Center for the Future of Museums Fact Sheet

Brief Description

The Center for the Future of Museums (CFM) helps museums explore the cultural, political and economic challenges facing society and devise strategies to shape a better tomorrow. CFM is a think-tank and research and design lab for fostering creativity and helping museums transcend traditional boundaries to serve society in new ways.

Principals

Elizabeth Merritt, Founding Director

Merritt has 15 years experience in museums, including administration, curation and collections management. Before joining AAM in 1999, she was Director, Collections and Research, at Cincinnati Museum Center, responsible for the administration of the curation, collections management, research and conservation efforts related to its natural history and science, history and children’s museums.

Guzel duChateau, Program Coordinator

DuChateau grew up overseas in Bulgaria, the former Soviet Union, Jerusalem and Finland. After graduating from Mary Washington College, she interned at Hudson + Salah Art Conservation in New Orleans. She spent three years at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian Museum Stores. She joined the staff of AAM in March 2007.

Forthcoming Activities

Superstruct:   AAM's Center for the Future of Museums (CFM) urges museum professionals to prepare the field for the next decade by joining Superstruct, a multiplayer online game from the Institute for the Future (IFTF). Using its forecasting expertise, IFTF, a nonprofit research center based in Palo Alto, Calif., has created a storyline highlighting five plausible but alarming "superthreats" that could confront the world in 2019. Building on these scenarios, CRM will provide a plot specific to museums. Participants can use forums, blogs, videos, wikis and other online applications to plan how museums would overcome future challenges.

Museums and Society in 2034 Trends Paper: What challenges will society and museums face in the next quarter-century? How will museums face these challenges and start shaping the future?This report is being prepared by James Chung and Susie Wilkening of Reach Advisors and will be released November 2008.

Gaming the Future of Museums Lecture: On Dec. 2, Dr. Jane McGonigal, resident game designer and research affiliate with the IFTF, will speak on the role of museums in the future at CFM’s sneak preview lecture at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. While the lecture is invitation only, in January CFM will present a webcast of the lecture with supplemental materials.

Contact Us:

Main Office Media Inquiries Dewey Blanton Phone:  202-289-1818 Media Relations E-Mail:  futureof museums@aam-us.org Phone:  202-218-7704 Mailing:  1575 Eye St. NW Suite 400     Washington, D.C. 20005 E-mail: dblanton@aam-us.org