museum thought leadership

Contributing to the museum field is important to me, on a local as well as national level. I do this through my teaching as well as through my writing. Some examples of my written work are below. If you love to talk and think about museums, drop me a line, and let’s connect on LinkedIn!

the state of museums: Voices from the field

My chapter, “The Value of Museum Studies” looks at the different ways museum studies programs are defined in the US, their history, the curricula, and the ways in which they prepare emerging professionals for the field. The book has been well received, as the reviews attest:

“The State of Museums should be read by everyone interested in the future of museums in America...  thought-provoking essays explore the big questions facing museums in rapidly changing times... one of the most useful and needed books I have read in years.” Lawrence J. Yerdon, President & CEO, Strawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH

”This book tackles the important role that museums can play in the public discourse about race, immigration, trauma and tolerance, and also addresses critical issues that include training and compensation, evaluation and audience research, and the perils of financial instability. The State of Museums is an essential must-read for museum practitioners at all levels of experience.” Kay Simpson, President, Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA 

for love or money: confronting the state of museum salaries

This important book tackles one of the most pressing issues in the museum field: low pay. Thirty essays look at some of the underlying reasons for the state of museums salaries, along with creative solutions about how to address the problem and ultimately strengthen the field. Download my chapter, “Investing in the Visitor Experience: Why Museums Must Stop Using Volunteer Docents and Start Paying Their Educators.”

“The issues of systemic under-compensation and salary inequities are far-reaching and affect museum employees at every level of their career, from internship to leadership. For Love or Money is a timely and vital text for those looking to recharge their own practice with new perspectives, as well as a must-read primer for students considering joining the museum profession.” Ansley Simmons, Founding Member, Museum Workers Speak

“Museum compensation has long been shrouded in mystery. Largely due to their “not for profit” status, and the volunteer ethos that it takes to run them, museums have avoided public discussions on the subject of pay—in fact, such conversations have been considered taboo. We are today witnessing a rapid correction to this stigma. Museum professionals today seek pay on par with other fields and actively share information to instigate change. This collection of essays addresses thorny issues from employee privacy to fair compensation and examines how values intrinsic to the museum field have perpetuated an aura of secrecy in an age of disclosure.” John Stomberg, Director, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College

“I found the essay ‘Why Museums Must Stop Using Volunteer Docents and Start Paying their Educators’ by Tara Young to really push my thinking on what has been an often-accepted assumption by so many sites—let’s find a volunteer to do that!—without understanding the impact that may have on keeping salaries low.” Ilene Frank, AASLH History News, Winter 2021

alliance blog

My posts on AAM’s Alliance Blog include Where Do Generation X Museum Professionals Fit In and Museum Fieldtrips from the Other Side. The first post tackles a topic I feel strongly about: that the strengths of Gen Xers are often undervalued in the museum field. I’ve taught museum education for K-12 audiences at Tufts University for many years, but chaperoning my daughter’s field trip gave me entirely new insights into the museum visit experience for teachers and students; my second post describes some of those insights.