In this week’s roundup, we’ll explore how facilities like the MoMA and the Whitney Museum are giving supplies to local hospitals.
We’re also rounding up our top examples of how others are sharing virtual content to keep their audiences engaged and entertained at this time.
As a side note, we’re always looking for examples of how travel & tourism businesses are responding to COVID-19. You can enter a submission in our Travel & Tourism Community Stories Hub.
And if you missed them, here are our previous roundups:
- How Museums & Attractions Are Responding (March 30 Roundup)
- How Museums & Attractions Are Reacting to COVID-19 (March 24 Roundup)
Providing support to hospitals and healthcare workers
Museums and art galleries with the right supplies are stepping up to provide them to hospitals in the area.
The MoMa donates nearly 3000 nitrile gloves to NYC hospitals
They’ve also given 300 N95 masks to hospitals overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases (via Artsy). Many art schools are also donating supplies like disinfectant wipes and protective goggles as well.
The Whitney Museum donates nitrile gloves, N95 masks, Tyvek suits, and shoe covers
The Senior Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Whitney Museum, Scott Rothkopf, shared this Instagram post:
“These materials, ordinarily used by workers to carefully handle artworks, are essential for health care professionals working on
the frontlines.” (Via Artsy)
Sharing content that your community can enjoy virtually
From Zoom backgrounds to Twitter tours, here are some creative ways organizations are supporting people with positive, educational and entertaining virtual content.
Disney rolls out virtual viewing
The caption for Disney's Magic Happens Virtual Viewing Parade says it all:
"We’re all looking for ways to bring a little joy, a little fun and, yes, a little magic into our lives right now. So to help make that happen, we’re bringing you the newest Disneyland Park parade, Magic Happens.”
They’ve been engaging their worldwide audience by remaining highly active online. On YouTube, in particular, they’ve been posting virtual #DisneyMagicMoments, from online safaris to virtual tours and online performances.
Take a virtual tour of the Louvre
The Louvre is offering free virtual tours such as Egyptian Antiquities, Remains of the Louvre’s Moat, and Galerie d’Apollon.
The National Gallery offers a Twitter tour of their latest exhibition
The National Gallery in London is publishing various kinds of content—moments of calm, educational videos, and most notably, a virtual Twitter tour of their ‘Titan: Love, Desire, Death’ exhibition, which they’ve pinned to the top of their feed.
In a thread, they take people through some of the key themes of the works and include links to more resources.
We know many of you didn't get a chance to see our exhibition '#Titian: Love, Desire, Death' before we closed, so how about a virtual Twitter tour? We'll take you through some of the key themes and paintings in the exhibition below.
— National Gallery (@NationalGallery) March 25, 2020
THREAD 👇 #MuseumFromHome pic.twitter.com/zRhqdkxIVB
The British Museum shares Zoom backgrounds
The British Museum is helping people adapt to remote work with a set of Zoom backgrounds. Using the backgrounds is easy (here’s instructions from Zoom) and is a fun way to support destinations or museums you love.
💻🎥 In need of a new background for your video conference calls?
— British Museum (@britishmuseum) April 1, 2020
🏛 Try these! https://t.co/16iD5zJ7iq #MuseumFromHome pic.twitter.com/HViQtixKA1
The team has also curated 11 ways to explore the Museum from home in this blog post.
American Museum of Natural History runs an #AMNHDailyLesson on Twitter
While schools are closed, the Museum is sharing an educational resource daily. They include the ideal grade the lesson is for and link to a webpage with more information.
It’s time for the #AMNHDailyLesson! While schools are closed, we’ll be sharing educational resources daily🦋
— American Museum of Natural History (@AMNH) March 30, 2020
Learn how to draw a scientific illustration of a monarch butterfly! Print out & info, here >> https://t.co/JQUQK5RRrh
(Ideal for grades K-2.) pic.twitter.com/Sh6IgbAzFu
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures shares movie suggestions
Museum doors might be closed, but you can “make a few cinematic stops at home” with this list of movies featuring famous museums.
Museum doors are closed, but you can still visit your favorite #museumfromhome in these iconic movies. See the full list: https://t.co/YyWk7GXe1w pic.twitter.com/37cBJVk05y
— Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (@AcademyMuseum) March 31, 2020
The Getty Museum challenges you to recreate artwork with objects in your home
Inspired by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and an Instagram account called Between Art and Quarantine, the Getty team took to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to challenge people. Part of the challenge is that people could only use three objects around their homes.
Between Renaissance Lasagna Noodles, Interior with Easel and the Harp and the Vacuum, the responses have been uplifting and brilliant.
We challenge you to recreate a work of art with objects (and people) in your home.
— Getty (@GettyMuseum) March 25, 2020
🥇 Choose your favorite artwork
🥈 Find three things lying around your house⠀
🥉 Recreate the artwork with those items
And share with us. pic.twitter.com/9BNq35HY2V
The Getty Center and the Getty Villa have also donated boxes of supplies to West Coast California hospitals in need.
The Dallas Zoo is creating virtual experiences to engage their community
The Dallas Zoo wants to #BringTheZooToYou. They're using virtual visits, chats with staff, animal webcams to use this time to engage, educate, inspire their community.
In this edition of #BringTheZooToYou, zoologist Kym B. gives you the inside scoop on giant anteater Tullah. This girl eats up to 30,000 ant or termites each day, but she’s a pretty picky eater and uses her incredible sense of smell to find the tastiest ones. Her nose knows best! pic.twitter.com/fo0cS998bp
— Dallas Zoo (@DallasZoo) April 2, 2020
Additional resources
Explore the Museum Computer Networks’ regularly updated list of digital/virtual museum resources around the world.
You can also join the conversation #MuseumFromHome on Twitter.
How is your museum or attraction responding? Visit our Community Stories Hub to let us know.
About the author
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