparent.

The book is an engaging read, but I spotted a few too many typos and grammatical errors. One more editing pass would have been in order. Near the end of the book, the author delves into self-help territory, and while the advice is not bad, it feels out of place.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of Mike’s work for many years and appreciate his commitment to building a community of reflective museum practitioners. This book is a summary of his experiences and approaches to changemaking in museums. It was a positive reminder of why I believe in the power of museums and also the significant work the field needs to do to share that power with our communities. He has assembled a great resource in this book, which I hope launches more conversations, publications, and practices to support transformation in the field.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Change is used in this volume as a buzz word, meaning more of the same, as much more of the same as possible.

The alternative to this volume is what regular people understand through change. The Museum is a concept developed somewhere in the 14--16th century. Which had its use back in the 19th century. In the 20th century is more of a tool of justifying oppression for the sake of the State actors who hold the funding and grants. Murawski makes the argument of horse and buggy in the early days of inter-planetary transport.

[Mamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me a lot to think about! It was rich with lots of new ideas that I hope to reflect on and put into practice into my own work/life and eventually into nonprofits. I especially liked his chapter on the importance of both self care and community care in order to be an effective changemaker, "Care and Healing." Interesting book!

[Buster Ratliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly great read. While I did not agree with everything, this is a thought provoking, well written book. As the author writes, “the call for museums to radically reinvent themselves has never been more urgent or necessary.”

[Lenka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books presents some very interesting ideas and suggestions about what steps to take to make museums more community-centred, inclusive, relevant institutions.

[Richfield Branch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found myself thinking of this book and coming back to the notes I had made- such points that stuck:

Preface: reflect on role my institution serves w/in my community. It is a living institution. Powerful role as active space for connecting, coming together. Place to tell new and diverse stories, celebrate untold stories.
No more mission statements that celebrate "stuff" /objects/collections over people, visitors and staff. Focus on staff and community of celebrating human experiences, human relationships, Fund human impact.
Social organizations go beyond visitor centered. Means thinking of staff and visitors and neighbors as being all part of the institutions interconnected ecosystem.

h MASS action toolkit, IMLS Strengthening Networks Sparking Change report, Museum of Impact

Asset study of need study of community. Focus on positive. What do you value most? What does your community value? What makes your community unique or strong? When did you feel community was at its best?

It's staff and visitor, NOT staff vs visitor. Museum of us. Together

[Kat Zagaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a good overview of museums and how they can be involved in social change. That said, almost every chapter would benefit from significant expansion. Museums are complex and solutions to the problems they face could be extrapolated upon.