Your mission statement describes the values your museum holds and the value it provides. Your blog is a powerful tool for extending your mission into an online space.

What Is Your Museum Really About?

What draws people to engage with your museum? Is it your events, your collection, your location? Chances are, people follow you because they have a passion for what your museum is about — history, science, art, nature — or for what it represents — community, social space, or simply knowledge itself.

What does your mission suggest for your blog?

• Collections?
• Knowledge, embodied by staff?
• Stories and histories?
• Community connections?

Use your blog to develop and expand on those strengths.

Examples of mission statements. How would the blog of each institution be different if it reflected the mission as outlined below?

>> 3 Examples from Art Museums:

Detroit Institute of Arts
Creating experiences that help each visitor find personal meaning in art.

Walker Art Center
A catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences.

Walters Art Museum
Brings art and people together for enjoyment, discovery, and learning. We strive to create a place where people of every background can be touched by art. We are committed to exhibitions and programs that will strengthen and sustain our community.

>> 3 Examples from Science/Natural History Museums:

California Academy of Sciences
To explore, explain and protect the natural world.

American Museum of Natural History
To discover, interpret, and disseminate—through scientific research and education—knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.

Science Museum of Minnesota
Turn on the science: realizing the potential of policy makers, educators, and individuals to achieve full civic and economic participation in the world.