Paper title: Fostering a Democratic Museum Culture

Presenter: Neal Stimler (Associate Coordinator of Images, The Image Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Abstract:

This presentation and wiki contribution will outline a vision to foster a democratic museum culture using digital technology. The principles of educational and cultural luminaries Holger Cahill, John Dewey, Bill Ivey, Tony Judt and Nicholas Roerich will be applied to conference themes in an attempt to outline new criteria for democratic museum reform.

Session Info

• Type: Individual Paper
• Keywords: democracy, access, reform, museum, cultural studies, sociology, digital technology, open, commons, collection, social media, sharing, community, esthetic experience; Canadian Museum for Human Rights, The Banner of Peace, Holger Cahill, John Dewey, Bill Ivey, Tony Judt, Nicholas Roerich
• Relevance: This presentation aims to reach across the diverse constituency of MCN members. The session investigates larger cultural and humanistic questions that guide museum professionals' use of technology and new media tools.

Presenter bio:

Neal Stimler

Neal Stimler is the Associate Coordinator of Images in The Image Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He previously served The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the office of the Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel and The Department of Drawings and Prints. Neal catalogued prints made under the auspices of the Public Works of Art Project and the Federal Art Project while he was a long-term intern in the Department of Drawings and Prints. He also assisted in preparations for the 2008 exhibition Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914–1939. Neal was a Media and Technology Committee Fellow at the 2009 American Association of Museums Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, and his article titled, “‘Ferry Me O'er’: Musing on the Future of Museum Culture,” was published in the July 2010 issue of Curator Journal. Neal graduated with honors and was a Provost Award recipient from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  Neal takes an interdisciplinary approach to humanistic scholarship that is informed by art history, cultural studies, digital technology and sociology.