maam2025buildingmuseums

Last year, The Columbus Museum in Georgia, one of the largest art and history museums in the Southeastern US, completed an ambitious transformation project that placed visitor experience at its forefront. The reimagined museum serves as a model of how a building project can further institutions’ goals of creating a stronger sense of belonging in visitors and reaching a wider segment of the community, such as younger visitors and multi-generational families.

In this session, we’ll explore the intricacies of this reimagining, including: the process of identifying why, what, and how The Columbus Museum could be transformed from the museum ‘on the hill’ to a welcoming environment for all without the construction of a new building; lessons learned from managing multiple exhibit design teams on the gallery redesign; the reimagining of the museum's entrance as a place of visitor-first approaches to introducing both content and amenities; the fundraising challenges and opportunities including the museum's unique partnership with the local school district; and how to use the notion of ritual-building to make a museum more profoundly integrated and emotionally interwoven into people’s everyday lives.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand how to leverage partnerships with local stakeholders to increase visibility, donations, and community impact
2. Discuss how to make museum visits more personalized and meaningful
3. Explore how to augment existing site conditions using design principles from retail and hospitality to make entrance and orientation experiences more inclusive and dynamic 
   Attendees will learn how to create rituals around museum visits that encourage repeat visitation
4. Understand how to transcend the traditional educational missions of cultural institutions by responding to the needs of families and other constituents with amenities that solve visitor needs.

AIA Continuing Education Course Number, BMS2025-43