PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

The Board and staff of Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) engaged GA&A to facilitate strategic planning in support of the final stages of museum expansion at the La Jolla site coupled with long-term goals to continue to diversify audiences and engagement strategies. MCASD adopted a binational mandate to reflect and serve the populations of the United States and Mexico given their international border setting. Through the rigor of planning, the Museum committed to a holistic operation, restructuring of staff, and an integrated, inclusive organizational culture.

The Shelburne Museum received a significant IMLS grant to explore, study, and recommend new ways to enhance visitor orientation, and the visitor experience throughout the 44 buildings set in the Champlain Valley in Vermont. The GA&A team engaged artists, various stakeholders, and staff through interviews, charrettes, and workshops to re-imagine the visitor experience in preparation for the next step of prototyping and testing new approaches with visitors.

GA&A assessed two grant programs administered by Museums Alaska, funded by the Rasmuson Foundation. Through diverse assessment strategies and research, GA&A identified the programs successes and challenges, as well as, the impact on museums and artists communities, and ways to engage those who have not participated in Museums Alaska grant programs. An assessment report provided rich and useful information to guide Museums Alaska and the Rasmusion Foundation’s future work and priorities

Beginning in April 2021, the Resilience Playbook Team has coached and guided two cohorts of museum leaders to map out meaningful, relevant, and financially viable paths to achieve greater public impact, inclusion and value through resilience practices. One cohort included several institutions in Arizona, and the second several institutions in New York through a grant funded by the New York State Council for the Arts. The sequence of sessions over seven months provided resources, coaching, and tools to assist institutions in tackling the range of priorities featured in the Resilience Playbook.