The future of museums with Elizabeth Merritt

In March 2026, I travelled to Atlanta for the National Convening on Art and Social Connection, a two-day event hosted by the High Museum of Art. It brought together people from the arts, public health, research, aging, social services and policy to explore one big question: how can engagement with visual art help combat loneliness and build more connected communities? In this special episode, I take you inside the convening and share what I heard, what I learned, and what I think it means for those of us working in museums and cultural spaces. I carried three questions with me to Atlanta. What does it actually take to do this work well? How do we build the evidence that it works? And how do we make sure the wider world hears about it? Listen to the episode for where those questions led me. The Art Engager is written and presented by Claire Bown. Editing is by Matt Jacobs and Claire Bown. Music by Richard Bown. Pick up a copy of my book, The Art Engager, for step-by-step guidance on creating meaningful, interactive guided experiences https://www.theartengager.com/ Buy it here on Amazon.com: https://tinyurl.com/buytheartengager Curated newsletter: https://thinkingmuseum.com/newsletter/ Adventures in (Slow) Looking on Substack: https://adventuresinslowlooking.substack.com/ Free resources: https://thinkingmuseum.com/the-thinking-museum-approach/resources/ Mentioned in this episode The High Museum of Art: https://high.org The Museums That Helped Power Atlanta’s Rise Are Still Pushing Ahead: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/arts/atlanta-museums.html?unlocked_article_code=1.bVA.UEVq.IQUdMdoYDuWI&smid=url-share Oasis at the High Museum of Art: https://high.org/event-category/for-adults/oasis/ Art Story: How the High is Engaging Mindfulness with Art at Oasis: https://medium.com/high-museum-of-art/art-story-how-the-high-is-engaging-mindfulness-with-art-at-oasis-8b3592f5f876 Art After Loss at the High Museum of Art: https://high.org/art-after-loss/ Art After Loss: Creating Space for Grief, Connection, and Reflection: https://medium.com/high-museum-of-art/art-after-loss-creating-space-for-grief-connection-and-reflection-7ab2a1113643 TimeSlips: https://www.timeslips.org Meet Me at MoMA: https://www.moma.org/visit/accessibility/meetme/ LSU Museum of Art: https://www.lsumoa.org Two prompts to sit with For me, social connection looks like… One thing I can do next is…

What does it take to guide visitors through histories that are genuinely contested and emotionally charged? In this episode, I'm joined by Brandon Dillard, Director of Historic Interpretation and Audience Engagement at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, and Kelsie Paul, Director of Learning and Visitor Experience at the Frick Pittsburgh, to explore how both institutions have reimagined their guided experiences in response to the complicated legacies of their central historical figures. We talk about the long evolution of interpretation at Monticello, from the site's earliest tours to the integration of slavery and the story of Sally Hemings into the core narrative. Kelsie shares the process behind the Frick's "Gilded, Not Golden" tour - a ground-up redesign of Clayton's 30-year-old house tour that involved consultants, an advisory board, difficult internal conversations and a willingness to start from scratch. We also dig into what it means to support guides doing this work: hiring for empathy, investing in training, facilitating ongoing dialogue, and empowering guides to be facilitators rather than lecturers. And we reflect on the civic role of historic sites in a polarised moment, including how Monticello is approaching the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Whether you're working at a historic house, leading tours in any kind of museum or cultural space, or thinking about how to hold space for complexity in your guided programmes, I think you'll find a great deal to take away from this conversation. The Art Engager is written and presented by Claire Bown. Editing is by Matt Jacobs and Claire Bown. Music by Richard Bown. Support on Patreon Episode Links: LinkedIn Kelsie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsie-paul-39561b199/ Frick website: www.thefrickpittsburgh.org Frick Instagram: @frickpittsburgh Recent article on Clayton: https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/places-we-love-clayton/ LinkedIn Brandon: www.linkedin.com/in/brandonmdillard Monticello website: https://www.monticello.org/ Monticello Instagram: @tjmonticello Show Links: Pick up a copy of my book, The Art Engager, for step-by-step guidance on creating meaningful, interactive guided experiences https://www.theartengager.com/ Buy it here on Amazon.com: https://tinyurl.com/buytheartengager Curated newsletter: https://thinkingmuseum.com/newsletter/ Adventures in (Slow) Looking on Substack: https://adventuresinslowlooking.substack.com/ Free resources: https://thinkingmuseum.com/the-thinking-museum-approach/resources/

In this episode Claire Bown is joined by Dr Beth Daley, novelist, creative writing tutor and editorial advisor at Europeana, to explore how digital cultural heritage collections can become starting points for storytelling, exploration and creative engagement. Europeana brings together millions of artworks, objects, photographs, films, texts and archival materials from museums, libraries and archives across Europe. But access alone is not enough. Beth shares how the platform invites people to move from browsing to creating through prompts, activities, and collaborative spaces. This episode will resonate with anyone working in museums, galleries or cultural institutions who is interested in using digital collections as a starting point for storytelling, creative engagement and new ways of working with cultural heritage. The Art Engager is written and presented by Claire Bown. Editing is by Matt Jacobs and Claire Bown. Music by Richard Bown. Episode Links: Dr Beth Daley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-daley-a032b537/ https://www.europeana.eu/ https://pro.europeana.eu/post/join-our-events-for-writers-and-get-creative-with-cultural-heritage - this one covers all our activities including the following: https://pro.europeana.eu/event/europeana-writers-room-monthly-creative-writing-workshops - Europeana Writers' Room registration https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/six-ways-to-play-with-europeana-story-dice - Europeana story dice https://pro.europeana.eu/page/seven-tips-for-digital-storytelling - in 16 languages https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-daley-a032b537/ - my LinkedIn profile https://bethdaley.substack.com/ - my Substack page Europeana's social media: https://www.facebook.com/Europeana https://bsky.app/profile/europeana.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/europeana https://www.instagram.com/europeana_eu/ Show Links: ✨ Pick up a copy of my book, The Art Engager, for step-by-step guidance on creating meaningful, interactive guided experiences https://www.theartengager.com/ Buy it here on Amazon.com: https://tinyurl.com/buytheartengager Curated newsletter: https://thinkingmuseum.com/newsletter/ Adventures in (Slow) Looking on Substack: https://adventuresinslowlooking.substack.com/ Free resources: https://thinkingmuseum.com/the-thinking-museum-approach/resources/

In this episode Claire Bown is joined by Georgia Close and Harriet Body from the National Gallery of Australia, alongside Naomi Zouwer from the University of Canberra, to explore how the gallery co-designed its Creative Learning approach. The conversation traces an 18-month process of articulating a shared pedagogical framework shaped by national context, cultural responsibility, and First Nations-led principles. Rather than adopting an existing model, the team worked through workshops, observation, interviews and iterative “campaigns” to develop a cohesive, values-led approach. A key commitment was centring the artist’s voice, placing artist intention in conversation with students’ existing knowledge. From this, the team developed a Creative Learning strategy planning tool that supports inquiry-led, multimodal, embodied and reflective practice. Across the episode, they explore: How to develop a context-specific learning approach rather than importing a model What it means in practice to centre the artist’s voice How small, iterative “campaigns” can embed reflective practice in a team How multimodality and embodiment deepen engagement beyond discussion Why joy is understood as a serious pedagogical commitment What co-design and participatory action research look like inside a museum setting

In this episode Claire Bown is joined by Clare Murray to explore how early encounters with art and museums shape the way people learn to participate, belong, and engage over time. Our conversation focuses on how what Clare describes as museum habits of mind begin forming early in life, shaped by access, culture, and experience, and what can be at risk when early encounters with art and museums are uneven, delayed, or absent. Clare’s perspective is shaped by her work as co-founder and executive director of cARTie, Connecticut’s first nonprofit art museum bus for young children, alongside her doctoral research into how people come to understand what museums are and who they are for. She describes research and practice as running in parallel, rather than as separate phases. The conversation looks at why early childhood matters as a time when confidence, hesitation, and ways of taking part in museum-like spaces begin to take shape. Clare shares what she notices when children encounter art and museum environments for the first time, and what they appear to be learning beyond information about the artworks themselves. Across the episode, they reflect on: how early encounters with art begin to shape museum habits of mind how confidence and hesitation show up and evolve through repeated encounters what children seem to pick up about how to take part in museum-like spaces what can be missed when access to art and museum experiences is uneven or delayed how research and practice can run in parallel, with each informing the other