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“The last of the human freedoms: to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances”
– Victor Frankl, Man’s Search For Ultimate Meaning
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Museum COVID-19 Planning
- Form a COVID-19 task force and command room
- Monitor updates from CDC, WHO and the AAM
- Communicate with visitors, vendors, volunteers, and Board Members of closures
- Create a communications plan
- Put into action emergency collection plan (see documents below)
- Develop contingency plans for visitors and museum functions (online events ? new videos YouTube ? Online activities ?)
- Develop HR action plan
- Develop plan for essential staff to be on site
- Ongoing communication with your employees
- Prepare for media inquiries
- Notify vendors of changing plans
- Cooperation with area non-profits
- Continue to remind donors of the greater need for funding
- Plan for the future
COVID-19 Resources:
- Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, World Health Organization, WHO
- Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC
- COVID-19/coronavirus Resources and Information for the Museum Field, American Alliance of Museums, AAM
- Resources to Help Guide Your Museum’s Response to Coronavirus, Association of Children’s Museums, ACM
- Museums and COVID-19, Association of Art Museum Directors
- COVID-19 Action Plan Template, American Civil War Museum
Examples of COVID-19 Communication
- Public Announcement of Museum Closure Thursday, March 12, 2020, Oakland Museum of California
- Statement from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on COVID-19 Response, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
- Information about COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Brooklyn Museum
- Exploratorium Response to Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), Exploratorium
- Akron Zoo COVID-19 Updates, Akron Zoo
Museum Emergency Planning Resources
- Developing a Disaster Preparedness / Emergency Response Plan, American Alliance of Museums (AAM)
- Guidelines for Disaster Preparedness in Museums, International Council of Museums (ICOM)
- A Guide to Risk Management of Cultural Heritage, International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM)
- Council Guidelines for Small Museums for Writing a Disaster Preparedness Plan, The Heritage Collections
How To Talk About COVID-19
- 10 tips to help your business communicate throughout the coronavirus crisis, The Next Web, TNW
- Responding To Coronavirus: A Playbook For Marketing And Communications, Forrester Research
How Some Organizations are Facing COVID-19
- In the Face of the Coronavirus Crisis, Hong Kong’s Art World Has Banded Together to Launch a New Online Platform for Art, ArtNet
- ART Power HK, https://us.xmuseum.org
- Art Basel Launches Online Viewing Rooms to Help Dealers Reach Collectors Virtually After Canceling the Hong Kong Fair, ArtNet
- How some museums are combating COVID-19 closures, Visual Arts Hub