My small museum is in Milwaukee, where at least two of the World Series games will be held. When the RNC was held here in 2024, the museum actually lost revenue because no tourists wanted to deal with the traffic and protests associated with the convention. I have a feeling the World Series will be different, though. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with something similar. For example, if the World Series or other major sporting event was in your city, did your museum get a major influx of visitors?

I’ve been reading employee reviews of several major Australian cultural institutions, and some of the recurring themes are quite concerning.
There seem to be repeated complaints about poor leadership, favouritism, bullying, low morale and experienced museum professionals feeling undervalued.
What concerns me most is the apparent disconnect between the values these institutions promote publicly and the workplace cultures described in some employee reviews.
Museums are supposed to be places of learning, creativity, collaboration and respect for professional expertise. Yet some reviews describe environments where internal politics take priority over experience, staff feel unable to speak up, and concerns about workplace behaviour are allegedly dismissed.
Of course, anonymous reviews don’t tell the whole story, and not every institution or team will have the same culture.
But it raises an important question: Who holds leadership accountable when workplace culture deteriorates in publicly funded cultural institutions?
I’d be interested to hear from others working in Australian museums, galleries and cultural organisations. Are these isolated experiences, or is there a broader problem across the sector?

Before anything. Do not recommend the Allie Schell and Ellen Filbey. I follow them on LinkedIn and a lot of their services cost money that I don't have. Thanks.

I currently work as a Gallery Attendant at a museum part time and it's killing me. I stand for hours doing nothing but watch people. I'm on new hire probation because I just got hired here, which means I can't transfer to other jobs in the museums or on the campus (it's connected with a university). So, I have to leave now before I'm trapped forever.

I worked at a museum as a Research Assistant for an assistantship through my MA program for 2 years. I have my master's in History with a research focus on museum studies and public history. No idea what to do with it because my current job makes me want out of museums and never come back.

I was a GRA and it was a museum/collections assistant job. I helped with rehousing, cleaning sculpture, uploading art and items into PastPerfect, and worked at the front desk providing resources and information when needed. It was a tiny museum with under 15 people working.

I used to work at a library, but resigned because a colleague was lgbt-phobic and I was offered my assistantship. So I left. I miss it though, even though the pay was terrible. Same as museum jobs, but still it was money from a job I loved.

I don't know what to do or where to work. I'm honestly considering teaching like I wanted to do when I got into college, but I know Social Studies/History teacher jobs in secondary education are hard to come by and I'd have to go back to school to get proper training. It's tempting because I know I'd like teaching, but I know I'll get burned out quickly by it.

How do I transfer skills like that? I've tried, but I'm stuck in the habit of focusing on knowledge, community, people, and storytelling. I've never worked a corporate job. I've been trying to get an Administrative Assistant/Coordinator, Operations Coordinator, Office Assistant, and HR/People Ops positions. It's been going awful.

The only jobs I get call backs from are ones at museums or schools.

I got two interviews at two different museums. Ghosted by both. I've emailed to ask about them, but they don't email me back. I've given up.

I then got two interviews at schools. One was a library job, but I didn't have enough elementary school experience. I was rejected for the other job because I fumbled the screening because I was intimidated af by their questions. I wasn't expecting intense questions like that. I just thought it was an Administrative Assistant job, turns out it was for an Admin Assistant II, which requires more experience than I had. Imposter syndrome took over.

How do I do this? I've lost all hope at this point. How does a museum professional get out of this field? How should I focus my resume and questions? Any advice/resources?

I have a few weeks left at ANSP in my current position. This trend of museums being under threat of closure (like what’s happening with the Sternberg) need to be addressed!

Hey all! I’m a museum professional approaching 10 years of experience including in some of the biggest museums in the country. I’m from the Bay Area and went to school there and would like to make a move back home in the next few years but I have never gotten much traction with the Bay Area institutions despite having success elsewhere and having ties to the area. I’d love to hear from any Bay Area-based museum professionals, what is going on in the field there right now and how did you find your role? Or if you’re in the area and have left the field to stay in the area geographically, what did you move into? Happy to chat via DMs also if preferred, thanks very much in advance!

i graduated from university with a BA in English and minors in psychology and communications in May and I got an internship with a healthcare organization doing communications. However, corporate life was a very rude awakening. I don’t like working in a gray, empty office all day sending emails to people who are sitting right next to me, and I don’t have a passion for healthcare whatsoever. They have already overworked me and I often cry on the way home from work. The situation is so bad that I am considering declining my return offer after the internship concludes.

My passion has always been museums, libraries, and cultural institutions, but I don’t know anything about working in this industry. Is it a really “corporate” environment if I were to work in a museum?

Things that interest me are social media marketing, programming/outreach, event planning, etc. Can anyone give me tips on entering this industry (interviews, resume, job boards) or general vibe (is it still gray offices and Teams meetings?) any advice is appreciated. I’m so lost.

Edit: based on these replies I guess we are all cooked. I’m just really having trouble getting used to the fact that capitalism has convinced everyone that corporate is the goal and that sort of inhumane environment is how we are supposed to be spending the majority of our lives. I don’t know what to do anymore.

Working in a museum has been my biggest career dream, and after ten years of working in education and administrative sectors I've finally landed my first real interview! It would be such a dream come true if it works out, and I'm trying to prepare as best as I can. The position would involve managing educators and education partnerships, and I'd appreciate any and all preparation insight. Does anyone have any perspectives or pointers that could be good to keep in mind for an interview for this kind of role?

I built a web app for my husband, an antiques dealer who sets up at fancy booth shows, so he could plan out what to hang up on his walls and see things at the right scale.

We think the app might be useful for small museums trying to plan out exhibits but I could really use some feedback and suggestions on how and if it would be of use. If you're interested in trying it out, LMK!

Hi! I’ve wanted to break into the art gallery/museum industry for a while now. My degree has nothing to do with it however, and I have 0 experience. If I get experience working in framing will that be “good” experience for working within a gallery? Just as a way in?

Hi! I just got hired as a public historian and much like Ken, my job is museum, I'm it, all of it. Currently my museum reads as an antique store which can be fun but we have very little funding and I'm trying to persuade the city we are worth the investment while not sacrificing quality or content. Yes, that old chestnut. I want to update the exhibits but obviously don't have the money for the companies that create exhibit grade items. We have some donated vitrines but I'm curious if any of you have found items on Craigslist or marketplace that are useful and aesthetically pleasing enough to elevate my museum. I'm a lover of all things diy and I'm handy. Have any of you crafted your own displays? What did you find useful?

Hi everyone!

I recently completed my Master’s in History of Art and Museum Studies after leaving a successful four-year career in PR and communications, where I worked on several major cultural projects. I also interned at a major museum in Paris, focusing on education, interpretation and public engagement.

It’s been an incredibly rewarding career transition, and I’m more passionate than ever about working in museums and connecting people to art!

However, finding a job has been surprisingly difficult. I’m based in Abu Dhabi, where the cultural sector is expanding rapidly, but relevant opportunities seem quite limited.

I’ve been applying for months, reaching out to professionals on LinkedIn (often without responses) and attending the occasional interview. I’ve even received really encouraging feedback from hiring teams, only for things to go quiet afterwards. It’s difficult to know what more I could be doing!

On a personal note, I recently got married, and I’m so eager to get back to work. Going from a busy professional and academic life to spending most days at home has been a huge adjustment. With the cost of living here, I’m also keen to contribute financially and start building a future with my husband.

I’m particularly interested in exhibitions, interpretation, education and public engagement, but I’m keeping an open mind about opportunities where my experience could add value.

For those working in museums, particularly in the UAE, how did you get your foot in the door? Are there any networks, organisations or alternative routes you’d recommend?

I’d genuinely appreciate any advice, connections or leads. I’m excited to put everything I’ve learned into practice, and I’m hopeful that the right opportunity is out there somewhere! :)

I’m writing a report on some artifact research I did with an internship that I intend to publish when it’s done. I talked about this with a professor and he recommended crowdsourcing to make sure it’s an original artifact or if there is another one then it could give me more information for the report. Is there a specific way I should go about this? Where would I even post this that it would be likely to reach people that can help?

For some context its a book with photos from the Paris peace conference, I feel like I’ve done enough research that if there was another one I would know, but it’d be good to be sure

I know your first instinct may be to say "don't," but hear me out!

I'm a grad student getting my MA in Public History, and for my capstone project, I will be formally cataloging the holdings of a non-profit org and creating a collections management plan. I have been on the board of this non-profit for almost three years now, and even though it is officially a museum, we do almost nothing museum-related.

It was formed almost 30 years ago to preserve a historic country store. In that time, the org has leased the space to tenants who run it as a store and casual eatery, serving things like burgers and fries, breakfast sandwiches, and coffee. Customers pick up their food from the counter and the kitchen is only separated from the dining space by a half-wall. As you may imagine, this has presented us with some preservation challenges, but the org has done a really good job taking care of the building.

I've been struggling to decide how to approach my capstone. I could write a paper about the process of organizing a museum from scratch and the significance of the building to the town's history, and that could be fine, but I don't feel like it fills gaps in current scholarship and meaningfully expands our collective knowledge in the way that a project of this magnitude should. Therefore, I was thinking about focusing on how to manage collections that are on display in a space that serves primarily as a restaurant.

Do you see any merit to this idea? Does it sound interesting, or am I reading too much into it? Does it even matter if I create a resource that shows how to make a museum that is also a restaurant, since almost no one does that (for good reason)? If it is worthwhile, what are some sources that could guide me in the right direction? I'm already planning to use the AAM Ethics & Standards and Museum Basics by Timothy Ambrose and Crispin Paine.

Any advice (even if it is just to leave this idea in the dust and do something else) is much appreciated!

I recently created a scholarly publication devoted to provenance research in ontological dialogue with art history and museology.

Here, we will analyze the functions and meanings of artworks in their different contexts of display, understanding the role of transfers in the way artworks are read today.

Please feel free to join the discussion as we reflect on the relevance of this emerging discipline to the interpretation of objects in relation to their cultures from a global perspective.

This is a bit of a follow up on my post from a month ago, where I asked for advice to build my résumé.

I had an interview with a local museum yesterday that went really well! The director was especially interested in my experience with media competence I got through studying media culture. He wants me to assist in a project to renew the digital infrastructure of the exhibition (think audio guides, digital tours, virtual reality etc.). I'm really happy to be able to get that kind of experience, but I'm also anxious about how the whole process will go and what will be expected of me (I'll get more details, as soon as I start, of course). So if there's anyone here, who has experience with this kind of project or knows how to approach projects in general with 0 experience, I'd greatly appreciate tips!

But more than anything, I wanted to share a positive story, since the field is so difficult to break into :)

Hello all! Big fan of y'all's work (generally speaking) and everything you do for society.

Like the title says i am just a hobby collector of various little collections. I also really enjoy organizing my collections, documenting/cataloging them, and would love to be able to label them where possible as that would greatly improve my ability to accurately catalog them.

Specifically I am seeking and resources or guides that might be available online surrounding this topic or your personal input, tips, and tricks around the topic of affixing tiny labels to various items in ways that are as non-damaging as possible and hopefully reversable if the need were to arise. Item materials include bone, metal, plastic, etc.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all for all you do.

My museum is facing a temporary closure due to infrastructure issues. We want to use this down time to do community engagement with our local area as well as a wider swath. I have made several public please on our socials and on various media platforms but have received minimal responses. Any ideas on how to reach wider?

Has anyone done practical exercises in an archivist job interview? What were they and do you think they were an effective part of the interview process?