Museums: The Big Issues

As public funding declines, museums are rethinking how they generate income—and how far they should go in doing so. In this episode, I ask Marek Prokupek to explore the opportunities and risks of diversified funding, from philanthropy and crowdfunding to NFTs and commercial partnerships, asking how museums can innovate financially while protecting their mission, reputation, and public trust.

Show notes:

Ethical Fundraising in Museums

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003000082-20/ethical-fundraising-museums-marek-prok%C5%AFpek

Emergency or emerging financing strategies of art museums in the context of a pandemic? 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09647775.2022.2111327

 Legal and Ethical Considerations

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003308003-14/legal-ethical-considerations-marek-prok%C5%AFpek?context=ubx&refId=4e5cccb4-9c36-446f-96f0-cc14683424ad

 Alternative Financing and Funding Structures and Strategies

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003308003-18/alternative-financing-funding-structures-strategies-marek-prok%C5%AFpek?context=ubx&refId=14c8d546-515a-4cab-b046-1bb02c7c1fbc 

I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.

Why are museums being asked to deliver more public value with fewer public resources? In this episode, I talk to Michele Rivet as she discusses the long-term decline in museum funding, what it means for the future of the sector, and why a bold new approach to advocacy is essential if museums are to secure the investment their social, cultural, and economic contributions deserve.

Show notes:

Decrease in Public Funding? A worldwide answer from museums

https://icom.museum/en/news/addressing-the-crisis-final-report-on-public-funding-for-museums/

I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.

What happens when a national museum rejects neutrality, embraces activism, and reimagines leadership by flattening hierarchies and sharing authority? In this conversation with Ben Garcia, we explore how the LGBTQ+ Museum in New York is challenging traditional museum practice while reshaping the national narrative, advancing social change, and redefining what it means to serve the public.

Show Notes:

The American LGBTQ+ Museum

https://americanlgbtqmuseum.org/

Podcast

https://wethemuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/American-LGBTQ-Museum-Transcript-1.pdf

I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.

The future won't simply demand better museum leaders—it will demand a fundamentally different kind of leadership. Join me in conversation with Sofia Widmann as she examines the future megatrends which will reshape museums and asks how leaders can embrace innovation, share authority, and uphold public trust in an increasingly complex and contested world.

Show notes:

Museum Booster website

https://www.museumbooster.com/

Museum Leadership House 2025

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63c419e0a9a756714449b72b/t/691e15e52e8947203871f938/1763579365887/MLH_Dubai_2025_Report+Final+%281%29.pdf

The Future Transformation of Museums White Paper Phase III

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/68ebbe305d102f494a465da4/t/6a43dc6731e0ad3138ee102e/1782832231666/Future+Museum+%E2%80%94+Phase+III+White+Paper.pdf 

I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.

What does it mean to lead a museum when uncertainty is no longer a crisis to navigate but the condition in which we work? In this conversation with Lonnie Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C , we explore how museum leadership is evolving—from authority to partnership, from certainty to courage, and from institutional control to shared stewardship—asking what today's leaders must do to earn public trust and shape the legacy future generations will inherit.

Show notes:

Bunch, Lonnie G., III. 2021. "Foreword." In Stemming the Tide: Global Strategies for Sustaining Cultural Heritage through Climate Change. Rushfield, Rebecca A., editor. v–vi. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. In A Smithsonian Contribution to Knowledge, 54. (https://doi.org/10.5479/si.14750727.v1) 2021

Bunch, Lonnie G. III. 2019. Bunch, L. (n.d.). A Fool’s Errand: creating the National Museum of African History and Culture in the era of Bush, Obama and Trump. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.

Bunch, Lonnie G., III. 2017. "The National Museum of African American History and Culture: The Vision." Journal of Museum Education, 42, (1) 8–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2016.1265850. 2017

Bunch, Lonnie. 2007. "Embracing Ambiguity: The Challenge of Interpreting African American History in Museums." Museums & Social Issues, 2, (1) 45–56. https://doi.org/10.1179/msi.2007.2.1.45. 2007

I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.

Why am I making a podcast about the future of museums?

I've worked in museums around the world for more than 35 years.

I've seen museums change, adapt and reinvent themselves.

And I've also seen the extraordinary challenges they face.

That's why I'm bringing together some of the most interesting thinkers and practitioners in the field to ask:

Where do museums go from here?

I'm Carol Scott, and this is MUSEUMS: THE BIG ISSUES

13 weeks. 13 conversations. One big question.

What future will we make?

I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.