Museums have long sought to maintain relevance in the daily lives of their communities. Over the past several decades, museums have shifted, as a field, from a focus on collections to a focus on connecting with audiences. More recently, museums must confront political polarization and a decreasing sense of trust in nearly every public institution. As a result, few institutions are better positioned to serve the country than museums. In fact, polls show that museums rank among the most trusted institutions in the country, regardless of political belief. During tumultuous times, this trust means that museums have a unique and important responsibility to fulfill their civic mission. A century ago, John Cotton Dana argued that the most important thing a museum can do is "produce a public benefit." The Civic Mission of Museums argues that museums play an essential role in the cultivation of engaged and informed citizens. The book outlines a spectrum of civic learning that includes: civic knowledge, civic mindset, civic skillset, and civic action. It offers concrete examples of impactful civic programming, exhibits, and public engagement from a diverse set of museums. It ends with a practical toolkit, gleaned from across the country, for museum professionals to utilize.
Anthony Pennay is the Chief Learning Officer for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute (RRPFI), located onsite at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA. Each year, the Reagan Foundation works with more than 40,000 students and 2,000 teachers through field trips, programs, retreats, summer camps, internships, scholarships, and university credit. The mission in their education work is to "cultivate the next generation of citizen-leaders." Over the course of the past eight years, we have served more than 300,000 students, more than 15,000 educators, and awarded more than $6 million dollars in scholarships. The Foundation's education programs have earned awards from the California Association of Museums and the American Alliance of Museums. Student alumni have started clubs and non-profits, earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, and been selected to moderate a conversation with former Secretaries of Education Arne Duncan and John King, Jr. Their partnership with a local school, the Citizen-Scholar Institute, has led to our partners winning the California Civic Learning Award twice, and two of the teachers being selected as Co-Secondary Social Studies Teachers of the Year by the California Council for the Social Studies. Pennay has served as the Chair of EdCom for the American Alliance of Museums, and the Chair of the Awards Committee for the National Council of the Social Studies.
Anthony Pennay makes a provocative, practical, and remarkably personal case for why civic learning is integral to the historical and contemporary theoretical framework that guides museum practice in the United States. The Civic Mission of Museums is destined to be essential reading for my graduate students and anyone who cares to build their civic knowledge, mindset, and skillset--and to do something with it for the good of the field.--Greg Stevens, director, Master of Arts in Museum Professions and director, Institute of Museum Ethics, Seton Hall University Pennay has created a work that is both an enjoyable read and a prompt for reflection and examination of our practice as museum educators. His work goes beyond acknowledgment of museums as reliable holders of collective memory and challenges the field to also see them as places for discussion, discovery, and problem-solving. It is not enough to just remember; we should also look forward to our collective future. Pennay's work inspires us to do just that.--Leah M. Melber, Ph.D., Museum Education Consultant Pennay's timely writing reminds us that we, as museum workers and leaders, have a duty to support a civil society through our educational efforts and the sharing of our museum spaces for the civic process. We can all benefit from this refresher course on civics which also serves to enable museums and their staffs to do better for society.--Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, director, Illinois State Museum At a time when many are losing faith in our public institutions, The Civic Mission of Museums reminds us of the critical role museums play in building stronger communities and developing engaged citizens. Pennay's uplifting book brings his personal passion to an issue that is relevant and urgent for all museum professionals.--Mike Murawski, Co-Producer of Museums Are Not Neutral, and Founding Editor of ArtMuseumTeaching.com
