Nina Simon paints a conflicted picture on the current state of museums. She explains that while there is more public interest in cultural engagement and using culture as a social tool than ever before; museums are largely failing to capitalize on that interest. Simon describes several causes for the public’s loss of interest in museums. The most significant of these are that museums in their current forms can be perceived as static, authoritarian, and disconnected from their communities. In her talk, Simon offers specific and practical examples of how her museum has approached these issues and provides the data to prove the effectiveness of their strategies. Importantly, the new forms of engagement implemented by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History are all built on top of existing museum exhibits and programming rather than needing to replace them.

Overall Simon makes a very compelling case for a more participatory approach to museums. My one concern is whether the initial success of the changes made by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History are able to hold up over a longer timeframe. At the time of Simon’s talk, there was only data available from one year of running participatory programs. There’s certainly a risk that there’s a novelty factor with these activities now that will drop off. However I, like Simon, think it’s more likely that this does represent the start of a paradigm shift, even if there are some setbacks.