The Empathetic Museum: A New Institutional Identity

Abstract

The Empathetic Museum is a group of colleagues who advocate institutional empathy as a transforming force for museums. Our initiative emerged in the second decade of the 21st century amidst a confluence of seismic events in the US that forced the museum field to examine its relationship to social issues. The Empathetic Museum arose as a critique of museums’ indifference and reluctance to engage with issues deeply affecting their communities, especially those of color. We propose a lack of institutional empathy as a subtle yet powerful cause of this indifference. The article traces the development of the Empathetic Museum initiative; the evolution of its philosophy of institutional empathy; the creation of the Maturity Model as a key tool for empathetic practice; and its use and impact in the field. As a work in progress, the Empathetic Museum initiative has evolved and expanded through constant observation of, reflection on, and engagement with the important issues of our time.

Reconsidering People as the Institution: Empathy, Pay Equity, and Deaccessioning as Key Leadership Strategies in Art Museums

“…Writing in Curator: The Museum Journal, Jennings et al (2019) recently advocated for the “Empathetic Museum.” Empathy raises core questions of leadership facing 21 st century museum directors in managing institutional governance—trustees, community engagement, colonial histories—with the human warmth of the undersung civic virtue of hospitality. This theme has been echoed by museum directors and cultural leaders more broadly.…”

Assessing the Organizational Culture of Higher Education Institutions in an Era of #MeToo

“…An assessment heuristic can help determine the current state of affairs, areas where the IHE may be progressive, as well as areas where improvements are needed. Building on the established scholarship of organizational culture (Dolamore 2019; Gooden 2014; Jennings et al 2016; Slack and Singh 2017; Testa and Sipe 2013), we propose an interdisciplinary PASM framework for assessing an organizational culture focused on preventing and addressing sexual misconduct in IHEs.…”

It’s Not Just for the Children: On Engaging Culturally Diverse Families at Museums

“…Sustainable change towards DEAI requires more than evolving how public audiences perceive and engage with museum experiences. In 2019, the journal published “The Empathetic Museum: A New Institutional Journey,” (Jennings et al), which described how some museums have approached this work holistically. The framework, called the Maturity Model, outlines five characteristics of an empathetic museum (civic vision, institutional body language, community resonance, timeliness and sustainability, and performance measures) and progressive steps that institutions can take to build empathetic practices.…”