Being Neighborly: How One Museum Looks Beyond its Walls to Build Community

Abstract

It is common for museums to be geographically located in urban neighborhoods with neighbors who do not visit. Museums make efforts to engage with their communities through programming to establish relationships with neighbors; this study highlights one museum, The American Swedish Institute (ASI), located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This case study seeks to discover whether ASI is building cross-cultural relationships in their neighborhood; and finding what impacts are made on the neighborhood. This study may be useful to arts or cultural organizations seeking to build on their relevance to their neighbor communities and wanting to better engage with neighbors.