The American Alliance of Museums announced this week Vicksburg’s Catfish Row Museum is among 40 museums participating in the upcoming Museum Social Impact in Practice (MSIIP) cohort, which will launch in fall 2024. MSIIP responds to the challenge museums of all sizes and types share when trying to understand and articulate their value to society.

Through professional development and skill-building opportunities, MSIIP cohort museums will learn how to effectively leverage social impact data that helps make the case for museums to various stakeholders and funders. The long-term goal of this initiative is to enhance the entire museum field’s ability to use social impact data to advance their institutions through advocacy and build stronger, more informed relationships with their local community, funders, and stakeholders.

Following a competitive application process, the museums selected to participate represent 25 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, MSIIP representatives said. The chosen museums will engage in a multi-year study to measure and analyze their social and community impact that will include training around implementing a validated museum social impact survey and analyzing resulting data; joining monthly Community of Practice meetings; and utilizing and testing new advocacy tools that will help the field better use social impact data. Participant museums will be better able to measure their social impact, connect with their peers in the field conducting similar work, and advocate for their organizations based on their findings.

“As the executive director of the Catfish Row Museum, I am excited to announce that we have been chosen as one of the 40 museums in the United States to join the Museum Social Impact in Practice (MSIIP) program,” Linda Fondren said. “This is a big achievement, as 25 states were selected to participate, and our small museum in Mississippi will be able to demonstrate our dedication to serving the Vicksburg community.”

The group of institutions chosen represents the diversity of America’s museums, from small, regional art museums and historic houses to larger institutions, MSIIP officials said. It includes children’s museums, science centers, historic houses, anthropology museums, university museums, zoos, visitors centers, presidential libraries, and natural history museums, and includes:

• Asia Society Texas, Houston

• Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, Indianapolis

• Bronx Children’s Museum, Bronx, N.Y.

• Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle

• Catfish Row Museum, Vicksburg

• Charlotte Museum of History, Charlotte, N.C.

• Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati

• College Park Aviation Museum, College Park, Md.

• Economy in Action, Dallas

• Fairbanks Children’s Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska

• Frist Art Museum, Nashville, Tenn.

• Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Mich.

• Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Conn.

• Heritage Square Foundation, Phoenix

• Historic Alexandria, Alexandria, Va.

• Juneau-Douglas City Museum, Juneau, Alaska

• Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium, Kansas City, Mo.

• King Manor Museum, Jamaica, N.Y.

• Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.

• Lehigh University Art Galleries, Betlehem, Pa.

• Lewis Latimer House Museum, Flushing, N.Y.

• Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta

• Milwaukee County Historical Society, Milwaukee

• Molly Brown House Museum, Denver

• Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, Calif.

• Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, P.R.

• Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, N. Mex.

• Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, Calif.

• Museum of Us (formerly San Diego Museum of Man), San Diego

• National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, Tenn.

• President Lincoln’s Cottage, Washington, D.C.

• The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA, Charlottesville, Va.

• The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, Palm Desert, Calf.

• The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, N.J.

• U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Port Hueneme, Calf.

• UVU Museum of Art at Lakemount, Orem, Utah

• Washakie Museum & Cultural Center, Worland, Wyo.

• Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis

• Witte Museum, San Antonio

• Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne, Wyo.

MSIIP is a three-year initiative led by American Alliance of Museums and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It builds on eight years of experience in groundbreaking work through the Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) project, which concluded in 2023. With leadership from the Utah Division of Arts & Museums (UA&M) and Thanksgiving Point, MOMSI addressed the critical need to establish best practices for measuring social impact within the museum field, advancing museum practice by measuring the social impact museums have on visitors, and developing a valid tool for museums to better understand their social impact on individuals and communities.

We are grateful to the American Alliance of Museums for this incredible opportunity to enhance how we measure and communicate our social impact,” Fondren said. “Participating in this initiative will allow us to learn from and collaborate with other museums across the country, helping us better explain the value of our museum and build stronger connections with our supporters and funders.”

Fondren said being a part of the newly announced cohort will only help Catfish Row Museum in its efforts in the Vicksburg community.

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