My guests today are Emily Haight of the New-York Historical Society and Hilary-Morgan Watt of the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. They manage the social media accounts for their respective institutions, and during the COVID-19 crisis, they’ve been collaborating on campaigns that offer a little bit of light and joy, in an otherwise dark time. You may have seen the hashtags #museumboquet and #museumsunshine, through which they’ve shared virtual flowers and rays of light from their collections.

We had a great talk about the importance of connecting people to museums and each other through simple human gestures and explored the importance of digital media during the shutdown and beyond.

But first, I wanted to know how these two social media managers, from two different types of institutions in two different cities became close collaborators. So, that’s where we’ll start.

If you’d like to be a guest on What’s On or know someone else doing innovative work online for their museum—especially now—send me an email. It’s [email protected].

(Other links mentioned in this episode: Museums are Not Neutral & Museum Workers Relief Fund)