the incluseum

Mission

The Incluseum advances new ways of being a museum through dialogue, community building and collaborative practice related to inclusion in museums.

Vision

The Incluseum is:

1. A space to build community around issues of inclusion and justice in museums
2. A resource for current research and practice related to inclusion
3. A platform for dialogue that advances the ways in which we understand, talk about, and enact inclusion in museums 
4. A project that weaves digital and offline engagements to catalyze ‘next practices’

How We Work

In addition to running the Incluseum blog, we regularly support and develop practice-based projects that explore what it means to be an inclusive museum (see, for example, our work on The Power of Place).  Since the Incluseum project began in 2012, we have also applied our expertise on inclusion and social justice efforts in museums to workshops, conference presentations, trainings, exhibits, advisory positions, and publications.

Museums around the world are increasingly interested in examining their internal operations and priorities in order to become more socially just in their practices. We view ourselves as supporters and partners with museums in this essential and timely work. To inquire about collaborating with the Incluseum on long-term projects, strategic planning, speaking engagements, workshops or advising please write to us at incluseum@gmail.com.

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Incluseum Co-Directors

Rose Paquet

In addition to co-founding, co-directing and dreaming with the Incluseum, Rose completed her PhD in information science from the University of Washington Information School in 2021. She was born and raised in French-speaking Belgium and  has worked for a host of museums, including art and natural history museums, community-based museums, and a museum without walls in Alaska. Rose currently spends her time in Northern California and Savannah, GA where she is learning about the unique challenges cultural heritage organizations in the Deep South face in terms of truth, justice, and reconciliation. She is a committee member for the Chatham County Community Remembrance Project Coalition in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, in Montgomery, AL. Rose also plays music with Samba Savannah and makes art, which you can check out on Instagram: @queenravenbear.

Aletheia Wittman

As an independent consultant, coach, and facilitator, Aletheia partners with people and teams navigating inclusive transformation within cultural institutions. A specialized area of her practice is supporting organizations in the process of institutional genealogy. Previously, she worked at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, WA where she was part of the team that launched the redesigned museum in October 2019. From 2012-2016 she managed exhibits as well as youth and family programming for the Seattle Architecture Foundation (SAF). She co-founded The Incluseum in 2012. Aletheia holds an MA Museology from the University of Washington where she researched emerging curatorial practice in art museums and how those practices engage with social justice issues. Visit her website (aletheiawittman.com) or follow her on twitter @aletheiajane.

Dr. Porchia Moore

Dr. Porchia Moore is Assistant Professor and Department Head of Museum Studies at the University of Florida. Formerly Consulting Curator and Inclusion Catalyst at the Columbia Museum of Art, Moore presents regularly at museum conferences such as AAM, MCN, Museums and the Web, AAAM, and others. Moore coined the phrase, “The Inclusive Museum Movement” and has served as one of the original architects of Museums and Race, advisor to Museums as Site for Social Action, and is the co-creator of The Visitors of Color project. Dr. Moore holds a doctorate in Library and Information Science and a graduate certificate in Museum Management from the University of South Carolina and the McKissick Museum. A critical race scholar examining the role and function of race in museums and cultural heritage institutions, Moore is an IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Cultural Heritage Informatics Leadership Fellow.

Incluseum Advisors

Margaret Middleton 

Margaret is a Boston-based exhibit designer and developer. They are an artist and craftsperson with a passion for designing and creating playful learning environments. You can read more about their work on their website. Recently, they developed and shared a Family-Inclusive Language Guide, which you can view here and purchase here.

nikhil trivedi 

nikhil is a web developer, composer and activist. He works at a museum in Chicago developing web-based software in Java, PHP and Drupal. After hours, he creates music and art using a number of tools: guitar, sitar, composing noise, sound, and through collaborations with other artists. He’s a volunteer educator for Rape Victim Advocates, and participates in movements to end oppression. When none of that’s happening, he likes to hike, make herbal medicines, and drink warm glasses of chai. He is cocreator of the Visitors of Color project. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter at @nikhiltri.

Project Contributors

Alyssa Machida

Alyssa is a writer, artist, and educator based in Detroit, Michigan. She is the author of The Dreamspace Project Workbook, a toolkit and resource investigating critical, anti-oppressive pedagogies and practices in museums and education.

She earned her B.A. in History of Art from the University of California, Berkeley, and an Ed.M. in Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is currently an Interpretive Specialist at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

When not doing museum things or dreamspacing, she is usually drinking coffee, practicing piano, or listening to jazz. Please feel free to reach out to her at dreamspaceworkbook@gmail.com

Meaghan Leferink – Program & Strategic Planning Advisor

Meaghan is an experienced arts leader and youth development professional currently working as Director of Community Engagement at Seattle Music Partners, an organization aiming to eliminate racial and economic barriers to quality music education. She has a BA in Vocal Music Performance from Mills College and an MFA in Arts Leadership from Seattle University. Meaghan is a singer and board member of choral group Seattle Pro Musica, and she also sings in a folk trio called Aester. Meagan loves to use her applied and academic knowledge of the broader arts environment to help organizations reach their artistic and programmatic goals.

William Gill – Content Researcher

William was born and raised on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. In 2016, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Simon Fraser University, with a concentration in British and Irish History. During his undergraduate degree, he focused on the histories of colonization, empire, gender and sexuality. He is currently completing a Graduate Certificate in Museum Management and Curatorship at Fleming College in Ontario, Canada.

In addition to his academic work, William has facilitated workshops on LGBT+ inclusion and creating safe spaces in schools and workplaces since 2008.  As an emerging museum professional, he is excited to help make museums an inclusive, immersive and intersectional space. In his spare time, he likes to cook and watch musicals. 

Gabbie Barnes – Metadata Schema Designer

Gabbie is the teen librarian at YOUmedia Hartford—a digital learning and maker space for teenagers ages 13-19. She received her Master of Library and Information Science in June 2015 and holds a B.A. in Communication with a minor in Art and a focus on cinema studies and studio art. She has interned at Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and volunteered at the Seattle Art Museum’s Teacher Resource Center. You can usually find her experimenting with the different social tools people use to create, share, and disseminate information—hashtags are of current and particular interest. In her spare time, she studies the intersections of critical race theory with gender studies, practices Vinyasa yoga, and actively paddleboards. She finds great pleasure in learning how normal and mundane things like salt, sugar, and toothpicks shape the larger perspective of our history and culture. Her investment in the Incluseum project is bred of all of her interests combined into one digital space. She will never give up on the Oxford comma.

Becca Fronczak – Metadata Schema Designer

Becca earned her B.S. in Elementary Education and History from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is currently a Masters candidate at the University of Washington – Seattle in the Library and Information Science and the Museology programs. Her capstone project for the LIS program was done in partnership with Gabbie and another fabulous peer. It is This Library Life, a site that aggregates unique services public libraries across the country are providing to their community members. Her thesis project for the Museology program is a contemporary art exhibit titled Secrets Can… at the Kirkland Arts Center. You can read about her process at The Emerging Curator blog. She’s worked in collections, special libraries, knowledge management, information organization, and exhibits. Her educational background and volunteer experiences have fed her passion for leading a life that is meaningful, collaborative, and that works towards equity and social justice. 

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We would love to hear from you! Contact us with questions, feedback, blog ideas, etc.