The U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has announced the recipients of its 21st Century Museum Professionals Program (21MP) for fiscal year 2024. Eight institutions—including two ASTC members—have been selected from 48 eligible applicants and will share $2 million in funding.
The 21MP program was relaunched this year after a 12-year hiatus, motivated in part by a 2023 IMLS convening which underscored the need for investments in the museum workforce, including the development of strong recruitment and retention practices, resources to facilitate the development of new models for effective governance, and innovative strategies for organizational design.
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
$369,159
The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, in partnership with the Association of Children’s Museums, will expand a professional development program to foster innovative exhibit design for museums catering to children and youth. The project will conduct two versions of the program with 100 mid-career staff that work directly or indirectly with exhibits to spark local, community-responsive innovation through curated creative experiences. Training activities will include in-person gatherings, virtual learning, mentorships, and the creation of action plans and prototypes by participants. The project will re-invigorate the museum workforce through a creative approach to teaching innovative exhibit design that will generate novel experiences for museum visitors.
Science Museum of Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
$344,157
The Science Museum of Minnesota will support transformative change toward inclusion, diversity, equity, and access among Upper Midwest museums by creating a durable community of practice. Using a field-tested model of professional development, the museum will collaborate with 20 small, underserved museums, across Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, to bring together 48 staff and researchers, virtually and in-person, over a period of two years to learn about theories, methods, and tools related to equity and find ways to adapt these ideas to their museums and professional networks. Through ongoing communication and consultation, the project will generate a leadership cohort of individuals with a solid grounding in complex equity issues. The project will not only develop resources, skills, tools, and mindsets to create more inclusive staff and institutions, but also more inclusive local and regional communities of professionals.
In a release, IMLS Acting Director Cyndee Landrum said, “through the 21st Century Museum Professionals Program, we are investing in a vibrant and dynamic museum workforce at all levels to amplify our diverse history and culture, disseminate knowledge, and champion innovation in service to the public.”